24 



TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMY 



dian culture. However, built-up sandals — hua- 

 raches, as they are called in Mexico — are becoming 

 popular among the more LadLnoizod Indians, and 

 they seem to be primarily neither a Ladino nor 

 an Indian manufacture but are made chiefly by 

 Ladinoized Indians, who also make such items as 

 leather belts and coin purses and saddles, which 

 are otherwise made by Ladinos. 



I shall go no further in this rather tedious in- 

 ventory, because I want to discuss some of the cases 

 m more detail and point out their- implications. 



Obviously, some of the cases involve matters of 

 taste, like the Indian food complex that has been 

 little affected by the Europeans. I shall not dis- 

 cuss why rice or bread have not replaced tortillas 

 and tamales. I assume that one cannot go much 

 beyond saying that it is a matter of preference 

 that goes back through the generations. Cer- 

 tainly nobody but a nutritionist could raise the 

 question of the relative efficiency of diets. The 

 same applies to another example. Indian houses, 

 at least in large regions of Guatemala, do not 

 have windows. \Mien I asked the Indians why 

 not, they took the view that they did not want 

 people to look in. This again approaches a 

 question of taste, and only an expert in hygiene 

 might debate that of relative efficiency. 



"What we can more profitably explore are those 

 culture elements in which a prima facie case for 

 difference in value can be made. Clearly, there 

 is no question as to why, everywhere in the world, 

 a rifle replaces the bow, or metal tools replace 

 stone tools. They do their jobs better. Some 

 teclmiques and things are clearly dominant over 

 others. Among the Indians of Guatemala, the 

 pack-animal stage, and the wagon stage, were 

 skipped over. However, an increasmg number 

 of Indians are now riding on busses and trucks, 

 simply because they luaow that the roimd trip 

 from SololU or Panajachel to the Guatemala City 

 market that takes them 6 days to walk can be 

 made with double the load in only 2 days; and 

 they earn more money, even taking into account 

 the fare, if they ride the bus. It is more efficient. 



We may take it for granted that if, on the other 

 hand, the European culture element is not more 

 efficient than the one it is to replace, it will not be 

 adopted. However, efficiency is relative to 

 particular cases, and cannot be judged except in 

 the context of particular circumstances. Thus, 

 for example, the beast of burden. It would seem 



more efficient to have a mule carry the Indian's 

 load than to have him carry it on his back. 

 Our whole culture history seems to prove that 

 beasts of bm-den are useful and we ought there- 

 fore to be surprised that they are so little a part of 

 Indian culture. But if we examine the case, 

 we find that its circumstances cast doubt on the 

 efficiency of the beast in the particular instance. 

 A man can carry 100 pounds on a long journey; 

 a mule can carry 200 pounds. A man has to 

 accompany the mule, and the mule is no faster 

 than the man. If the mule were a free good, it 

 would obviously be better to take 200 pounds 

 than 100 pounds in the same time. Indeed, it 

 would be better still to have a string of a dozen 

 mules and transport 2,400 pounds in little more 

 than the same time. In fact, it would be so 

 advantageous that the investment in mules 

 would soon be repaid. However, mules must eat. 

 In a region where pasturage is good, that is no 

 great problem. Indeed, even without much 

 pasturage, but a plentitude of com land, it would 

 still be no great problem, since the mules could 

 return to the soil, in fertilizer, much of what they 

 take from it. 



In much of western Guatemala there is not only 

 a shortage of pasturage, however, but a shortage of 

 land. Most Indians do not grow more than 

 enough com for their own use, and many grow 

 even less and have to buy corn to make up the 

 difference. Since com is the major part of the 

 human diet, and must become the major part of 

 the mules' diet, corn must be purchased if the 

 mules are to be fed. The more mules, the more 

 corn that has to be bought. It turns out cheaper 

 in most cases to hire two men to carry the extra 

 goods than to feed one mule." 



It could be argued that the Indian could get 

 out of this difficulty by buying com when it is 

 plentiful and storing it. But (in western Guate- 

 mala) he has no technique — neither do Ladinos — 

 for storing corn in the grain, so that it does not 

 rot. He successfully stores corn only on the ear; 



'^ The question arises why Ladinos use pack mules, as they do. The 

 answer is, first of all, that Ladinus are richer. They own land in much 

 greater quantities than do Indians; they are the ones with surplus corn as 

 well as some pasturage. Furthermore, corn is a less important part of their 

 diet. They eat bread and moat and rice and vegetables and fruit; If they 

 turn most of their corn into transport by feeding it to mules, they can buy 

 the other foods with the profit. If an Indian tries to do this, and does make a 

 profit, and has money to buy corn, he may find no corn on the market when 

 he runs out of his own. And unlike the Ladino, he cannot comfortably 

 eat anything else. 



