EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



129 



as an experiment, he offered the workers a day's 

 salary for that number of centimeters, regard- 

 less of the time required. The work went eight 

 times as fast. Clearly, more money was a stim- 

 ulus to greater effort. The problem is much the 

 same in all parts of Mexico, and it is difficult 

 to say whether the hen or the egg is first. Sala- 

 ries are low, and production per man is equally 

 low. The man's work is worth no more than 

 his salary, low as it is. With salary doubled, 

 would he work twice as hard? That is a difficult 

 question, which cannot be answered here. Some 

 light is shed by the attitudes of those who have 

 gone to the United States to work, either as 

 braceros during the war or at earlier periods. 

 All are delighted at the high wages. On tlie 

 other hand, the idea of working 8 or 10 hours 

 a day at the same rate of speed, with a meager 

 half hour for lunch, is shocking and terrifying. 

 Most feel that this can be done for 6 months 

 or a year, to build up a backlog of money which 

 enables one to buy land or other desirable things. 

 But, as a pattern for life, year after year, it 

 holds little attraction. In Tzintzuntzan, most 

 men would prefer to work less and have less. 

 Norberto Estrada probably speaks for most 

 when he says, "Here we work hard for 3 or 4 

 hours. Then we rest." 



Generally there is a feeling that work in Tzin- 

 tzuntzan is very dirty, that that is its greatest 

 drawback. Norberto undoubtedly speaks for the 

 majority when he unhesitatingly rates agricul- 

 'ure as the most desirable form of work. With 

 a good harvest, one doesn't have to buy maize, 

 and to the Tzintzuntzeno, nothing is more pain- 

 ful than having to spend money. Next? Pottery 

 is second choice. One can also earn a fair liv- 

 ing in this way, though it is dirty. And making 

 mezcal, in which Norberto is at the moment en- 

 gaged? Yes, a good profit, but the work is so 

 terribly dirty. "When we come out here we put 

 on our oldest rags. One would start out with 

 new clothes like yours, and on coming back, they 

 would be old." 



Vicente likewise shows his hate of the dirt. 

 At first he is reluctant to have his picture taken 

 in working clothes. His clothes are dirty, and 

 pottery is such a humble profession. People in 

 the United States should not see him thus. Re- 

 turning men from the United States have brought 

 fantastic tales of that country, contributing con- 

 siderably to work-consciousness among those 



who stayed at home, and strengthening ideas of 

 high and low class work. 



In general it can be said that the great incen- 

 tive to work in Tzintzuntzan is to have food, 

 clothing, shelter, and enough to fulfill certain 

 minimal religious obligations. What is suffi- 

 cient in each of these categories depends upon 

 the family in question, and examination of fam- 

 ily budgets will show great differences. None- 

 theless, one works to live, whatever one's defini- 

 tion of living may be and whatever one's eco- 

 nomic demands may be. Religious demands are 

 probably more important than in most primitive 

 communities, and the expenses occasioned by 

 some of the mayordomos are sufficient to drive 

 one into bankruptcy. Probably in most cases 

 the money spent on the Church means a reduced 

 living standard. 



Nevertheless, the responsibility of being a 

 mayordomo, or carguero, as they are here call- 

 ed, has interesting ramifications. The case of old 

 Jesiis Molinero is interesting. Several years 

 ago he was very sick, and his family promised 

 that he would be a carguero of San Francisco, 

 with all attendant expense, if he were spared. 

 When the time came to begin his duties, he 

 didn't see how it would be possible to do it, 

 since he was one of the poorest men in town. 

 In fact, had it not been for what people would 

 say, he would have begged off on the grounds 

 of poverty, risking divine wrath for failure to 

 comply with his vow. In desperation he began 

 to work, harder than he had ever worked before. 

 More shoes were mended, and more pots came 

 out of the kiln. To his surprise, he began to 

 accumulate money, so much so that he was not 

 only able to meet demands of the Church, but to 

 feed and clothe his family better than they had 

 ever been taken care of before. In short, for the 

 first time in his life he was enjoying a decent 

 standard of living. The following year, though 

 he no longer had Church obligations, from sheer 

 habit he continued to work at the same feverish 

 pitch, with consequent high standard of living. 

 Such things could not last, however, and little 

 by little he slipped back to his old habits of 

 little work, and today his family is on little 

 more than a subsistence level. This case is prob- 

 ably unusual; being a carguero in most cases 

 means a great financial sacrifice. Nevertheless 

 it shows how Church obligations may be a stim- 



