232* THE SEKI INDIANS [eth.akn.IT 



in accord with Seri thouglit to assume that in earlier times the hair 

 neclvlaces were expanded into rudimentary apparel in connection with 

 pelican-skin shields, and after the conquest of vegetal fibers into more 

 finished garments iirobably woven partly of hair and worn in such 

 wise as to supplement the natural pelage in the protection of back, 

 shoulders, chest, and arms. If the indication of the tribal cult be valid, 

 it would appear that the wammus was the second piece of apparel in 

 order of genesis, though the first to be made of artificial fabric; and 

 it is noteworthy that the suggestion is sui)ported by the form of the 

 short and free-flowing garment underlying the flowing tresses of war- 

 riors and matrons, as well as the vestigial use of human-hair cords for 

 neckbands and fastening strings; while its antiquitj' in comparison 

 with the textile kilt is indicated by the fact that it is a finished artifact, 

 evidently fitted to its functions by generations of adjustment. 



The step from the making of the wammus to the substitution of arti- 

 ficial fabrics for the pelican-skin kilt was an easy and natural one; and 

 it need only be noted that the transition is still incomplete, since the 

 feathered pelt is unquestioningly substituted for the fabric whenever 

 occasion demands, yet that the kilt in some form must be much more 

 archaic than the wammus, since it is correlated with the pudency sense,' 

 while the complete garment is not so correlated save in slight and 

 incipient degree. 



Accordingly the three articles of apparel may be seriated genetically 

 as (1) the i)elican-skin robe, used long as a kilt, and only lately rele- 

 gated to emergency use and bedding; (2) the well-differentiated wam- 

 mus of textile fabric with hair-cord fastenings; and (3) the textile kilt, 

 with or without a hair-cord belt. And the three artifacts are local and 

 presumptively — indeed manifestly — autochthonous, and exemplify the 

 interdependence of artifacts and environment no less strikingly than 

 the Seri balsa or basket or jacal. 



TOOLS AND THEIR USES 



In advanced culture tools are finished products, made and used in 

 accordance with preconceived designs or established arts for the pro- 

 duction of commodities; in primal life (as well exerajdified by Seri 

 handicraft) tools are mere by-products incidental to the largely instinc- 

 tive activities directed toward the maintenance of life. Accordingly, 

 the tools of advanced culture form the nucleus of industries, while the 

 designless tools of the prime cluster about the outskirts of industrial 



*In this writing the conclusion reached in an unpublished discussion of the heginning of clothing 

 is assumed — i. e., tliat the primal apparel was purely protective, and that the hahitual concealment of 

 portions of the body incidental to its wearinj: gradually planted the pudency sense. The germ of 

 clothing, without attendant pudency, is well illustrated in Karl von den Steineu's observations and 

 discussions of the IJrazilan natives (Unter den Naturviilkern Zentral-Brasiliens, Berlin, 1894, pp. 190- 

 199). It is noteworthy that the Seri, more primitive as they are in so many respects than any other 

 Aniericau aborigines known, are much farther advanced than the Brazilian natives in aitpareling and 

 its etfects on character. The similarities and the diflerences are alike interesting ; yet in both cases tlie 

 costumes reflect enrironmeutal conditions and needs with remarkable Udelity. 



