124 THE SERI INDIANS [eth.ann.17 



and Mode, after the manner characteristic of primitive thought;' so 

 that it may perhaps be translated " Our-Great(or Strong-)Kind-Now- 

 Herc". The combination of the two syllables affords a characteris- 

 tically colloidal connotation of concepts, conimon enough in primitive 

 use, but not expressible by any single term of modern language; in a 

 descriptive way the complete term might be interpreted as " Our-Living- 

 Ancient-Strongkind Elderwomen-Now-Here," while with the utmost 

 elision the interpretation could hardly be reduced beyond "OurGreat- 

 Motherfolk-Heie" without fatal loss of original signification. It should 

 be noted that the designation is made to cover the animals of Seriland 

 (atleast the zoic tutelariesof the tribe) and Areas well as the human folk. 

 The proper tribe name is of no small iuterest as an index to primi- 

 tive thought, and as an illustration of an early stage in linguistic devel- 

 opment. It is sigiiiflcant, too, as an expression of the matronymic 

 organization, and of the leading role played by the clanmothers in the 

 simple legislative and judicative affairs of the tribe; and it is especially 

 significant as an indication of the intimate association of fire and life 

 in i)rimitive thought. 



The designation "Seri", with its several variants, is undoubtedly an 

 alien appellation, and neither Mashem nor Kolusio could throw light 

 on its origin or meaning, though they did not ajiparently regard it as 

 opprobrious. Pefiatiel describes it as an Ojjata term; and Pimentel's 

 Opata vocabulary -' (extracted from the grammar and dictionary com- 

 piled by Padre Natal Lombardo) indicates its meaning satisfactorily, 

 albeit without special reference to the tribe. The key term in this 

 vocabulary is " (S'tVerfli, velocidad de la persona que corre." The accent 

 over the first vowel serves to indicate prolongation, so that term and 

 definition may be rendered, literally, se-ererui, speed of the person who 

 runs. Analysis of the term shows that the essential factor or root is 

 that introduced elsewhere in the same vocabulary as '■^ Ere, llegar." 

 Now, "llegar" is a protean and undifferentiated Spanish verb neuter, 

 without satisfactory English equivalent: it may be interpreted as arrive, 

 reach, attain, fetch, endure, continue, accomplish, suthce, ascend, or 

 mount to, while as a verb active and verb reflective its equivalents are 

 approach, join, i^roceed a little distance, unite, etc; it maybe said to 

 imply movement or process with a centripetal connotation — i. e., a con- 

 notation antithetic to that of the expressive irregular verb "ir" in Its 

 protean forms, including the ubiquitous and ever present "vamos" (an 

 American slang equivalent of the Castilian verb "llegar" in certain of 

 its phases is the strong iuterjectory phrase, " get together"). Tlie prefix 

 se is merely an intensive, running not merely through the Opata, 

 but throughout various tongues of the Piman stock. In his extensive 

 vocabulary of the Pima and Papago Indians of Arizona (1871),^ Captain 



' Cf. The Beginning of Mathematics, in the American Antliropologi.st, new series, vol. I, 1899. ]». 651. 

 2 Vocabulario Manual de la Len;iua 6pata, por Francisco Piraeutel ; Boletin tie la Sociedad Mexieana 

 de Geogratia y Estadistiia, touio x, 1863, pp. 287-313. 

 ^ In the archives of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 



