178 



THE LEVEL AND COST OF LIVING 



by the outgoing and the incoming officials, but 

 since the incoming officials one year are the out- 

 going officials the next, the expenses are carried 

 by the same groups of men (or families) over 

 periods ranging from one year to about 15 months. 

 A limited number of individuals obviously bear 

 the burden of the costs of public ritual to the 

 community,'" but the individuals change from 

 year to year so that in the long run the expenses 

 are distributed among all. It may be noted, too, 

 that certain officials spend much more than others, 

 and since these are generally chosen from the 

 ranks of the more wealthy, the costs tend to be 

 distributed according to "ability to pay." Table 

 71, the conclusions of which are included in 

 table 69, shows how these public-ritual costs are 

 divided among the various items consumed. The 

 foodstuffs have already been mentioned and 

 accounted for, and they, of course, replace in some 

 degree food that would be consumed anyway. 

 The liquor, candles, incense, music, priest's fees, 

 etc., are extra expenses to the community. Tables 

 70 and 71 are based on special information on the 

 politico-religious organization and detailed calcu- 

 lations of a veteran of the system, and are probably 

 at least 90 percent accurate. At least one item I 

 know to be lacking. On one occasion the cofradia 

 has to pay a license fee to have a zarabanda and 

 sell liquor, and I do not know the amount of the fee. 

 "Private" rituals consist of harvest rites and 

 the lighting of candles to saints. A number of the 

 homes have private altars, and on certain days 

 candles and incense are burned at them, either by 

 the owners or by other Indians. Candles and 

 incense are also burned to saints elsewhere when 

 the Indians visit out-of-town fiestas and, occa- 

 sionally, in the local church. The cost of such 

 ritual is very little, however, and almost $15 of the 

 $70.60 total shown in table 69 represents expenses 



'*5 It is seen in the table that a relatively small sum comes from general 

 contributions. An informant (1941) explained that the seeking of contribu- 

 tions is Illegal (and Resales noted in 1936 that it was illegal but that the 

 prlndpale3 obtained special permission from the authorities to solicit) and 

 done among Indians on the quiet — that formerly Ladinos were asked for 

 money, but now they would complain to the authorities. For the titular 

 fiesta each married man is expected to give 33 cents if he has not yet reached 

 the stage of being a cofrade, and 50 cents if he has. Widows who have done 

 services with their husbands give 16 cents. (In some households more than 

 one man or woman thus contributes.) Office holders are exempt. For the 

 Holy Week mass each household gives 5 cents and some Ladinos also con- 

 tribute. When the image of the Christ Child is taken from house to house 

 on Epiphany, from 1 to 3 cents (rarely more) is contributed by Indian families 

 whose members hold no office — and the office holders serve liquor. Masses 

 other than those of Holy Week, the titular fiesta (San Francisco Caracciola) 

 on June 4, are paid for by Ladinos who arrange them. 



incurred by one man who has in his house a saint 

 whose day (San Juan Bautista) he celebrates 

 publicly, spending about $8 on liquor alone and 

 $3,20 on musicians. When people go to fiestas in 

 other towns, even if primarily on business, they 

 frequently pay devotion to the saint there, and 

 they also frequently drink. In the harvest rituals 

 (for the corn harvest only) liquor also frequently 

 plays a small part. 



The items included tmder "private participa- 

 tion" in fiestas of the cult of the saints have refer- 

 ence to the celebration of persons not in the organ- 

 ization carrying out the rituals. Most of the 

 populace buy food and refreshment in the plaza, 

 especially during the titular fiesta, and of course 

 a great many men and many women drink in 

 taverns and zarabandas. Women especially join 

 the processions with candles. 



The calculation of the amount spent on births 

 is based on the supposition that 70 (42 male, 28 

 female) live births and 4 stillbirths occurred in the 

 Indian community in 1936. The midwife's fee 

 has already been discussed. The items for food 

 and liquor are chiefly for that given the midwife 

 at the time of the birth and in the subsequent 

 ceremony. The calculation may be checked 

 against an informant's independent estimate that 

 a birth usually costs $2.50. 



It is assumed that there were about 65 baptisms 

 of Indian children in 1936, but that Ladinos acted 

 as godparents (hence paid the priest and bough 

 the garments) in 40 of those cases. In all cases, 

 Indians supplied food-gifts and liquor. Subse- 

 quent gifts to the godparents are not here included. 

 (The priest's fee for a baptism is 60 cents.) 



From 1922 to 1937 there were 15 cases of Indian 

 marriages in the legal religious sense. There was 

 none in 1936, and I have left out of consideration 

 the costs additional to those of an ordinary mating. 

 According to my records, there were seven cus- 

 tomary matings between May 1936 (when the 

 household census was made) and September 1937, 

 when changes were first recorded. One may there- 

 fore suppose that there were five such unions in 

 1936. Some of these were first marriages, others 

 second, and of course the expenses differ. I do 

 not have information on what was spent in these 

 specific cases, and judge the total on the basis of 

 information on a number of other cases. Liquor 

 is consumed by the representatives of the young 



