Cultural and Natural History of Berthellina Ilisima and Other Opisthobranchia in the Central Sea of Cortez
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Thalassas, 27 (2): 9-21 An International Journal of Marine Sciences THE SERIS, THE SUN AND SLUGS: CULTURAL AND NATURAL HISTORY OF BERTHELLINA ILISIMA AND OTHER OPISTHOBRANCHIA IN THE CENTRAL SEA OF CORTEZ HANS BERTSCH(1) & CATHY MOSER MARLETT(1) Key words: Bulla gouldiana, Doriopsilla albopunctata, Cochimí, Bahía de los Ángeles ABSTRACT During a 25-year study at Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California, Berthellina ilisima was the third most The Seris of northwest Sonora have a profound common opisthobranch encountered. It exhibited cultural tradition of molluscan interaction, applying an annual life cycle, with reproductive activity common indigenous names to over 150 species of occurring from May to July. In contrast, the more molluscs. The Seris used the shelled cephalaspidean northerly common Californian species Doriopsilla Bulla gouldiana for pendant jewelry, and called albopunctata had a seasonally earlier annual life the animal cacaapxom (‘what fattens [something]’). cycle, from July to June, with reproductive behavior The common tropical eastern Pacific Nudipleura observed during January to April. Berthellina ilisima opisthobranch Berthellina ilisima, although apparently feeds on Demospongiae poriferans. not used, was given the common name xepenozaah (‘sun in the sea’). THE SERIS The Seris, or the Comcaac, as the people call themselves, have lived for centuries along the eastern coast of the central Sea of Cortez (Figure 1) and in the desert and mountain regions of northwest Sonora, Mexico (between approximately 28º-31º N; 111º-113º (1) Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, W). Although there has been significant interchange Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, with neighboring Yaqui (south) and Piman (north and Ensenada, BC, México east) peoples, as nomadic hunter-gatherers the Seris [email protected] are unique among the southwest North American 9 HANS BERTSCH & CATHY MOSER MARLETT Figure 1: Map of the central Sea of Cortez. Cartography by Cathy Marlett. original desert settlers. Their extensive use of marine Cardona’s 1615 visit to Isla Tiburón. While he was resources especially sets them apart. However, there others came over from the mainland” (Thomas these cultural behaviors were shared with the Baja Bowen, pers. comm.). Linguistic analysis yields California peninsular and now-extinct Cochimí fewer clues (see Hale & Harris, 1979: 173). Their peoples, with whom the Seris most likely had contact language is clearly not part of the Uto-Aztecan in their forays across the Gulf of California on reed family of the neighboring Pimas and Yaquis, and balsas. Little is known of these travels aside from a suggested Hokan relationship, including either sketchy accounts in Seri oral history. peninsular Yuman or California coastal Salinan, has not been clearly established to date (Campbell, 1997; The Seri origins remain unclear, and it is not S. Marlett, 2007 & 2008). known how long they have inhabited the Gulf region. Published archaeological evidence (based on MOLLUSCS radiocarbon assays) is inaccurate. “Estimated dates were never calibrated nor corrected for reservoir Archaeological, linguistic and ethnographic effect. The only reliable date for the antiquity of studies reveal a profound cultural nexus between the the Seris in their present location is Nicolás de Seris and molluscs. Large middens containing bivalve 10 THE SERIS, THE SUN AND SLUGS: CULTURAL AND NATURAL HISTORY OF Berthellina Ilisina AND OTHER OPISTHOBRANCHIA IN THE CENTRAL SEA OF CORTEZ Figure 2: Midden shell deposits on the eastern shore of Isla Tiburón, 29 March 2009. Photo by Cathy Marlett. and gastropod marine shell deposits of human origin figures (Fig. 4). Others were used in such varied ways are common throughout the ancestral Seri territories as medicine or as pipes for smoking tobacco. Shells (Figures 2 and 3). were fashioned into toys or used in games. A child’s doll uses the byssal fibers of the bivalve Pinna rugosa More than 150 mollusc species with over 250 as hair (Fig. 5). molluscan Seri names are identified by the Seris, with significant ethnographic information (C. Marlett, OPISTHOBRANCHS work in preparation). Although today the primary use is as food and stringing of shells for the tourist market Because of their reduced or nonexistent shell, or personal adornment, in the past molluscs played opisthobranch molluscs have tended to be overlooked an important role in the Seri culture. Easily gathered or not used by indigenous cultures worldwide. This in the extensive intertidal area, molluscs figured is evidenced by the lack of common names in native prominently in the Seri diet. Their shells were heavily languages for these organisms. Along the Pacific coast used as eating utensils, vessels and storage containers. of the Americas, only three species of opisthobranchs Shells were used to butcher meat, as scrapers and are known to have been given such a name by a pre- digging tools, and to make pottery and shape clay historic [pre-European] people. The scientific name 11 HANS BERTSCH & CATHY MOSER MARLETT Figure 3: A midden on the mainland shore of Sonora, bordering El Canal del Infiernillo, 17 February 2009. Photo by Cathy Marlett. Figure 4: Figure 5: The shell of a Simomactra dolabriformis clam being used to shape Traditional Seri doll, made in the 1970s. It is somewhat unusual in clay figures. The Seri name for this bivalve is haxöl icaai, that it has hair made from the byssal fibers of Pinna rugosa. ‘clam shell for making pottery’. Photo by Cathy Marlett. Photo by Cathy Marlett. 