One of the most conspicuous customs of the Seri is that of painting
the face in designs by means of mineral pigments. Of the 55 members of
the tribe shown in the group forming plate XIII, 28 (in the original
photograph; a somewhat less number in the reproduction) exhibit
face-painting more or less clearly, and this proportion may be regarded
as typical; i. e., about half of the tribe are painted.
On noting the individual distribution of face-painting, it is found
to be practically confined to the females, though male infants are
sometimes marked with the devices pertaining to their mothers, as adult
warriors are said to be on special occasions; and so far as observed
all the females, from aged matrons to babes in arms, are painted,
though sometimes the designs are too nearly obliterated by wear to be
traceable. About 35 of the individuals shown in the group (plate XIII)
are females; of these, fully four-fifths showed designs or definite
traces of the paint, while the remaining fifth bore traces too faint
to be caught by the camera; but none of the men or larger boys were
painted. In the smaller group shown in plate XIV all of the females
display paint, as does the small boy in the center also, while the man
(husband of the middle-aged matron) reveals no trace of the symbol. The
two pictures typify the prevalence and the distribution by sex of the
painting.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY