REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 43 



protolithic, while the modified stone implements he calls technolithic. The two 

 phases are widely distinct, not only in type of object, but even more in the mental 

 operations exemplified by the objects; for the protolithic objects represent unde- 

 signed adaptation and modification of cobbles picked up at random, while the others 

 represent designed shaping in accordance with preconceived ideals. The coexist- 

 ence of the incongruous types seemed puzzling at the outset, but was provisionally 

 ascribed to the difference in occupation between the sexes, the women using the 

 protolithic implements and the warriors making and using the techuolithic weapons. 

 Further study shovved that the objects of chipped stone imitate in every essential 

 respect the aboriginal weapons of the hereditary enemies of the Seri, including the 

 Papago and Yaki ; and this fact, coupled with the mysticism thrown around the 

 stone arrowpoints by the Seri shamans, indicated that the idea of the techuolithic 

 weapon was acquired through warfare. Examination of other characteristics of the 

 Seri in the light of this interpretation served to explain various puzzling features 

 and at the same time established the validity of the interpretation. The Seri 

 have been at war with alien tribes almost constantly since the time of Columbus, 

 and indeed long before, as indicated by arclneologic evidence. Most of their arts 

 and industries are exceedingly primitive; yet here and there features imitating 

 those characteristic of neighboring tribes, or even of white men, are found. Thus 

 they use ollas for carrying water which are fairly distinctive in type, though appar- 

 ently based on alien models, yet make no other use of baked clay. They substitute 

 cast-off rags and fabrics obtained by plunder for their own fabrics, wrought with 

 great labor from inferior fibers. Since the adjacent waters have been navigated 

 they have learned to collect flotsam, using tattered sailcloth in lieu of pelican-skin 

 blankets, cask staves in lieu of shells as paddles for their balsas, hoop-iron in lieu 

 of charred hardwood as arrowpoints for hunting, and iron spikes in lieu of bone 

 harpoons for taking turtles; and almost without exception these modifications in 

 custom have arisen without amicable relation and despite — indeed largely by 

 reason of — deep-seated enmity against the alien peoples. 



SOCIOLOGY. 



In sociology Mr. McGee has observed some interesting facts which give light on 

 the develooment of institutions among the tribes of America, especially in the 

 acculturation that spreads from one unfriendly tribe to another, which he calls 

 piratical acculturation. The Apache and Papago tribes have been bitterly inimical 

 from time immemorial, the oldest creation legends of the Papago describing the 

 separation of the peoples in the beginning ; yet there is hardly a custom among them 

 which has not been shaped partially or completely by the inimical tribe. The 

 habitat of the Papago in the hard desert is that to which they have been forced by 

 the predatory Apache; the industries of the Papago are shaped by the conditions of 

 the habitat and by the perpetual anticipation of attack ; the traditions recounted by 

 the old men are chiefly of battle against the Apache ; even the ceremonies and beliefs 

 are connected with that eternal vigilance which they have found the price of safety, 

 and with the wiles and devices of the ever-present enemy. Perhaps the most 

 important element in the acculturation is that connected with belief, for to the 

 primitive mind the efficiency of a weapon is not mechanical but mystical, an expres- 

 sion of superphysical potency, and each enemy strives constantly to coax or suborn 

 the beast-gods and potencies of the other; so the Papago warrior went confidently 

 to battle against the Apache when protected by a charm, or fetish, including an 

 Apache arrowpoint taken in conflict, and felt assured of victory if his warclub was 

 made in imitation of that of the enemy and potentialized by a plume or inscription 

 appealing to the Apache deity. Even later in the scale of development, after the 

 piratical acculturation is measurably amicable, this factor remains strong, as among 

 the clans of the Kwakiutl and some other tribes in which the aim of marriage set- 

 tlement is the acquisition, not of property or kindred per se, but of gods and tradi- 



