MCGEE] PRIMITIVENESS OF THE WARFARE 265* 



On the coast bucklers are improvised from turtle-shells, though, ac- 

 cording to Mashem (confirmed by direct observation), these are not car- 

 ried inland for the purpose; but the protective function imputed to the 

 turtle was well represented in the rancheria at Costa Rica by several 

 fetishes made from i)halanges of turtle-tlippers tricked out in rags in 

 imitation of Caucasian dress (somewhat like the mortuary fetishes 

 illustrated in figure 40« and b). On the whole, the most conspicuous 

 feature of the individual shields or protectors is their emblematic char- 

 acter; they are sortilegic rather than practical, and express imputation 

 of mystical potencies rather than recognition of actual properties; and 

 in this as in other respects they correspond closely with the offensive 

 devices, and aid in defining the ideas and motives of the primitive 

 warriors. 



The actually effective protection of the Seri in warfare is their fleet- 

 ness, coupled with their habitual and coustitu' 'onal timidity, i.e., their 

 wildness — for they are verily, as their Mexican neighbors say, "gente 

 muy bronco'". Moreover, thej' are adepts in concealing their persons 

 and their movements behind shrubbery and rocks, and in finding cover 

 on the barest plains; and suggestions are not wanting that the pro- 

 tecting shrub-clumps and rocks of their wonted ranges are credited 

 with occult powers and elevated to the lower places of their zoic pan- 

 theon, after the customary way of that overpowering zootlieism, or 

 animism, which the Seri so well exemplify in many of their habits. 



Summarily, the warfare of the Seri complements the pacific indus- 

 tries of the tribe in every essential respect. It is notable for improvi- 

 dence, i. e., for reliance on chance; the dearth of devices for offense and 

 defense parallels the poverty in industrial artifacts; and the disregard 

 of fortifications is of a kind with the squandering of present food sup- 

 plies and the utter neglect of provision for the future. A striking 

 correspondence between workfare and warfare is found in the fierce 

 blood-lust displayed alike in chase and battle, a feature manifestly 

 borrowed from beasts and intensified by besetting beast- faith; and 

 more striking still is the correspondence in motive, as revealed by the 

 overlai)ping functions of the protective kilt, by the borrowing of animal 

 symbols alike in peace and war, and by the imitation of animal move- 

 ments on the warpath as in the chase. 



In the last synthesis the warfare of the Seri may be considered as 

 characterized by two attributes: (1) The motives, so far as developed, 

 are zoomimic in even greater degree than the prevailing motives of the 

 pacific industries; and (li) the methods are shaped largely by mechan- 

 ical chance, like those normal to protolithic industry. 



Nascent Industrial Development 



Industries form the chief bond between man and his environment. 

 The esthetic activities arise in the individual and extend to his fellows; 

 the institutional activities express the relations among individual men 



