Changes in Mollusk Consumption by the Seris of Sonora, Mexico

Bibliographic Data

ID18978853
AuthorsCathy Moser Marlett (SIL International, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume39
Issue2
Pages262
Publication date2019-06-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ethnobiology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0278-0771 • E-ISSN: 2162-4496
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2993/0278-0771-39.2.262
OpenAlexW2949319940
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

In the mid-twentieth century, the Seris (Comcaac), a small mobile hunter-gatherer and fishing people of northwestern Mexico, became almost entirely sedentary. They had for centuries survived in the isolated desert and coast along the eastern central Gulf of California, an area of rich biodiversity. The move to permanent settlements facilitated access to non-traditional foods that began to markedly impact their traditional diet of desert and marine resources, including mollusks. Although fish and sea turtles continued to be an important part of that diet, consumption of mollusks declined significantly, accompanied by a gradual loss of knowledge of their names and related ecological information, a loss evident among younger Seris today. This paper explores the role of mollusks in the Seri culture and associated changes that have taken place over the past century. Published accounts, oral tradition, historical records, and current investigation describe how the Seris adopted a sedentary lifestyle, and the impact that the change has had on their traditional diet, ecological knowledge, subsistence practices, and health

Agriculture · Archaeology · Biodiversity · Biology · Fish · Fishery · Fishing · Geography · Human settlement · Marine conservation · Political science · Social science · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Natural History · Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies · Ecology

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