St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-05-18
HABITS OF THE SERIS.
can Indians who Have Not the
skni1e Instinct.n

"The Seri Indians" said Prof. w. J..
Magee, who recently returned from
An chronological expedition into Mex
leo, "are in the scale Of civilization .
few degrees above the Cocopah In
dians whom we set out to visit; they
do make their own bows and arrows
and boats, and show some cleverness
in primitive navigating, but they stin
lack the knife instinct"
This commentary called forth .
question as to the meaning of the
''knife instinct" The ordinary man
in civilized community, the profes.
sor explained, is so familiar with the
knife and its purposes that its use
has become practically automatic. At
the table he cuts his food with his
knife without going through any
conscious mental process. 1t is al
natural for him to do this as it is to
take his drink from q cup or other
vessel for holding liquor. If he
wishes to open a package tied with
twine in hard knot, or to whittle
bit of stick, or to split an apple into
two parts, down goes his hand in
stinctively into his pocket for his
knife. and he can be talking or think
ing about other things while he uses
the knife for cutting. says q Wash
ington correspondent Of the Boston
Transcript.
Not so the Seri Indian, if he obtains
a knife in barter, he thrusts it into
his belt, as he has seen the Mexican
frontiersman do, but in a meaning
less way. It is matter of imitation
and not reasoning with him. for he
has no idea of the common uses to
which the Mexican puts the knife. II
deer crossed his path while his
knife was in his girdle, and with the
aid of his dogs he were able to cap.
ture and kill it, it never would occur
to him to use his knife for cutting
up the carcass. He would tear it, like
wild beast. If he kills pony for
food, and hangs a quarter near his
door to be eaten as needed, he will
bite into the meat and pull it apart
with his teeth and nails, stripping
the sinews and tendons gradually till
nothing but the bones are left. To
cut the flesh away would be the last
thing to occur to his mind, and the
most difficult thing for him to ac-
complish. Civilized man, with whom
the knife habit, pursued from early
childhood, presently merges into in
stinct, can have no idea of what it
means to be without this rudiment.
ary training. 1t is as hard for him
to understand as it is for q person
who has never been without the nor
NAL complement of faculties to un-
derstand the feeling Of one born deaf
and dumb and blind. The knife in
stinct is sort of milestone on the
read to .civilization-one of the
means by which we may measure the
progress Of any primitive people.
Speaking OF the. condition Of thei
Seris as regards blood thirst, Prot. |
Magee says that ii still remains very
and the visitor must be
rot only prepared. but visibly pre-
pared, for trouble at any hour of the
day or night. The one question on
which the Seris' treatment Of him |
hangs is that Of opportunity. 1t
makes no difference whether he be a |
or a mixed blood, Yam |
llee or n Mexican, or even a member |
Of another tribe of Indians; the sole |
is that he is an alien, |
wherever or whenever found. If the
alien is well equipped with means Of
protection. so that it is plainly mex
pedient to attack him boldly. he will
escape trouble as long as his vigil
ance remains acute. The night.
which would naturally be considered
stranger. is really his safest time.
Tor by doing careful watch duty by
turns party of visitors can avert
attack. But in the daylight there is
lpt to be a perilous sense of security.
md it is then that it behooves every
lien to be individually on his guard.
The Seris seem to have none of the
sense of hospitality or honor which
marks many Indians Of higher type.
They have some notion of loyalty to
me another. but the rest of the world
s always fair game.
Another thing differentiates the
'eris from the Indian tribes conven-
ionally familiar to newspaper read
rs. namely. their treatment of their
lead. As far as is known. they have
10 respect for the bodies of their
leaving them unburied
wherever they happen to fall: bllr
he funeral of woman is an occa.
ion for great pomp and ceremony.
here may be some relation between
his and the fact that the Seris, like
ther Indians. trace descent through
he maternal line. Indeed, in the
eri tongue, the women have no word
ignifying father" though they
INV. COR mother" Men only can
speak of fhiiS fathers. The reason
or this distinction is Tot manifest. =
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