THE LEVEL AND COST OF LIVING 



171 



among the Indians. Gifts are brought when favors 

 are asked or services (from weaving garments to 

 baptizing a child) done. This fact interferes with 

 the calculation of the total, for the informants 

 of the sample included only what they thought 

 they had actually purchased and consumed. Some 

 of the sugar and chocolate received as gifts doubt- 

 less was passed on to others as gifts, but some (as 

 in the case of family No. 1) was certainly con- 

 sumed and must be added to the total. It happens 

 that family 58 gave away no chocolate or sugar in 

 1936, however, and that family 49 gave but 2 

 ounces of chocolate and a half pound of sugar. (I 

 have no information on the point from 37 so that 

 the sample gives little guidance.) One can guess, 

 however, that some 200 gifts were exchanged 

 among the Indians (Ladinos do not give such 

 gifts, certainly not to Indians) ; that on the average 

 they consisted of 10 ounces of bread, three-fourths 

 pound of sugar, and 5 ounces of chocolate; and 

 that half the sugar and chocolate (and all the 

 bread) changed hands twice before being con- 

 sumed. The totals are therefore raised by 112 

 pounds of sugar and 750 ounces of chocolate. 



(11) Bread. — Bread, usually in the form of 

 1-ounce sweet rolls (made with lard, eggs, sugar, 

 salt, wheat flour, and yeast) is frequently eaten 

 for breakfast instead of corn food; it is also an 

 important ceremonial and gift food and is eaten 

 in large quantities, with honey, during Holy 

 Week.'^' The Holy Week bread is frequently 

 richer (especially in eggs) and usually comes in 

 large loaves or in rolls larger than usual. Some 

 Indians have their Holy Week bread made to 

 order. The daily use of bread varies with wealth, 

 and the sample is consistent in this respect. I 

 should subtract some bread to correct the sample 

 for the above-average-wealth consumers; but the 

 sample families all live east of the river, where 

 bread is more diflBcult to buy; and this fact com- 

 pensates. To the total, however, must be added 

 some 2,000 of the 2,785 ounces distributed at 

 ceremonies, and another 2,000 that (according to 

 the guess above) were distributed as gifts. The 

 Holy Week bread that is made to order (of pur- 

 chased materials) probably comes out slightly 

 cheaper than purchased bread ; but since this bread 



18IA week before Good Friday (1937) the largest local bakery already had 

 a stock of $400 worth of bread for Holy Week. The owner said it would 

 remain fresh because of the quantity of eggs and lard in it. The baker opined 

 that even the poorest Indians buy three or four dollars' worth of bread for 

 Holy Week, for themselves and for gifts. 



is somewhat more expensive than the ordinary, 

 it may all be averaged at a cent an oimce, the 

 usual price. 



(12) Honey. — Honey is bought, as far as I know, 

 only for Holy Week. The Uttle honey produced 

 locally, however, is probably eaten also at other 

 times. Since the sample families kept no bees, 

 local Indian production should be added to the 

 total indicated by the sample. 



{lS-20) Spices. — After peppers, the most im- 

 portant spice is anotta, used in coloring sauces 

 and meats. The difference among the sample 

 families in the use of anotta is striking, but I do 

 not know enough to account for it; it does not 

 seem proportional, in the sample including family 

 1, to the use of meat and fowl. Using the infor- 

 mation as given, the resulting total appears high; 

 but since family 1 alone reports using 144 oimces 

 a year, it may not be. The use of anise seed 

 appears also to be highly irregular. Family 58 

 uses none at aU (neither does family 1). The 

 other two of the sample consumed quite different 

 quantities. Though doubtless others besides No. 

 58 use no anise, there is no reason to think that 

 these are all large families, so the total indicated 

 by the sample must be raised. Family 58 reports 

 nothing on the use of ground pepper, ginger, and 

 cordoncillo, cintula, chichipate, "lime tea," and 

 rice but since I failed to ask about them, they may 

 actually have been used. The formula factor 49 

 cannot therefore be used in this case and, instead, 

 the total of the 2 families reported is midtiplied 

 by 111. Squash seed is used in some foods by all 

 the sample families; but poor families who do not 

 have their own cornfields (in which squash is pro- 

 duced) probably use less than the sample famihes 

 (despite that No. 37 bought all his squash seed 

 and No. 49 part of his) and a correction should be 

 made. 



{21 ) Chickens. — Chickens are used as food in the 

 home almost exclusively on very special occasions, 

 such as an after-birth festival ; they are also cooked 

 for sick persons and lying-in mothers. The differ- 

 ences in the sample represent in part accidents of 

 circumstances, but the large number used by 

 family 37 probably reflects its atypicaUty and 

 relative wealth. Family No. 1 also reported using 

 36 chickens in 1936. However, the sample is 

 probably representative enough to be used in cal- 

 culating the community total. In addition, 

 chickens (as well as turkeys, which are not used 



