INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



ever possible, and fictitious names only when 

 subject matter made it seem desirable. Such 

 cases may be recognized by the use of an initial 

 for the surname, which follows a fictitious given 



name. 



A very special recognition is due Gabriel Os- 

 pina. Together we dug out the basic material 

 over a long period of time, and together we did 

 the monotonous task of analyzing the census and 

 other statistical data. Without his boundless 

 energy and enthusiasm and his ability to get 



along with a great many different kinds of 

 people, this report would be much inferior. 

 Though technically our relationship was that 

 of teacher and student, in practice we worked 

 as coequals, as fellow scientists. I take this op- 

 portunity publicly to express my deep apprecia- 

 tion for the warm friendship and loyal support 

 which he always gave. Were it not for the fact 

 that he is writing a monograph in Spanish, using 

 our combined field notes, he would rightly figure 

 as coauthor of this paper. 



PRE- AND POST-CONQUEST HISTORY 



SOURCES 



Tlie modern pueblo of Tzintzuntzan, Michoa- 

 can, was, at the time of the arrival of the Span- 

 iards, the capital and nerve center of the vast 

 Tarascan Empire, an empire which, at the time 

 of its greatest expansion, extended beyond the 

 boundaries of the modern State of Michoacan, 

 and which, next to the Aztec Empire, was the 

 largest political unit in Mexico. Perhaps less 

 is known about the origin and historical ante- 

 cedents of the Tarascan Indians than of any 

 other major Mexican group. Traditional hy- 

 potheses derive them from the northwest of Mex- 

 ico, some suggesting close affinity to Nahuatl 

 peoples. Nevertheless, the Tarascan language 

 shows few similarities with other Mexican idioms 

 and is commonly classified as an independent, 

 isolated family. A recent author suggests the 

 jiossibility of a southeasterly origin, probably 

 from the Mixteca of Oaxaca and Guerrero by 

 way either of the Balsas River valley or by sea 

 to the Costa Grande and thence northward up 

 the Balsas, Tepalcatepec, and Marques Rivers 

 (Brand, 1944, p. 48). Whatever the origin of 

 the Tarascans, and the date of their arrival in 

 Michoacan, they found a beautiful and fertile 

 land, a land which has excited the imagination 

 of all those who have visited it, from the first 

 Spanish friars to 20th century travelers. "The 

 land of Michoacan is," says Beaumont, the Fran- 

 ciscan chronicler, "if not the best of all North 

 America, so good that none exceeds it in the 

 (jualities of climate, fertility and abundance of 

 all that which is to the credit of the finest regions 

 of the earth" (Beaumont, 19.32, vol. 2, p. 34). 



The three traditional types of Mexican land 

 and climate are found in Michoacan: the high, 

 cold tierra fria, the hot coastal tierra caliente, 

 and the temperate border regions, the tierra tern- 

 plada. Through most of the State run ranges 

 of the Sierra Madre del Sur, which borders the 

 western edge of the central plateau of Mexico, 

 producing a broken and rough topography, cut 

 by numerous river valleys and dotted with a 

 series of lovely lakes. The northern and eastern 

 half of the State, which was the homeland of 

 the majority of the Tarascans, is mostly tierra 

 fria, table and mountain land from 1,800 to 

 2,400 m. high, with individual peaks such as 

 Zirate and Tancitaro reaching elevations of 

 more than 3,500 m. Pines and cedars cover the 

 higher regions, and extend down the slopes to 

 wide, fertile valleys, many of which contain 

 lakes. Plentiful summer rains for agriculture, 

 an abundance of fish in the lakes and rivers, 

 obsidian for tools, clays for pottery, game in 

 the hills, and wood for houses, canoes and fires 

 made possible a relatively dense population and 

 a high standard of living based on individual 

 and village specialization and an interchange of 

 products. 



At many places, such as Zitacuaro, Tuxpan, 

 Tacambaro, and Uruapan, the highlands break 

 aAvay in spectacular fashion toward the hot 

 country, and from a vantage point (such as Mil 

 Cumbres, 250 km. west of Mexico City on the 

 Morelia highway) one can see range after range 

 of mountains tumbling over one another, seem- 

 ingly forever. At these bocas de la tierra ca- 

 liente ("mouths of the hot country") the hot 

 winds from below temper more moderate alti- 



