124 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
Patztim maize in Solola, others, Solola vegetables in 
Patulul, while still others peddle crabs. 
The major occupations here are dependent upon 
the Lake: fishing, crabbing, and mat weaving. The 
land limitations of the municipio having been pointed 
out, the water advantages may be summarized as 
follows: (1) Hot springs (aguascalientes) occurring 
in the shallow water along the bank for a mile or 
so on one side!*? and on the other (2) shallow water 
along the shore for a total littoral distance of nearly 
4 miles.178 Both conditions, largely nullified when 
the lake level is high, favor the abundance and avail- 
ability of fish, while the shallow water is conducive to 
a good growth of rushes and the propagation of 
crabs in an accessible zone. No doubt the Pana- 
jachel natives availed themselves also of these na- 
tural advantages, meager though they are, prior to 
their development of vegetable culture. Their aquatic 
occupations have made the Catarinecos extremely 
sensitive to the vagaries of the Lake, and their for- 
tunes have risen and fallen, in reverse order, with 
periodic fluctuations of the water level. In 1936 
their fish runways by the hot springs could be seen 
well below the water, too deep for much benefit, and 
their larger rush funnels (often 6 ft. long; pl. 22, d), 
especially made for hot-springs fishing, were lying 
idle, as many of them had lain since 1933. Rushes had 
likewise suffered from inundation: the planting of 
rushes and the purchase of them from other parts 
of the Lake were necessary even for small-scale 
mat making. Only crabbing seems not to have been 
affected by the rise of the Lake level. A recent 
law prohibiting all catching of fish and crabs during 
the “breeding season” (May to August was the 
closed season in 1936, I was told),!*® as recom- 
mended in 1905 by Meek (1908, pp. 177, 191, 203), 
followed by a law prohibiting all fishing, also affects 
the Catarinecos more than any other group. These 
are among the economic reasons why they have come 
to depend so largely upon employment on the fincas. 
In attempting to understand the importance of fish- 
ing to the Catarinecos above all other Lake dwellers 
(until 1937) the question is not why others do not 
fish so much, but why the Catarinecos do. It seems 
that, of the two influences, water resources and Jand 
17 Mainly south; several reported also in 1892 to have existed at 
either extremity of the Panajachel delta. 
178 Not far away is the rocky shoal off Cerro de Oro and the lava 
fringe, which, being shallow, is good fishing ground. 
17 Meek (1908, pp. 178, 186, 189, 203) recorded the breeding seasons 
as follows: Mojarra, April-June; gulumina and pescadito, March-May; 
serica, April-June; crabs, February—April. 
poverty, the latter is the more significant. For, if 
they had an abundance of cultivable land, the prob-— 
ability is that they, like most of the other villagers, 
would pay little attention to the crabs and very small 
fish. Delicacies though they might be to the Indians, 
the resource does not appear to be a lucrative one. 
Meek suggested this when he wrote: ‘These fishes 
are much used for food by the natives, especially by 
those people living in Santa Catalina. These fishes 
are eaten only because no others are to be had” 
(Meek, 1908, p. 180). Large numbers of them are 
sold in the markets, however, especially at Solola. 
Catarinecos take them to market as the Marquenos 
do, impaled on bunchgrass stems, five or six on a 
stem, and smoked. Natives of Atitlan and other 
villages sell them in smaller quantities, by measure, 
in bulk. Ocafia in 1662 wrote that crabs and little 
fish (pescaditos de Atitlén) prepared exactly as they 
are today, roasted on grass stems, were a major 
source of livelihood. Little fish were caught because 
of their abundance and the ease of getting them; the 
big mojarras would not bite a hook. Little fish were 
sold for cacao in many provinces (Vazquez, 1937-38, 
pp. 167-168). 
SAN ANTONIO PALOPO 
San Antonio is just a league (214 miles) south- 
east of Santa Catarina. (Though both villages are 
given the agnomen Palopé, the original “Polopo” 
was probably San Antonio, according to early maps; 
see p. 103.) Linguistic and costume differences are 
almost as great as in the preceding instance. Nor 
does the economic comparison show any greater 
similarity. The distinction is in fact fundamental ; 
the Antoneros look only to the land and not at 
all to the Lake for support. And with good reason, 
for their municipio extends as far east as the Rio 
Madre Vieja, and as far south as the southern 
Lake shore. Their area of 25.5 sq. km. (about 10 
sq. miles) is more than six times that of Santa Cata- 
rina (4.2 sq. km.), yet their total population *S° is 
scarcely double that of the latter. Though there is a 
steep wall with a few cliffs behind them, the situation 
is not nearly so bad (map 20; pls. 23; 46, c, d); 
to the south the mountain rim is considerably lower, 
and there are many excellent cultivable slopes, espe- 
cially east of the divide, in the drainage basin of the 
Madre Vieja River. A number of small communities 
180 According to the 1921 census, San Antonio had a population of 
1,963, and Santa Catarina had 844. 
