The Seri, like all other peoples, are characterized by various
collective attributes which vastly transcend in interest and importance
the somatic attributes exhibited by the individuals. These superorganic
attributes are essentially activital—i. e., they represent what the
people _do_ rather than what they merely _are_; and in both collective
and activital aspects they serve to distinguish the human realm from
the organic realm, and to afford a basis for the classification of
mankind—i. e., they combine to form demotic characters.
The demotic characters of the Seri, like those of other peoples, may
be classed as (1) esthetic, (2) industrial, (3) institutional, (4)
linguistic, and (5) sophic; and in this order the essentially human
attributes of the tribe (except the last named) may be described. It is
a matter of deep regret that the data concerning the demotic characters
of the tribe are too meager to afford more than a mere outline of their
activities, and that their suggestive mythology must be passed over for
the present.