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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



The money was paid, and just as the Indians 

 were about to walk out, they expressed inter- 

 est in a cdntaro, also a tacha. '"Here we are 

 used to letting them go for $1.15" said Vicen- 

 te, "but since I made a special price of $1.05 

 on the pot for you, I must do the same with 

 this." The Tarascan countered with $0.75, and 

 announced that he was resolved not to pay more. 



tery on mules and burros. Eleven men are full- 

 time rescatones, while 32 more, many of them 

 also potters, dedicate a part of their time to this 

 profession. 



Rescatones may be divided into two major 

 categories: those who go no farther than a day's 

 trip to sell, and those who make longer trips, 

 up to 2 weeks. Those in the first class can get 



Table 20. — Relationship of cash to credit sales in five stores 



1 No data. 



Vicente came down to $1.00 even, his lowest 

 price, absolutely. Still the Indian refused to 

 budge, so the extra lowest price dropped to 

 $0.90. Vicente argued that in any other house 

 they would have to pay at least $1.00 for a jar 

 of the same quality. The Indian refused to pay 

 more, and started to walk out, saying he would 

 come back if he couldn't do better. Then Vi- 

 cente played his trump card. "Very well, just 

 as you like, but this is a special price, just for 

 now. If you come back the price will be $1.00, 

 not 1 centavo less." Still the Tarascan refused; 

 he and his wife walked out into the patio from 

 the pot shed and started to leave. They stop- 

 ped, conferred in Tarascan, and came back to 

 take the jar at Vicente's price. The entire trans- 

 action, for $4.15, had taken about 15 minutes, 

 and everybody seemed satisfied. 



THE RESCATON 



Still another means by which Tzintzuntzan 

 sells its wares and acquires others is that of the 

 rescaton,^ or muleteer. Only small amounts of 

 pottery, the one big export commodity, can be 

 disposed of at home and in neighboring villages, 

 and in Quiroga and Patzcuaro the market has 

 definite limits, particularly because of compe- 

 tition from Santa Fe and Capula. Hence, a 

 wider market is essential. This is found in more 

 distant towns, to which rescatones transport pot- 



1 Rescaton, from rescatur, '"to exchange,'' "to barter." 



as far as Santa Clara in 1 day, remain a day to 

 sell, and come home on the third day. Most 

 rescatones have a fixed destination, and plan to 

 arrive there on the eve of market day, returning 

 home the day after market. Although a few 

 men make, or have made long trips of a month 

 or so into Guerrero, most rescatones travel only 

 a relatively short distance. Outside of Patzcua- 

 ro, a 1-day round trip, the two most common 

 destinations are Tacambaro and Ario de Rosa- 

 les, both "mouths" of the tierra caliente where 

 highland produce is exchanged for products of 

 the lowlands. Both places have Sunday markets, 

 necessitating a Friday departure. About 10 res- 

 catones usually go to the former market, and 

 about five to the latter. 



Jose Medina, primarily a potter, sometimes 

 goes to Huachiran in the tierra caliente. To take 

 advantage of the Sunday market he leaves Tzin- 

 tzuntzan Thursday morning, passing the first 

 night at Santa Clara and the second at Ario, 

 arriving at Huachiran Saturday evening. Some- 

 times he sells in the plaza himself, and other 

 times he sells in bulk to local merchants. The 

 product is worth about double its Tzintzuntzan 

 value. 



Wenceslao and Faustino Peiia make a couple 

 of trips a month to Tareta, below Uruapan on 

 the railroad to Apatzingan. Leaving early Fri- 

 day morning they sleep in Ajuno, and reach 

 their destination Saturday night for the Sunday 

 market. Relative proximity to the sierra makes 



