THE LEVEL AND COST OF LIVING 



175 



last 2 years, and one lasts but 1 year. Some of the 

 differences are not simply variations of opinion. 

 Thus, the reason No. 58's one machete lasts but 2 

 years is that four people use it; No. 37, on the other 

 hand, preserves his for 5 years because not only 

 does he alone use it, but he has occupations that 

 do not require his machete. 



A number of things owned by the Indians have 

 doubtless escaped my list."^ The carpenters and 

 butchers, for example, have their kits of tools; and 

 there are always odd objects that people acquire. 

 The last items of table 68, a indicate what one 

 rather abnormal person (in this respect) has col- 

 lected. The man of family 37 was once interested 

 in learning carpentry, and the mason's trade; he 

 (with other youths) owned a marimba in 1936; he 

 is one of two Indians with a canoe; and he is the 

 only Holy Week baker among the Indians. The 

 $3, 000-odd worth of goods listed in the table may 

 be said to be a community minimum (if my calcu- 

 lations are near to being correct). Of course no 

 account is taken of depreciation, which would be 

 nearly impossible to calculate accurately; but the 

 sum (as in the case of houses, above) is the replace- 

 ment value of the property. 



Finally, it may be noted that, as one would 

 expect, some items such as cooking utensils and 

 dishes are more numerous in larger families, while 

 the numbers of others vary with wealth (as in the 

 case of furniture, blankets, and mats) and still 

 others, such as weaving equipment, with the 

 special occupations of the householders. In 

 general, however, there is imiformity as one goes 

 from house to house. A weathy family has little 

 more variety, and few more objects of a kind, than 

 has a poor family; and there is a basic homogeneity 

 in the kinds of things owned by the Indians of 

 the community. 



Table 68, b shows how much money the Indians 

 probably spent in 1936 on the objects listed in 

 table 68, a and, in addition, on certain supplies. 

 The conclusions are drawn on the basis of the 

 same data, and by the same method. The reports 



■" Expenditures for toys, for example, are not included. The few used are 

 almost always home-made, of plant parts. In 1937 a 12-year-old girl came with 

 a load on her back that had the form of a baby. When aslied how the "baby" 

 was, she replied, laughing, that it was a piece of log with a rag around it for 

 a skirt and a gorra (stocking cap), that she bad made, over the top. A girl of 

 18 was present and said she had done the same when young and that her 

 younger sister also carried a stick for a baby. However, she added that she 

 still had a doll that her father had once bought her for 80 cents. Other Indians 

 remarked on toys seen at our house and showed interest in buying similar 

 ones, but the amount of money annually spent on such things cannot be 

 more than a few dollars. 



of expenditures of the sample famiUes are the 

 average annual expenditures for the various items, 

 respectively, but of course the sum of the average 

 annual expenditures of all of the families of the 

 community tend to be the same as the total com- 

 munity expenditure in any one year. 



Table 68. — Household furnishings and supplies, and tools 

 a. VALUE 



See footnotes at end of table. 



