EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



31 



Tarascan-speaking villages. In a country where 

 mestization has been going on for over 400 years 

 it is very difficult to define an Indian on physical 

 evidence alone. Nevertheless, vv^ithin the Taras- 

 can "core" I believe it can be safely said that 

 because of a distinctive physical appearance, 

 because of the use of an Indian language, and 

 because of a way of life patently different from 

 that of those who speak only Spanish, the popu- 

 lation is Indian. 



Using these criteria, Tzintzuntzan cannot be 

 called an Indian village. When we first arrived 

 we were convinced that, except for the language, 

 we would find life in Tzintzuntzan to be basic- 

 ally Tarascan. Longer acquaintance showed the 

 errors in this supposition. In Ihuatzio, for 

 example, or Ichupio or Ojo de Agua, the in- 

 dividual with pronounced Caucasoid features 

 is rare. In Tzintzuntzan the reverse is true; the 

 individual with pronounced Indian characteris- 

 tics is the rarity. 



In Tzintzuntzan perhaps 50 Tarascan words, 

 mostly names of earths, places, or objects, are 

 used. In the Tarascan villages a great many 

 more Spanish words are used, sandwiched into 

 almost all sentences in the manner that is ap- 

 parently characteristic of all Mexican Indian 

 languages. Around Tzintzuntzan most Tarascans 

 are bilingual, but in their own villages and 

 among themselves they invariably use the native 

 tongue, much to the annoyance of Spanish- 

 speaking visitors who feel that they are being 

 made fun of. 



Culturally there is a gradual transition from 

 the Indian villages to the cities of Patzcuaro 

 and Morelia. Many Mestizos in Tzintzuntzan 

 live under more primitive conditions than the 

 Indians themselves, but, unlike nearby Indian 

 ranches, there are families which approach, in 

 comforts, the simpler houses of the larger cities. 

 Psychologically there is a great difference, not 

 apparent at first contact, between the Tzintzun- 

 tzeiios and the Indians. The former are more 

 abierto, "open." willing to talk with strangers, 

 interested in what may be going on somewhere 

 else. Their religion is a little less fanatical 

 — there are even those who say "our religion 

 is just on our lip?." Witchcraft is not a matter 

 of concern for most, while in the Tarascan vil- 

 lages it is a cause of great fear. Intellectual 

 emancipation, though it has a long way to go. 



has progressed farther in Tzintzuntzan than 

 among the purely Indian population. In short, 

 considering physical, linguistic, and cultural 

 evidence, it is apparent that the people of Tzin- 

 tzuntzan are well removed from the Indian base. 

 Yet the Indian and the Mestizo meet in Tzin- 

 tzuntzan, as indicated by the fact that 156 

 persons, 12.6 percent of the total population, 

 can speak Tarascan. Except for a few very 

 small children, all are equally fluent in Spanish; 

 indeed, many who grew up speaking Tarascan 

 have ceased to speak it in their own homes, and 

 it is probable that within a few years the lan- 

 guage will be dead in Tzintzuntzan. Table 3 

 shows the distribution by age and sex of in- 

 habitants of Tzintzuntzan who can speak Ta- 

 rascan. 



Table 3. — Distribution by age and sex of persons 

 of Tarascan speech in Tzintzuntzan 



Actually, the figure of 12.6 percent is at- 

 tained only because more than a third of the 

 inhabitants of Tarascan speech have moved in 

 from Tarascan towns. Of the 82 women of 

 Tarascan speech, 35 were born outside of the 

 town, and of the 74 Tarascan men, 31. Thus, 

 42 percent of all Tarascans are not native to 

 Tzintzuntzan as compared with only 7 percent 

 for the Mestizo population. Without this sig- 

 nificant outside increment Tzintzuntzan would 

 be even less Tarascan-speaking than is the case. 



