MCGEE] GENESIS OF APPARELING 231* 



Summarily, tlie customary apparel of Seri men and women may be 

 regarded as limited to tbree articles — (1) a kilt, normally of coarse 

 textile fabric, which is made a prime necessity by a well-developed 

 pudency; (2) a short wammus, also normally of coarse textile fabric, 

 which is apparently regarded as a convenience and luxury rather than a 

 necessity; and (3) arobe, normally of pelican skin, sometimes substituted 

 for either or both of the other articles, but ordinarily used as bedding 

 or as a buckler. The most valued of these articles is the robe, which 

 in the absence of the others replaces the kilt; yet pudency demands 

 the hab)itual use of some form of kilt, while both wammus and robe are 

 held so far superfluous that they may be laid aside or bartered or 

 otherwise dispensed with whenever occasion arises. 



On considering the special functions and i)robable genesis of the Seri 

 appareling, the student is impressed by the absence of the breech-clout, 

 except perhaps in temporary improvisations — though the absence of this 

 widespread article of primitive costumery need awaken little surprise 

 in view of the environment, and especially of the abounding barbs of 

 Seriland, which render all appareling of doubtful value save for the pro- 

 tection of tissues softened by habitual covering. The prevailing thorni- 

 nessof the habitat renders the free flowing and easily removable a])ron 

 the most serviceable protection for the exposed vitals of the pubic 

 region; and this device, a common one in thorny habitats generally, 

 grades naturally into the short skirt or kilt; while it would well accord 

 with the maritime habit and habitual thought of the Seri to ai)ply the 

 tough and densely feathered skin of the pelican to the purpose. This 

 suggestion as to the nascent covering of the tribe consists, with the 

 tribal faith, in which the Ancient of Pelicans ranks as the creative 

 deity, while its modern representative is esteemed a protective tutelary 

 jjossessing talismanic powers against cold, wet, bestial claw and fang, 

 alien arrows, and all other evils; so that the use of this feathered pelt 

 as a shield against spiny shrubbery, sharp-leaved sedges, and barb- 

 thorued cacti is quite in harmony with Seri philosophy. Accordingly 

 it seems clear that the pelican-skin kilt was autochthonous among the 

 Seri, and that it was the original form of tribal appareling; and it is of 

 no small significance that the type persists in actual use as well as in 

 suggestive vestigial forms, such as pelican-down swaddling for infants, 

 pelican-feather plumes on cradle nets, etc. 



The passage from the pelican-skin kilt to the garment of textile fabric 

 under the slow processes of primitive thought may not be traced confi- 

 dently, though a strong suggestion arises in the Seri hair-cult (a Sara, 

 soiiian faith not without parallel in far higher culture) under which 

 mystical powers and talismanic virtues are imputed to the human 

 pelage. It is in connection with this cult that the Seri locks are so 

 attentively cultivated and so assiduously preserved and consecrated 

 to more intimate personal uses in belts, necklaces, and the like; and 

 although the connecting links have not been found, it is thoroughly 



