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People of the Desert and Sea: Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians

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"People of the Desert and Sea-Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians" provides the most knowledgeable and complete resource available about the little-known Seri Indians of Sonora, Mexico, the last free nomadic mariners, hunters & gatherers of North America. This book shines as the definitive study of Seri culture. There are brilliant sections and chapters about Seri language, prehistory, history through the 20th century, the Seri calendar & Seri classification of the biological world, water & food quest, the supernatural, medicinal uses of plants & animals, shelter & fuel, boats & equipment, dress & ornament, recreation, music & oral tradition, basketry & ironwood carving, and finally, species accounts of plants in Seri culture. The readable and easy flowing text is sumptuously illustrated with B&W photographs and drawings. The primary author of this incredible book is Mary Beck "Becky" Moser, who has lived with and known the Seri Indians for almost 50 years. Linguist Moser, her deceased husband Edward & daughter Cathy are the only outsiders who have become fluent in the Seri language. Becky's esteem and friendship among the Seris has gained her unprecedented access to first hand accounts about Seri life and Seri tradition. Becky Moser's years of dedicated work and collaboration with botanist Richard Felger makes "People of the Desert and Sea" an invaluable resource and guide to anthropologists and biologists researching life in the Sonoran Desert.