EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN F0STE;R 



37 



are pinned spreads of old newspapers, pictures 

 of the Virgin and saints, a framed still life with 

 mirrors on both sides and hooks for hats and 

 coats, a school-drawn map of the State, several 

 more hooks from which hang shirts, jackets and 

 a machete, and a small hanging shelf with dishes. 

 Better homes are distinguished from that of 

 Guillermo by having an additional room, or 

 perhaps two, and tiled floors. Walls are plaster- 



and insects and — when finances permit — is 

 psychologically ready for a real bed. And a 

 few of the central families have made the 

 transition. Ignacio Estrada has a fine metal 

 bedstead with sagging springs, the export of a 

 happier Japan, judging by the painting of Mt. 

 Fujiyama on the head. Jose Villagomez also 

 enjoys real springs, and there are six other 

 families with real beds. 



BARBED WIRE FENCE and COLORIN HED&E 



Figure 4. — Vicente Rendon yard plan. 



KtV" 



EZ2Z21 ADOBE WALL 



O PRODUCING TREE 



^ TREE ABOUT READY TO PRODUCE 



. TINV TREES OF l-Z YEARS 



ed and painted, and several well-made and 

 decorated chests take the place of the improvis- 

 ed soap-box containers. Electric lights are 

 found in some homes, though wiring usually is 

 limited to a single 40-watt bulb which dangles 

 from a high ceiling. Many homes will have 

 a water tap in the yard — but never inside the 

 house — and a wooden privy seat in an in- 

 conspicuous corner of the patio. 



Guillermo's house is surpassed by 143, ac- 

 cording to the census, which list beds. In most 

 cases the "bed" consists of several planks laid 

 across soap boxes, covered with petates and a 

 dirty serape or two. And listing of a "bed" 

 in the house does not necessarily mean that 

 all members of the family enjoy it. Perhaps 

 the parents sleep on this shelf, and the children, 

 in the manner of the poor, on petates on the 

 floor. Usually some member of the family 

 sleeps on the porch to be on the alert for 

 prowling animals stalking roosting chickens. 

 Besides, a permanent bed takes up room; a 

 petate is rolled up in the morning and flung in 

 a corner, ready to be spread out at night. 



In spite of its crudity this "bed" represents 

 a distinct cultural advance over the Indian 

 homes, where the petate on the floor is almost 

 universal. The individual is freer from drafts 



Several of die items of house equipment or 

 furnishings represent, in terms of comfort and 

 hygiene, great advances over the pre-Conquest 

 home. Particularly significant are the presence 

 of a bed (henceforth meaning any raised sleep- 

 ing place), running water, privy, and the use 

 of oil, candles, or electricity for lighting instead 

 of resinous pine slivers (ocote). The most prim- 

 itive and backward home of today, then, is 

 marked by the use of ocote for lighting, and the 

 lack of a bed, running water, and privy. Con- 

 versely, the most advanced and least Indian 

 houses are those with electric lights, running 

 water, privy, and bed. 



Intermediate stages are somewhat more diffi- 

 cult to determine. Thus, does water or elec- 

 tricity represent the greatest progress? Or a 



bed 



or a privy; 



Logically one might expect to find a very 

 high correlation between all of the improve- 

 ments, i.e., all houses with electricity also with 

 bed, privy, and water. Inspection of table 5 

 shows that this is not the case. Some houses 

 will have all improvements, except electricity, 

 while others will lack only water. In an attempt 

 to grade houses in terms of comfort and hygiene, 

 a point system was established. Privy and bed 

 each rated three, because these two improve- 