12 THE SERIS, THE SUN AND SLUGS: CULTURAL AND NATURAL HISTORY OF Berthellina Ilisina AND OTHER OPISTHOBRANCHIA IN THE CENTRAL SEA OF CORTEZ Figure 6: Figure 7: The first European drawing of the Seris, by Padre Adam Gilg, Shell of Bulla gouldiana. Drawings by Cathy Marlett. S.J. (1692). From: Alegre, Burrus & Zubillaga, 1960: 144-145. Original in the Central Jesuit Archives in Rome (Archivum Romanum Societatis Jesu, Boh. 108) for the nudibranch Tochuina tetraquetra (Pallas, se colocan una concha” (Montané Martí, 1996: 156). 1788) is based on Tochni, its name among the people Very possibly these shells are the bubble snail Bulla of the Kuril Islands, who ate it raw or cooked (Bergh, gouldiana (Fig. 7). Ethnographic testimony supports 1879: 154, referencing Pallas’ original description). this interpretation, as a Seri woman recounted that We are aware that Doris amarilla Pöppig, 1829, was long ago the Seris would hang bulla shells from their described as a food item of the indigenous Chileans, ears, where they would make a “pretty sound” as they however no vernacular name is known to have jangled together in the breeze. The Seri name for the existed, and the species is regarded as a nomen nudum species is cacaapxom, ‘what fattens [something]’, a (Schrödl, 1996). name derived in Seri folklore. We here report Seri names for two species: The Seris would have encountered the seasonally Bulla gouldiana Pilsbry, 1895, and Berthellina ilisima abundant Bulla gouldiana during their searches of (Marcus & Marcus, 1967). sand flats at low tide or in beach drift. The first European drawing of the Seris was made Berthellina ilisima is known by the recently- by Padre Adam Gilg, S.J., in 1692 (Fig. 6). The lead coined common names orange blob (Behrens & male depicted in the family procession is apparently Hermosillo, 2005, and Kerstitch & Bertsch, 2007) adorned with earrings. Although not obvious in the and babosa albaricoque or chabacano, the apricot drawing, Gilg specifically described the use of shell slug (Camacho-García, Gosliner & Valdés, 2005). earrings. He wrote that “En los lóbulos de las orejas The Seris call this animal xepenozaah, ‘sun in 13 HANS BERTSCH & CATHY MOSER MARLETT Figure 8: Figure 9: Three individuals of Berthellina ilisima (48, 41 and 43 mm total Pair of Berthellina ilisima (35-40 mm in length), with egg mass, lengths), in situ underneath a rock, subtidal, 18 feet depth, in situ underneath a rock, subtidal, 10 feet depth, Punta la Gringa, BLA, 15 May 1992. Punta la Gringa, BLA, 27 February 1989. Photo by Hans Bertsch. Photo by Hans Bertsch. the sea’, or ‘sol en el mar’. The conspicuous and disc-shaped shell shrivels uselessly on extraction. brilliant color of this common species (occurring Interestingly, when a Seri woman was shown a photo under rocks intertidally and subtidally) evokes the of xepenozaah, she laughed and said that it reminded fierce brightness of the Sonoran sun (Fig. 8). her of preserved apricots, and made her hungry! Xepenozaah was apparently not used by the There seems to be no religious nor mythical Seris; it was not eaten, and the delicate internal significance attached to this slug nor to its solar resemblance. The Seris’ traditional belief system that included vision quests, shamanism, and placating malevolent spirits (Bowen, 1983: 245), did not include sun worship. So why did they have a common name for such a non-used creature? It is a gorgeous and curious marine animal, found frequently under rocks in the central Sea of Cortez (Kerstitch & Bertsch, 2007). Such an obvious and oft-encountered beauty demands a name. In an anecdote from Seri oral history, long ago a group of hungry Seris traded for food from a boat passing through the Gulf. The boat carried food that the Seris had never seen. There were sacks of white things, which they referred to as potaat cmis Figure 10: ‘[things] like maggots’ (most likely rice), and other Copulating pair of Doriopsilla albopunctata (32 and 28 mm long) things referred to as xepenozaah cmis ‘[things] like with egg mass, in situ on top of rock, subtidal, ~12 feet depth, Punta la Gringa, BLA, 26 June 1998. a xepenozaah’. It is tempting to posit that these were Photo by Hans Bertsch. oranges, a non-native fruit. 14 THE SERIS, THE SUN AND SLUGS: CULTURAL AND NATURAL HISTORY OF Berthellina Ilisina AND OTHER OPISTHOBRANCHIA IN THE CENTRAL SEA OF CORTEZ Tables 1-3, Bertsch & Marlett: Table 1: TableTotal numbers1.