CONSUMER GOODS 



147 



good informant at 8 years. Roof tiles frequently 

 break singly and must be replaced ; then when the 

 roof lumber is replaced, after 30 to 40 years, new 

 tUes are generally substituted, although some of 

 the old ones may be used again. Sheet-metal 

 roofing is said never to wear out. Smaller struc- 

 tures, less carefully put together, last only a year 

 or two. On the other hand, sweat baths, if con- 

 stantly repaired, seem to last a generation. 



I do not know how many houses were con- 

 structed in 1936, 1937, or any other 1 year. But 

 if one supposes that an adobe house lasts 30 years, 

 a mass-adobe house 20 years, and a cane house 10 

 years, and if it is assumed that the ratio of the 

 various house types has been remaining constant, 

 then in an average year there must be built 2 or 3 

 adobe houses, a dozen mass-adobe houses, about 

 foujr cane houses; plus 3 annexes, 2 or 3 galeras, 

 2 maize storehouses, about 50 chicken coops, and 

 4 or 5 sweat-bath houses. Further, informants 

 claim that privy pits and houses, which take 8 

 man-days to make, must be replaced every 1 to 3 

 years. If such is the case, then the annual ex- 

 penditure of time on the building of new structures 

 (including the gathering of materials that are not 

 bought) must be between 1,000 and 1,200 man- 

 days in the entire Indian community. Excluding 

 the time of masons and adobe makers, and leaving 

 out privies (which did not appear until later), the 

 total in 1936 was about 700 days. Likewise, the 

 cost of materials bought from outside the com- 

 munity must average some $60 to $70; the value 

 of the other materials is, of course, the value of the 

 time required to gather and prepare them. 



Although it is difficult to estimate the time and 

 money expended each year in repairing houses, 

 replacing thatch, and so on, the time can hardly 

 be less than 200 or more than 600 man-days or 

 the cash cost less than $5 or more than $25. The 

 total time consumed in the building and mainte- 

 nance of house structures, leaving out artisans, 

 was therefore between 900 and 1,300.'^* It may 

 be taken for granted that small structures are 

 built and periodic repairs are almost always made 

 by members of the family; on the other hand, 

 frequently adobe bricks and always adobe brick 



"* The total value of labor, excluding that of artisans, may be averaged at 

 $183.33 a year, of materials, $80. The total of $263.33 may be checljed by 

 multiplying by 60 the sum, $3.62, that the men of households 58 and 49 calcu- 

 lated to be their average annual expenditure on houses, leaving out the cost 

 of an outhouse. Using this sampling method, the community total comes 

 to $217.20. Or, perhaps more Justly in the case of houses, multiplying the 

 $3.62 by 166/2 (there being 155 economic households) the result is $280.65. 



walls are made by hired artisans. In the construc- 

 tion of new houses, the owner and his family 

 always do at least some of the common labor, and 

 probably on the average from two-thirds to three- 

 fom-ths of it. It is likely, therefore, that in 1936 

 the householders themselves did from 600 to 900 

 man-days of work on their own house structures; 

 or the average household devoted from 4 to 6 

 man-days a year to these purposes. In any one 

 year, a particular family, of course, may spend no 

 time at all, or (if a new house is built) perhaps 

 20 man-days or more; and in each family the 

 time differs from year to year. 



Table 57. — Value of Indian houses, 19S7 



> Based on table 66. 



VALUE OF HOUSES 



The calculated worth of all Indian-owned houses 

 and house structures when the survey was made, 

 $3,870 (table 57), represents neither the value of 

 the time, since it takes no accoumt of depreciation, 

 nor the cost of the construction which had been 

 incurred years before, but simply the cost of re- 

 placement. Of course the Indians do not "set 

 aside" funds for the purpose. 



SUPPLIES, FURNISHINGS, AND TOOLS 



Except for chests and a few chairs and tables 

 and occasional beds, house furnishings are home- 

 made. Beds, for example, consist of stagings 

 built out from a wall, the legs implanted in the 

 floor, the surface consisting of canes or bought 

 boards laid transversely. Most houses have at 

 least one bed, but many individuals sleep on the 

 floor. Utensils and clothing are hung from nails 

 or wooden pegs or branches with evenly spaced 

 twigs which are implanted in the floor or suspended 

 from the ceiling, or else placed on shelves of board 



