282* THE SERI. INDIANS [i:th. ann.17 



and to an aft'ectation of self-i'estraiiit for a moon on the part of ZuFii 

 grooms noted by Frank Hamilton Gushing-. Accordingly the facts 

 were announced in a prelimiuarj^ paper,' and wei'e shown to stand in 

 such relation to the marital customs of other aboriginal tribes as prac- 

 tically to demonstrate their validity, and at the same time to locate the 

 Seri customs on a lower plane of cultural development than any hitherto 

 definitely recognized. 



Happily, subsecjuent researches have resulted in the discovery of 

 records corroborative of the primitive customs observed by the Seri, 

 and also of the assignment of serial place to these customs. The 

 most specific record is that of John Giles (or Gyles), who spent his 

 youth as a captive among.the northeastern Algon(iuian Indians (proba- 

 bly the Maliseet or some closely related Abnaki tribe), from August 2, 

 1689, to June 28, 1G98. Eeferriug to the marital customs of the tribe, 

 he observed : 



If parents have a ilaugnler marriageable, tbey seek a husband for her who is a 

 good hunter. If she has been educated to make monoodah (ludiau bags), birch 

 dishes, to lace snowshoes, make ludian shoes, string ■wampum belts, sew birch 

 canoes, and boil the kettle, she is esteemed a lady of fine accomplishments. If the 

 man sought out for her husband have a gun and amumnition, a canoe, a spear, a 

 hatchet, a monoodah, >a crooked knife, looking-glass and paint, a pipe, tobacco, and 

 knot-bowl to toss a kind of dice in, he is accounted a gentleman of a plentiful 

 fortune. Whatever the new married man ]irocures the lirst year belongs to his 

 wife's parents. If the young pair have a cliild within a year and nine months, they 

 are thought to be'very forward and libidinous persons. - 



This record is of jieculiar interest in that it definitely specifies a 

 custom corresponding with the material test of the Seri, and unmistak- 

 ably implies the existence, at least in vestigial or sentimental form, 

 of a custom corresponding with the moral test of Serilaud; and it is 

 particularly noteworthy as coming from a remote tribe occupying 

 a distant part of the continent. 



A somewhat less specific corroboration is found in Lawson's account 

 of the Carolina tribes. He observes: 



When any young ludian has a mind for such a girl to his Avife, he, or some one for 

 him, goes to the young woman's parents, if living; if not, to her nearest relations, 

 where tbey make ofters of the match betwixt the couple. The relations reply, they 

 will consider of it; which serves for a sufficient answer, till there be a second 

 meeting about the marriage, which is generally brought into debate before all the 

 relations, that are old people, on both sides, and sometimes the king, with all his 

 great men, give their opinions therein. If it be agreed on, ;ind the young woman 

 approve thereof, for these savages never give tlielr children in marriage without 

 their own consent, the man pays so much for his wife; and the handsomer she is 

 the greater price she bears. Now, it often happens that the man has not so much 

 of their money ready as he is to pay for his wife : but if they know him to be a good 

 hunter, and that be can raise the snm agreed for, in some few moons, or any little 



' The Beginning of MarrLage, American Anthropologist, vol. IX, 1896, pp. 371-383. 



^Memoirs | of | Odd Adventures, | Strange Deliverances, etc. | in the | Captivity of John Giles, 

 Esq., 1 Commander uf the Garrison on Saint George river, in the | District of Maine, j Written hy 

 Himself. [ Originally puhlished at Boston, IT.'iG. [[ I*riuted for William Dodge. :i Cincinnati: I Spiller &. 

 Gates, printers, 168 Viae street. | 1869.— P. 45. 



