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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



bus, and the amount of freight thus carried is 

 almost equal to that of passengers. Always, 

 some persons are disappointed; the demand for 

 transportation cannot be met by established 

 lines. 



THE PATZCUARO MARKET 



Although not exhaustively studied, the Patz- 

 cuaro market was observed on a number of dif- 

 ferent days to determine the number of vendors 

 and buyers, the products exchanged, and the 

 seasonal rhythm throughout the year. Figure 32 

 shows the physical layout of the market. As 

 can be seen, most of the commerce is carried 

 on in the main plaza. On the sidewalks of the 

 plaza itself one finds the hundreds of small 

 vendors who have come in for the day with a 

 few fish, a little fruit, maize, ocote, and other 

 items sold in small quantities. Flanking the 

 plaza on all sides are the graceful portales or 

 arches which roof the outside sidewalks. Some 

 trading is carried on here, particularly by mer- 

 chants who have permanent stores and who 

 place a part of their stuffs outside for better 

 display. On the north side of the plaza there 

 are a few permanent stands which sell fruit, 

 baskets, cold drinks, ice cream, and carved 

 wooden canoes, nets, plows, and toys brought 

 from the Tarascan islands. 



Leading north from the main plaza is a nar- 

 row street, crowded with displays of clothing, 

 cooked foods, lime, and that curious assortment 

 of dried sea urchins, alligator heads, earths and 

 herbs which make up the open-air apothecary 

 shops of Mexico. This street opens into the 

 smaller Bocanegra Plaza, along the east side of 

 which one finds petate sellers and potters with 

 their wares. The permanent market, a collec- 

 tion of small stands in an old building, is off 

 the northwest side of this plaza. 



From early in the morning there are stirrings 

 which mark the day as one of unusual activity. 

 The permanent merchants are out on the side- 

 walks with their merchandise by the time the 

 Tarascans and Mestizo sellers begin to arrive, 

 and policemen walk about collecting the nominal 

 plaza tax. If one goes to the lakeshore 3 km. 

 north of the town proper, one is well rewarded by 

 the sight of the canoes, pulling into mooring ca- 

 nals, piled high with cargo and humans. Boats 

 are carefully tied to the shore, and the paddles 

 carried to a nearby home of a friend where they 



will be safe for the day. Formerly a little horse- 

 drawn car ran from the lake-level railway sta- 

 tion to the center of town. Today it has been 

 replaced by autobusses which struggle over the 

 rough cobblestones, loaded to overflowing with 

 passengers and produce. Many prefer to walk, 

 and all morning there is a long line of people, 

 bent forward under their heavy loads, ascending 

 to the plaza. 



Selling begins about 8 o'clock in the morning, 

 but the hours between 11 and 1 are most ani- 

 mated. By 5 o'clock there is little evidence, 

 beyond great piles of refuse, of the excitement 

 of the day. Most vendors — perhaps 90 per- 

 cent — are women, although there are exceptions. 

 Owners of permanent stores have their own male 

 clerks to help, and the large stands of potatoes, 

 dried chiles, and bulk fruits on the east side of 

 the plaza are in the hands of men. Lime, hats 

 from Jaracuaro, much clothing, and some peta- 

 tes are also sold by men. 



The percentage of Tarascans as compared to 

 Mestizos is difficult to estimate. On Fridays 

 they come from Ihuatzio, Janitzio, Cucuchucho, 

 La Pacanda, and La Vuelta in great numbers, 

 and in smaller numbers from other lake vil- 

 lages bringing fish, ducks, vegetables, fruit, and 

 petates. Always there are Tarascan women from 

 the sierra, especially Nahuatzen, with sashes and 

 scrapes. Probably not over 35 percent of all 

 sellers are Tarascans. Because of their pictur- 

 esqueness and the prominent place they occupy 

 in the plaza, the percentage seems higher. Also, 

 a good many persons who appear to be Indian 

 to an untrained eye are in reality Mestizos. 



Selling is lively and animated, accompanied 

 by a continual babble of voices. The women 

 squat hip to hip in long, solid lines which make 

 passage out from the sidewalk an impossibility. 

 The buyers walk down between the two parallel 

 lines of sellers, examining the goods offered, and 

 haggling over prices. Each new face among 

 the shoppers is greeted with a standard phrase, 

 "Que va a llevar, marchante" ("What are you 

 going to take with you, buyer?"), followed by 

 remarks about the high quality of the fruit, the 

 size of the fish, or the tenderness of the ducks 

 offered. Although prices for most objects have 

 values which are pretty well recognized by 

 everyone, vendors always start with an asking 

 price considerably higher, to be countered with 



