EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



ber of workmen continued with the finishing 

 touches, building an outhouse, a water storage 

 lank, and other sundries. Often we would call 

 one or all of them in for a rest, a bottle of beer, 

 and a bit of conversation. Quite freely we 

 spread our papers before them and asked for 

 the material we needed. They were hired to 

 build a house, but it v/as much more pleasant 

 to sit drinking beer and talking, rather than to 

 carry heavy stones. Guillermo, in his capacity 

 as caretaker, was always around, and could be 

 called in to answer questions whenever they 

 came up. In this way, little by little and over a 

 period of many months, we went about filling 

 in the data which never would have come out in 

 casual conversations. We made a great many 

 presents to those with whom we visited most — 

 hand maize mills, dresses, aprons, knives, pic- 

 tures of saints, mirrors, and all of the well- 

 known items whicli are useful or intriguing in 

 a rural Mexican home. Loans, few of which 

 were ever paid back, were made to a number of 

 individuals. Nevertheless, no person in Tzin- 

 tzuntzan ever felt that he was being paid to give 

 information about himself and his village. 



Our notes were typed each night, in duplicate 

 when possible, on 5- by 8-inch sheets and filed 

 in a card index box according to the plan of 

 the Yale Outline of Cultural Materials (Mur- 

 dock et al., 1945). This system made it possible 

 for all three of us to know almost at a glance 

 what the others might have obtained on any 

 topic, and proved to be not only a great time- 

 saver in gathering the initial data but also in 

 writing up reports. Our cards reveal that more 

 than 50 persons, ranging in age from 7 to 75, 

 contributed significant data. 



We went into the field hoping to make a rather 

 complete census of the village in which we work- 

 ed. Luck again was with us. A month after our 

 arrival we learned that the municipal president 

 was anxious to impress his enterprise on his 

 superiors, and was contemplating a census of 

 the entire miinicipio, including Tzintzuntzan and 

 surrounding towns and villages. We offered to 

 "help" in this praiseworthy demonstration of 

 devotion to civic duty, and drew up a census 

 sheet which we had printed in Morelia. On this 

 sheet space was provided for 12 names, the age, 

 sex, place of birth, occupation, languages spok- 

 en, type of garments worn, places to which the 



person had traveled, and so forth. The same 

 sheet, one of which served for each household, 

 contained data on house construction, number 

 of rooms, type of lighting employed, house 

 furnishings, fruit trees in the patio, all crops 

 sown by the family, domestic animals owned, 

 water supply, and other similar questions. Space 

 was also left for additional notes. 



Since the sheets were made out shortly after 

 our arrival and before we were well acquainted 

 with the culture, we made some mistakes in 

 items included which we would have omitted at 

 a later date. Nevertheless, over a period of a 

 year in which constant corrections were made, 

 most of the initial errors were ironed out. 



In Tzintzuntzan the initial count was made in 

 one day. A working party of about 30 individ- 

 uals was divided into 8 groups, each composed 

 of a local political officer, a school teacher, and 

 one or two individuals from the blocks to which 

 each section was assigned. Thus, with the moral 

 backing of government and school, plus the 

 presence of individuals who knew intimately 

 the people being questioned, opportunity for 

 evasion or untruthful answers was much less 

 than in the case of a usual government census. 

 In the evening a great pozole or banquet was 

 prepared and served to all who participated, 

 so in effect the day was one of civic solidarity, 

 enthusiasm, and entertainment. 



A census was also taken of the Tarascan vil- 

 lages of Ojo de Agua and Ichupio, which most 

 closely adjoin Tzintzuntzan. The same technique 

 was not, possible, due to greater reticence of the 

 inhabitants of these hamlets, but by means of 

 cross checking with various Tarascans, a fair 

 degree of accuracy was obtained. These census 

 sheets have been bound in three volumes, and 

 will be placed in the library of the Escuela Na- 

 cional for future reference. 



To accompany the census, Ospina made the 

 map of Tzintzuntzan which appears in this mon- 

 ograph. He was accompained by Guillermo 

 Morales, who knew which houses were occupied, 

 which were empty, the names of all owners, 

 divisions of the town, names of the streets, and 

 other indispensible information. Each house 

 and lot was given a key number which corre- 

 sponds to a census sheet, so that it is possible to 

 locate each resident of the town in terms of his 

 geographic relationship to all other citizens. 



