22 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



better life and national orientation will also 

 help tlie people of these other towns. As repre- 

 sentative of rural Mexico — - and Mexico basic- 

 ally is a country of rural and small-village 

 life — the data here presented have significance 



far beyond the antiquarian interest of surviving 

 Indian culture. As rural Mexico is understood, 

 and as measures are taken to solve its economic 

 and social problems, so will the Mexican nation 

 progress. 



THE TOWN AND THE PEOPLE 



TOWN LOCATION 



Modern Tzintzuntzan can best be understood 

 in relationship to the surviving Tarascan towns 

 and those that are now Mestizo in composition. 

 The 20th-century Tarascan core consists of 

 several geographical areas which form a fairly 

 continuous block. To the north of Uruapan 

 stretches an elevated region of extinct cinder 

 cones — to be joined some day by the new vol- 

 cano Paricutin when it cools and dies — and 

 higher mountains which cradle wide and fertile 

 valleys. Pine and fir are the dominant cover- 

 ing on the 3,000 m. peaks. In the valleys and 

 on the lower slopes maize and wheat are grown 

 as staples. Livestock, lumbering, and village 

 industrial specialization round out the economic 

 basis of life. 



To the north of this region the highlands 

 break away into a pleasant valley, followed 

 today by the Mexico-Guadalajara Highway. 

 Here, in La Canada, nestle 10 of the Once Pue- 

 blos in close proximity, Carapan the first, at the 

 Y where the branch highway to Uruapan swings 

 to the south, and Chilchota the last, 8 or 10 km. 

 to the west. Enjoying the most temperate and 

 benign climate of any Tarascan villages, these 

 pueblos add alligator pears, cherimoyas, citrus 

 fruits, and other semitropical products to the 

 basic agricultural and industrial life. 



In the area around Zacapu, traditional point 

 of origin of the Tarascan dynasty, there remain 

 a few scattered Tarascan-speaking villages, the 

 last of the northern Tarascan area. With broad 

 fields and ample water, this is a rich gardening 

 area. 



To the east of the sierra the land falls away 

 to a lower elevation to the closed basin of Lake 

 Patzcuaro, about 2,000 m. above sea level.^ The 

 lake, hors eshoe in shape with the curve at the 



1 The railroad sur\'ey gives the elevation of the Patzcuaro 

 station, a few meters above lake level, at 2,043 m. Data from 

 National Railways of Mexico timetable. 



west and the two prongs to the east, is perhaps 

 15 km. across at its widest point. The west and 

 north shores are dotted with villages still large- 

 ly Tarascan in speech, except for Erongaricuaro 

 which, curiously, is the point where sierra and 

 lake Indians meet to exchange their wares. The 

 eastern and southern shores, though still with 

 Tarascan towns such as Ihuatzio and Cucuchu- 

 cho, have been more exposed to outside in- 

 fluence, and mestization has gone a long way. 

 Within the fastness of the lake the Tarascan 

 language reigns supreme. Three important in- 

 habited islands break the blue expanse: Janit- 

 zio, that astonishing rock risins; high above the 

 waters, and its picturesque fishing village cling- 

 ing to one side; Jaracuaro, wide and flat, with 

 its scores of hat weavers; and La Pacanda, high 

 and flat, with its milpas 15 m. above the water's 

 edge. In and around the lake, in addition to 

 agriculture and industry, fishing is added to the 

 list of occupations, and the delicate white fish 

 sold in the Patzcuaro market each Friday are 

 famed over all the Republic. 



South of Lake Patzcuaro there are a few vil- 

 lages in the mountains where Tarascan is still 

 spoken, such as Cuanajo, but numerically this 

 group is not important. 



In all areas the language is fairly uniform. 

 Except for Angahuen in the sierra, dialectic 

 difi'erences are probably no greater than the 

 range found in the United States. This linguistic 

 uniformity is rather striking when compared to 

 the dialectic variations which are characteristic 

 of most of the other numerically important Mex- 

 ican Indian groups. 



These several areas form the hard Tarascan 

 nucleus which today, with surprising vigor, 

 resists outside influences which seek to destroy 

 the traditional way of life. It makes no differ- 

 ence that this "traditional" way is in reality a 

 hybrid culture with far fewer pre-Conquest ele- 

 ments tlian most other Mexican Indian groups. 



