Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 301, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1912 — A Visit to the Seri Indians [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Visit to the Seri Indians

MANY are the tales told of the cruelty of the Seri Indians, a primitive people inhabiting Tiburon island, in the Gulf of California. That they are not as bad as they have been painted is asserted by Thomas H. Streets, medical director, U. S. N., retired, who visited the island with a government surveying expedition and whose story follows: On March 20, 1874, we reached an anchorage at Tiburon island, the Indians of which were then —as they are yet—ln evil repute. At one time, we had been told, some Mexicans came to the island in a small vessel to hunt for pearl-oysters and were killed by the Indians. The Mexican government, in retaliation, sent a force against them which killed many, but they were not subdued. Somehow they acquired a bad name, and, like their hand has been against every man—so we were told —and every man’s hahd has been against them; this, at least, is true. They were feared so that not even the greed of the pearl hunters could induce the native to go near the island to hunt, the oyster which was said to abound in its waters. At Guaymas we were strongly advised not to go there. But George Dewey, who had command of the surveying vesßel, was not the man to be deterred by a few bad Indians from doing the work he was sent to do. Then, there was a probability that the conditions were not as bad as they were represented to be, there being a tendency in human nature to exaggerate. When we got there the only restrictions imposed upon us by the commanding officer were that we should not go on shore alone and unarmed. There were a number of Indians on the beach, but they made no hostile movements, when we landed- They came forward readily enough and shook hands all around, and we accompanied them to one of their temporary encampments on the beach, a short distance from where we had landed, for they made us understand that they had come her,te to fish from some other part of the island. Lived In the Bushes. Three families inhabited the beach at this point, and the bushes were their only shelter; for clothing they wore a few rags. We gave them clothing and hard-tack and canned corned beef, which they accepted eagerly; but their first and persistent want was for something, strong to drink. To satisfy this craving, or at least to stop their Importunities, they were given some alcohol, in' a bottle, well diluted. We became convinced that they would sell the island for aguadiente. They brought off to the ship and presented to us two large fish which they had just caught, which showed, we thought, appreciation of favors received. Shortly after our arrival the women began to paint their faces and their children’s with a blue pigment. Broad lines were drawn with the finger under the eyes and down each side of the nose. The men returned our call on board the ship dressed in the old clothing which had recently been given them. One wore a uniform coa>t much too small for his broad shoulders. It humped him in the back so that he looked deformed. Another had on a coat the tails of which had been slashed with a knife to make it clawhammered. A third wore a blue shirt of a sailor with the rusty shoulderstraps of a lieutenant A party of us visited in a boat a large encampment about five miles away on the coast The men were all away hunting turtle, but women and children were in plenty. They represented ten families. These had for shelter semi-circular heaps of brush about four feet high, which were nothing better than wind-brakes. Though we saw one or two old percussion guns, their principal weapon was the bow and arrow. They subsisted largely on fish and turtles and berries and roots. Their household effects were few. Of those that we saw all might be carried away on the shoulders of one person. The women made a kind es platter of grass and reeds, and they had earthenware vessels tor holding water and for cooking purposes. On the second day Of our stay we were so well impressed with their friendly intention toward us that two

of us went out with them on a hunt for deer, gotten up for our benefit. Th4y stationed us .at certain vantage points, and the Indians then took stations themselves, sending the boys armed with bow,and arrow to beat the copse to set the game afoot. Display Ingenuity. A large doe came directly our way and passed within ten or twelve paces of my and when she had passed his well-aimed bullet bored its way through the entire length of her body. They displayed considerable ingenuity in building the canoes in which they fish and hunt the turtle. They were constructed of bundles of reeds—three in number —from 12 to 15 feet long and spindle-shaped—that is, round and thickest in the middle and tapering Bmall to the ends. The bundles are so placed that one forms the bottom and the others the sides of the float. They arte bound together in that position. The width was greatest in the middle, and there kneeled the boatman, whose knees were submerged, and plied a double-bladed paddle. The reeds soon became water-soaked and needed to be taken from the water and dried to improve their flotation. Our relations with these people continued friendly. They visited the ship and we visited the shore as long aB they remained. And it was their departure that was a mystery to us. One fine morning we awoke to find them gone; the smoke of fires was no more seen and the shore was deserted. From that time to the end of our stay we saw them no more. There hsd been no leave-taking; for they had folded their tents in the night, like the Arabs, and had silently stolen away.

SERI INDIAN WOMEN