LAND OWNERSHIP AND PRACTICES 



75 



Eventually both Jorge and his family and Micaela 

 with hers went to the coast, where both Jorge and 

 Micaela died before Santiago did. 



Francisca died, leaving Santiago with the one 

 surviving child Bonifacio (the informant) still a 

 young boy. Santiago married a woman named 

 Sabuyuc who had a son, Leoncio, who came with 

 her, and a married daughter, Margarita. She 

 owned some land, part of which she had already 

 given to Margarita. After a short while they 

 separated, but when Santiago's third wife died, 

 she returned with Leoncio who, like Bonifacio, 

 was now a young man. When she in turn died, 

 Leoncio continued to live with Santiago and Boni- 

 facio. Leoncio's mother left a small piece of land 

 which Santiago pawned for 60 pesos to pay for 

 her funeral. Meanwhile, Margarita had pawned 

 to Santiago two-thirds of an acre of hill milpa land 

 for 30 pesos. 



Now Bonifacio married Toribia Castro and 

 moved to her house, leaving Santiago and Leoncio 

 alone in bachelor housekeeping, bujang their food 

 ready-made, and working Santiago's land. Until 

 he died, five years later, Santiago refused to give 

 Bonifacio any land. Bonifacio therefore helped 

 work his father-in-law's land and also worked for 

 others. 



Santiago left three pieces of land, all bought 

 during his lifetime, totaling four-fifths of an acre; 

 but two of the pieces were now pawned for 240 

 pesos ($6) to pay for his burial. He also left con- 

 trol of the piece of land pawned by Margarita 

 Sabayuc for 30 pesos (50 cents). Santiago had 

 left no indications as to the disposal of his land. 

 His only living child was Bonifacio; but his step- 

 son Leoncio had been living and working with 

 him. 



Leoncio came to live with Bonifacio; they 

 agreed to work the land together and pay off the 

 debts, whereupon Leoncio would receive the land 

 left by his mother and also one of the three 

 pieces left by Santiago, the other two to remain 

 with Bonifacio. However, the two men quar- 

 reled, and after 8 months Leoncio went to 

 live with Margarita, whereupon Bonifacio worked 

 alone, redeemed the two pieces of paAvned land, 

 and kept all tliree pieces of land that his father 

 had left; while Leoncio alone redeemed his 

 mother's land and gained possession of it. Since 

 Leoncio went to live with his sister, Bonifacio 

 returned to her the land she had pawned to his 



father. After some time living with his wife's 

 parents, Bonifacio built a house on land destined 

 to be Toribia's inheritance, near the river's edge. 

 Eventually the river washed this land away, and 

 he built a house where his father's had faUen into 

 ruin. Thus, he now lives where he was born. 



Bonifacio thus inherited the three pieces of land 

 that his father had owned, and his right to them 

 has not been questioned. His wife, Toribia, 

 brought him no land that still exists. Her 

 parents had owned considerable land, but almost 

 all of it had been washed away by the river, and 

 only a small piece remained to her widowed 

 mother at the time this study was made. Since 

 she had six living brothers and sisters, including 

 a brother living with the mother, Bonifacio 

 thought it most unlikely that she would ever 

 inherit anything. (As it tm-ned out, Toribia died 

 before her mother; and when their grandmother 

 died, Bonifacio's children inherited nothing.) 



Bonifacio has five sons living. Only one is 

 married, and now has two children. He has not 

 sold any of his inheritance. He added to it in 

 1937 when he bought about five and a half acres 

 of cornfield hill land. Before making this pur- 

 chase, Bonifacio thought of dividing his land aa 

 follows (assuming that all of his sons continued to 

 live and work with him and to respect him): the 

 one-third acre farthest from the house to the two 

 eldest sons equally; the nearer one-sixth acre to 

 the third son; and the one-fourth acre house site 

 to the two youngest equally, with the houses 

 themselves going to the youngest. 



THE INHERITANCE OF HOUSEHOLD NO. 55 



Manuel Rosales was born in San Crist6bal 

 Totonicapan. As a young merchant in the 1830's 

 or 1840's, he came frequently to Panajachel to 

 buy produce to sell in markets in the west. In 

 Panajachel, he stayed with one Francisco Quiche, 

 and eventually with the help of this family he 

 bought a piece of Panajachel land, married 

 Antonia Quiche, the daughter (chart 14), and 

 settled down. He budt a large adobe and tile- 

 roof house and prospered and continued to buy 

 land. The five children (Jos6 Gil, Antonio, Ber- 

 nadino, Tomasa, and Coronada) remained in the 

 house working for and supported by their parents. 

 When Manuel became old and infirm, he willed 

 that upon his death his property remain for his 

 wife to divide when and how she would decide. 



