. Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. scribed elsewhere; but it mayhere be noted that the olla is the central artifact about which the very Hardy noted the use of a small leatUeru bag, painted and otherwise ornamented , as a medicinerattle (Travels, p. 282), and also described a wind-symbol and an eifigy used for thaumaturgic pur-poses (ibid., pp. 294, 295). Fig. 13—Necklace ofwooden beads. 174* THE SERI INDIANS [ETH. ANN. 17 ]ffe of the tribe rotates: since tbe clans never reside and rarely campnearer tlian 3 to 15 miles from the
. Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. scribed elsewhere; but it mayhere be noted that the olla is the central artifact about which the very Hardy noted the use of a small leatUeru bag, painted and otherwise ornamented , as a medicinerattle (Travels, p. 282), and also described a wind-symbol and an eifigy used for thaumaturgic pur-poses (ibid., pp. 294, 295). Fig. 13—Necklace ofwooden beads. 174* THE SERI INDIANS [ETH. ANN. 17 ]ffe of the tribe rotates: since tbe clans never reside and rarely campnearer tlian 3 to 15 miles from the aguaje, a large part of tbe waterconsumed must be transported great distances in tliese vessels; sincetbe region is one of extreme aridity, the lives of small parties oftendepend on the integrity of tbe olla and on tbe care with which tbefragile vessel is protected from shock or overturning; and hence theutensil must occupy a large if not a dominant place in everydaytbought—indeed, the fact tbat it does so is attested by constantcustom and also by its employment as tbe most conspicuous among. riQ. 14—liattlesuakb the mortuary sacrifices. Thus, tbe relation of tbe Seri olla to itsmakers and users is parallel with that of the ever-present earthen potto tbe Pueblo people, or tbat of the cooking basket to the acorn-eaters of (Jalifornia, save that its relative importance is enhancedby the fewness of activital lines and motives in Seri life. Moreover,this most characteristic utensil is established and hallowed in Seritbought by immemorial associations: its sherds are sown over thehundred thousand square miles of ancient despoblado from Tiburon toCaborca, Magdalena, Kio Opodepe, and Cerro Prieto, and are scatteredthrough the 90 feet of shells forming Punta Antigualla (perhaps theoldest shell mound of America); and all the sherds from the range MCGEE] THE PAINTED OLLA 175* and tlie shell-strata are so like and so different from any other fictileware as to be distingu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectindians, bookyear1895
