Aside from the face-painting there is a conspicuous dearth of
decoration or tangible symbolism among the Seri.
The symbolic or decorative modification of the physique would seem to
be limited to two classes of mutilations, of which one was observed
at Costa Rica in 1894 while the other is apparently obsolete. The
observed corporeal modification is the absence of medial superior
incisors of the females, in consequence of forcible removal at a
period not definitely ascertained. The interpreter at Costa Rica was
uncommunicative on the subject; Don Pascual opined that the mutilation
formed part of an elaborate puberty ceremonial, and this opinion would
seem to be corroborated by the condition of the cranium of an immature
female examined by Dr Hrdlička; but since the half-dozen adult maidens
at the rancho in 1894 were free from the mutilation while all the wives
bore its gruesome trace, it would seem more probable that the custom
is connected with marriage. Whatever the period of the infliction,
Mashém’s guarded expressions seemed to indicate that it was a mark of
physical inferiority; and this suggestion, interpreted in the light of
the Seri use of teeth as weapons of offense and defense, would seem
to indicate that the mutilation is at once the badge of corporeal
inferiority and a means of maintaining the physical superiority of the
males—of course in that theoretically fiducial but actually forceful
way characteristic of primitive culture.
The second mutilation was the only corporeal modification noted by
early missionaries and explorers—it was the perforation of the nasal
septum for the insertion of a skewer, perhaps of polished stone (though
doubtless more commonly of bone), to which swinging objects were
attached. One of the most useful records is that of the Jesuit, Padre
Joseph Och, who described the nasal attachment as a small, colored
stone suspended by cords from the perforated septum, and guarded with
such jealous veneration that “one must give them at least a horse
or a cow for one” (ante, p. 78); while according to Hardy’s record,
the nasal fetish is “a small, round, white bone, 5 inches in length,
tapering off at both ends, and rigged something like a cross-jack
yard.”[262] The custom is apparently obsolete, and nothing is known
directly of details or motives.
[262] Travels, p. 286.
[Illustration: FIG. 7—Snake-skin belt.]
Excepting these mutilations the corporeal decoration of the Seri is
apparently limited to the face-painting: among the 60 individuals at
Costa Rica in 1894 there was no trace of tattooing or scarification of
face, limbs, or body; there were no labrets or earrings, and neither
lips nor ears were pierced, nor were nasal septa observed to be
perforated in accordance with the reputed ancient custom; the teeth
were neither filed nor drilled; no indications of amputation or other
maiming (save the removal of the incisors) were observed—indeed, the
instinct for physical markings of symbolic or decorative character,
which seems to be normal to primitive men, was apparently satisfied by
the prevalent and persistent face-painting among the females.
The extra-corporeal decorative devices are of a meagerness and
poverty even transcending the poor apparel, flimsy habitations, and
generally ill-developed artifacts of the lowly tribe.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY