196 



FUNCTIONS OF WEALTH 



usually planted, cultivated, and harvested in as short a 

 time as possible, so that regardless of the amount of land 

 owned, Indians with cornfields frequently hire help and 

 in turn — if they have little land — hire themselves out. 



c. The "ambition" of the family, and its standard of 

 living. One family may be satisfied to work its acre of 

 land and do no more, while another with the same land 

 might seek work outside in addition, while still another 

 might hire help when, if its members preferred to exert 

 themselves as do others, this would be unnecessary. 



One must also take into consideration accidents and 

 circumstances. Sickness may require the hiring of help 

 when it would otherwise be unneeessarj'; or a period of 

 municipal or religious service may make it impossible in a 

 given year for a family to do all of its own work. 



d. Other occupations, and occupational preferences. 

 Important as farming is, it has been seen that some Indians 

 devote time to other occupations, whether because they 

 are more profitable or for social or mystic reasons (as when 

 a shaman who does not answer a "call" becomes sick in 

 consequence). Such persons of course must hire more 

 labor on the same land than those who devote all of their 

 time to farming. 



In short, "other things" are rarely equal, and 

 sound generalizations are exceedingly difficult to 

 make. Yet an analysis of the available informa- 

 tion, as shown chiefly in table 79, answers the two 

 questions with surprising ease. Table 79 is based 

 on incomplete information concerning employ- 

 ment of Indians by Indians except exclusively for 

 milpa work. Using a wealth-scale based on the 

 value of land controlled, both employers and 

 employees are ranged in order of wealth and the 

 original data entered. It is seen that 28 resident 

 Indian families are kno\vn by me to have em- 

 ploj'ed other Indians on their land. Two of these 

 are foreign, 26 Panajachelenos. Of the latter no 

 less than 18 are in the top quarter on the wealth 

 scale, 7 are in the second quarter, and only 1 is as 

 low as the very top of the second-poorest quarter. 

 As one would expect, those owning most land hire 

 labor. Likewise, 28 Panajachel Indian families 



Table 79. — Indians regularly employed by Indians in Panajachel ' 



1 Explanation of abbreviations: 



m = l male of the household. 



f=l female of the household. 



(m) = Unknown number of males. 



(f) ■= Unknown number of females. 



Con.= Indians of ConcepcicSn. 



Sol. = Indians of Solo!&. 



Jor. = Indians of San Jorge. 



Cat. = Indians of Santa Catarina Palopo. 



Tep. = Indians of Tecpfin. 



31a and 76a are Jorgeno Indians resident in Panajachel. They were not graded on the Panajachel wealth scale, but have been put in here because they hire 

 other Indians to do agricultural labor. The number indicates where they fit in the Panajachel wealth scale if only their Panajachel lands are considered; this is 

 inaccurate because both families probably own land in San Jorge as well, and on this I have no information. 



Numbers indicate employers and employees according to wealth scale. 



