LAND OWNERSHIP AND PRACTICES 



83 



what Indians pay for them, it is interesting to 

 note first the differential for outsiders. Hill 

 land, as we shall see, is normally worth from $2.50 

 to $8.50 an acre. In 1940 a Ladino owner offered 

 to a foreig^ner a large piece of such land (extending 

 to the lake) for a sum that figured to $33.33 an 

 acre; there were indications that he would come 

 down as low as $17.05. Another Ladino offered 

 a large piece of hill land (parts of which were 

 planted in coffee and vegetahles) at the rate 

 of $126.84 an acre. When the prospective buyer, 

 a North American, refused, the owner half 

 regretted not having come down in price; but the 

 lowest price he woidd have considered came to 

 $84.56 an acre, and he was sure that the land for 

 its coffee yield would eventually be worth more 

 than that to him. 



Delta truck land is usually sold for from $50 

 to $150 an acre. When favorably situated it was 

 sold to foreigners for much more in 1940. One 

 well-situated piece of land of 1.4 acres sold at 

 the rate of either $813.75 or $1,968.75, depending 

 upon which of two coimtrymen who were involved 

 in the deal I chose to believe. Another North 

 American paid a Ladino at the rate of $525.58 

 an acre for a piece of lake-shore land. He refused 

 to pay a broker $562.50 an acre for an adjoining 

 piece, and finallj'^ offered the Indian owner at 

 the rate of $1,135 an acre and was unable to buy 

 it. Another Ladino was asking a sum that worked 

 out to $562.50 an acre for a very small piece of 

 land overlooking the lake. Perhaps the clearest 

 example of \\ hat is happening to land values near 

 the lake is this: In 1935 a Ladino oft'ered me a 

 hillock (8 acres) on the lake shore between Santa 

 Catarina and San Antonio for $90. Eveiitually a 

 German in Panajachel bought it for $80. In 1940 

 he told me that he had turned down a North 

 American's offer for $500 for a small piece of tliis 

 land, and that he valued the whole at $5,000. 



Obviously, Indians cannot begin to buy land at 

 such prices; and thvy buy, even from Ladinos 

 (but not lake-shore land) for much less. The 

 following evaluations of land according to the 

 Indian standard arc based on both statements of 

 informants and a nimiber of cases. 



HILL LAND 



Only ordinary hill land, useful for growing mdpa 

 in season, is o\vned by Indians. Informants 

 usually set its value as between about $5.50 and 



$9.50 an acre. I have records of three sales, 

 t%vo of them of Santa Catarina land to Panajachel 

 Indians, well ])elow the lowest figure ($3.94 and 

 $4.30), but none above the highest figure. (For 

 a time the Santa Catarina Indians were in great 

 need, and sold cheaply.) I have two well- 

 authenticated cases of purchases of Santa Catarina 

 land at $9.35 an acre, and one at $S.50. I vras 

 ofTercd by a Ladino a piece of Panajachel hill 

 land at $8.50; a Panajachel Indian wanted me to 

 help him buy it at that price. In another case I 

 assisted an Indian in the purchase, from another 

 Indian, of 5.4 acres of Panajachel hill land at 

 $9.35. It seems reasonable to set the usual 

 value of hill land, in Panajachel or Santa Catarina, 

 at about $8 an acre. 



There are also records of the pawning of six 

 pieces of hill land. Two parcels of Santa Catarina 

 land were pawned to Panajachel Indians for 

 $5.13 and $5.76 an acre, respectively. Three 

 pieces of Panajachel land were pawned — Indian 

 to Indian — for $4.16, $5.15, and $5.62 an acre, 

 respectively. A fourth and similar piece was 

 pa^^^led at $1.87 an acre. Of course, minunum 

 pawning-prices are of no significance in this dis- 

 cussion; but since people would not usually lend 

 more on a piece of land than it is worth, it is 

 obvious that hOl lands are considered worth at 

 least $5.62 an acre. Pa\\'ning values thus check 

 fairly well with sale values. 



It has been noted that hill milpa land rents, for 

 cash, at $1.41 an acre. LTsing the figure $8 as 

 the value of such land, the relation of annual 

 rental to the value of land is 1 to 5.7. 



DELTA TRUCK LAND 



Irrigated land in the delta not planted with 

 coffee is valued by informants (in 10 cases) from 

 $56 (2 cases) to $235 (1 case). The value in 5 

 cases was given as $187.50, in another as $140.63, 

 and in the last as $78.12. One Indian, who has 

 been buying land from others, and from Ladinos, 

 told me he usually expects to pay at the rate of 

 $140. One may discount the statement of an 

 Indian that long ago he had bought a cuerda for $5 

 ($28 an acre); more probably he obtained the 

 land on pawn. The lowest price otherwise noted 

 figures to $62.50 an acre; this land was bought 

 from a Ladino many years ago. Another piece 

 was said to have been bought at the rate of 

 $93.75 an acre. The other prices, including those 



