EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



WORK PATTERNS 



153 



In an attempt to determine more precisely 

 the nature of division of work within the family, 

 work schedules of the activities of all members 

 of 15 years of age and over of eight famil- 

 ies were kept for periods of approximately 2 

 months. The results, in somewhat condensed 

 form, are tabulated in table 23. The same fa- 

 milies also were used to obtain the family bud- 

 gets (tables 24-31), and the meal schedules (ta- 

 bles 33 and 34), which cover essentially the 

 same period of time. The following descrip- 

 tions of each family will serve as background 

 material for all analyses. The numbers follow- 

 ing the names are the census numbers, and can 

 be used to locate each family on map 1. 



(i) Rendon family {19). — The family consists of 

 Vicente Rendon, 42; his wife, Natividad Pena, 40; 

 and their three children: Gaudencio, 10; Teresa, 8; 

 and Consuelo, 5. Before his marriage, Vicente was a 

 farmer and rescaton. His fathers lands, divided 

 among four brothers, gave each such a small plot 

 that he was unable to support a family, so he began 

 helping Natividad with pottery making and has be- 

 come fairly proficient. Together they form one of the 

 premier pottery teams of Tzintzuntzan. By farming 

 his small milpa, and share cropping others, he pro- 

 duces about a third of the family income; the re- 

 mainder comes from potteiy, plus a little from the 

 sale of fruit. The family owns 2 burros and 13 

 chickens, and the patio contains, including seedlings 

 and producing trees: 37 peach, 4 apricot, 3 capulin, 

 3 alligator pear, 2 lemon, 2 lime, 2 orange, 2 fig, and 

 1 zapote. Their house is in category 7, lacking water 

 and electric lights. This is probably due to the fact 

 that they live well beyond the reach of the water 

 main and electric cable. 



(2) Hernandez family {15). — The family consists 

 of Melesio Hernandez, 45, and his wife, Micaela Hi- 

 nojosa, 36. The children are Francisco, 17; Eucario, 

 15; Pablo, 12; Ofelia, 9; and Fidelia, 7. all children 

 of Melesio by a former marriage; and Dolores, 16, 

 and Virginia, 11, children of Micaela by a former 

 marriage. Herminia Campuzano, 24, is the sister-in- 

 law of Micaela. Melesio is a farmer who farms his 

 own lands, those of his wife, and who share crops 

 other milpas. He is also a rescaton as well as a plow 

 maker. Micaela, the older daughters, and Herminia 

 are seamstresses, and thus add considerably to the 

 family income. The home is in category 7, with a 

 privy, beds (including one with springs), and oil 

 lighting. Water is taken from a tap in a neighboring 

 patio. Numerous livestock, which add considerably 

 to the family wealth, include 4 horses, 2 oxen, 9 head 

 of cattle, 3 sheep, 7 chickens, and 1 goat. 



(3) Mclchor family {115). — The family consists 

 of Eleuterio Melchor, 40; his wife Aurelia Cuiris, 35; 

 and their children: Carmen, 16; Leonardo, 15; Mar- 

 garita, 10; Jose, 8; and Maria, 2. Eleuterio controls 

 a milpa which he does not bother to farm, but from 

 which he receives a small income on a share crop- 

 ping basis. The basic income of the family is from 

 pottery making, plus significant sums of money from 

 the exploitation of the mezciil cactus during the sprin". 

 Trees include 3 peach, 2 zapote, 1 alligator pear, and 

 1 quince. Livestock is limited to 2 burros and 6 

 chickens. The house is in category 4, with plank 

 beds and oil lighting. 



{4) Alejandro Urbano family {50). — The family 

 consists of Alejandro Urbano, 55, and his wife. Mar- 

 garita Farias, 45, and their children: Irineo, 20; Hi- 

 polito, 14; and Fidel, 13. Alejandro does very little 

 work except for occasional baking of bread. Marga- 

 rita is a hard-working potter. Irineo is a day laborer. 

 No livestock is kept, but fruit trees, including 20 

 peach, 2 alligator ])ear, 1 zapote, 1 ajtricot, and 



1 quince, grow in the i)atio. The house is in category 

 4, with plank beds and oil lighting. 



(5) Jesus Molinero family {107). — The family 

 consists of Jesiis Molinero, 56; his wife, Josef a, 56; 

 their daughter, Elena, 25; their son, Hilario, 22; 

 and Elena's son, Guadalupe, 8. All adult members 

 of the family are potters. Jesus also repairs huara- 

 ches, and Hilario is a day laborer. Livestock includes 



2 burros, 1 pig, and 3 chickens; fruit trees are 4 

 peach, 2 cherimoya, and 2 zapote. The house is in 

 category 4, with oil lighting and a water tap. This 

 last actually is paid for by several coojjerating fam- 

 ilies and is found in Jesiis' patio only because it is 

 the most conveniently located. Otherwise the house 

 category would be 1. 



(6) Romulo Molinero family {107). — Romulo, 28, 

 is the son of Jesiis, and with his wife, Teresa Alonso, 

 19, and infant daughter, Emilia, lives in the same 

 house with his father. The work, cooking, and family 

 budgets are apart, though pots will be fired in the 

 same kiln at the same time. Romulo is the town 

 policeman, and he and his wife are also sporadic 

 potters. They own no livestock or fruit trees. 



(7) Vazquez family {144). — The family consists 

 of Paulino, 50, a widower, and his mother, Salud, 70. 

 Both are potters, in addition to which Paulino occa- 

 sionally works as a hired laborer, cutting wheat or 

 doing other agricultural work. Paulino is one of the 

 few beekeepers of Tzintzuntzan, with 5 hives. He also 

 has 5 chickens. Two peach trees and 1 alligator pear 

 tree grow in the patio. The house category is 0, 

 with no improvements whatsoever. Water is drawn 

 from the tap across the street in the house of Jesiis 

 Molinero. 



(8) Severiano Urbano family {144). — This is a 

 joint household with that of Paulino. Severiano Ur- 

 bano, 32, is married to Mariana Vazquez, 28, the 

 daughter of Paulino. Their children are Elvira, 10; 

 Zenaida, 7; and Salud, 2. As in the case of Romulo 



