EMPIRE S children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



157 



they learn what is wanted. This means the time- 

 consuming (and for informants, very boring) 

 process of carefully asking. "Did you buy sug- 

 ar, milk, eggs, today?" and so on through the 

 entire list of possibilities. Since one does not 

 know the nature of all purchases, particularly 

 at the beginning, there is ample room for error. 

 In spite of the shortcomings of the raw data, 

 the over-all picture gives a reasonably coherent 

 picture of how Tzintzuntzan earns and spends 

 its money, and makes possible significant esti- 

 mates of yearly budgets. Each budget is 

 discussed in turn, and then related to the yearly 

 estimates presented in table 32. 



Rendon budget [Feb. 10 to April 10, 1945). 

 — Certain features in this budget make it an 

 atypical one for the family from the standpoint 

 of a yearly average. The first weeks followed 

 the fiesta of Rescate, in which there was a con- 

 siderable let-down due to sickness, so that in- 

 come was below average. Half or more of the 

 pottery income is from the sale of the fine white 

 ware which goes to Mexico City every 2 or 3 

 months. Although during the last half of this 

 period this ware was made, it had not been 

 delivered, so the earned income does not actual- 

 ly appear in the cash balance. A lapse of from 

 1 to 3 months in payment for this ware fre- 

 quently occurs. Ordinary ware, on the other 

 hand, is usually disposed of in from 1 to 3 

 weeks after making, and shows up in the rela- 

 tively small items of pottery income. Some of 

 it is sold in small quantities to people, mostly 

 Tarascans from La Vuelta who pass the house 

 on their way home. The larger items represent 

 trips made to Huecorio, on the lake beyond Patz- 

 cuaro, to which Vicente and Natividad often go, 

 taking pottery that has been previously ordered. 



During the first 3 weeks of the period Vicente 

 was finishing his period as judge, and consider- 

 able income in the form of fees accrued during 

 this time. Firewood was sold in small quanti- 

 ties, to the extent of $2.12. This was done more 

 or less as a favor to people who needed a load 

 or two, and who found it inconvenient to gather 

 it themselves. Old debts represent $0.60 and 

 $1.00 is damages collected from a man whose 

 burro entered Vicente's wheat field and dam- 

 aged the crop. The atypical loan of $50.00 was 

 made by me when I learned that the family 

 was about out of money. My sympathy got the 



better of my scientific desire to see how the 

 crisis would be met. Actually, the family would 

 have eaten beans and tortillas for a week, sup- 

 plemented by their own eggs and perhaps a 

 chicken, until more common pottery could be 

 made. Also, they would have made more of 

 this ware for immediate sale rather than the 

 white ware, which the loan permitted them to 

 make, and which resulted in a net increase in 

 income, a few weeks after the end of the diary. 



Expenditures listed in the column "other" in- 

 clude two burros at $75.00 each, a loan of 

 $60.00 secured by the rights to a small milpa 

 (an "empefw," that listed in table 14, case 5), 

 a $25.00 unsecured loan, 840.00 for tiles for a 

 projected new kitchen, $4.00 for adobes for the 

 same, $6.90 for jute bags, $5.00 for packing 

 boxes, $5.60 for packing equipment for burros, 

 $0.32 for remedies for a sick burro, $0.40 bus 

 fare for his secretary to go to Patzcuaro on an 

 errand connected with the court, $1.00 for vcla- 

 doras, special squat candles used in the church, 

 $0.05 for the purchase of the family dog "Jaz- 

 min," $0.20 for tortillas purchased, $0.75 for 

 two brooms, $0.45 for palma bendita or special- 

 ly blessed palm fronds for Easter, $0.35 paid 

 for the washing of clothes, $0.10 for two aspi- 

 rin tablets, $0.20 for medical alcohol, $0.50 

 payment of a debt, chocolate $0.80, lime $0.45, 

 cinnamon $0.35, and $7.50 for tortilla making. 



It is clear that many of the expenditures made 

 during this period are in the nature of capital 

 improvements, and represent the natural increase 

 in wealth of a hard-working family which saves 

 and plans with a foresight not characteristic of 

 most Tzintzuntzeiios. 



The cash balance column is in the nature of 

 an experiment. Even with the utmost care and 

 confidence in the honesty of the informants, we 

 were not certain whether the budgets would 

 stand up under close scrutiny; that is, were we 

 missing significant items of income and outgo 

 which would make the budget merely a collec- 

 tion of worthless figures? On March 10, in try- 

 ing to find out why the family was down to a 

 diet of tortillas and beans for a relatively con- 

 tinued period, I discovered the reason was the 

 lack of money; Natividad, as guardian of the 

 cash register, confessed that she had only $2.40 

 remaining. This led to the loan which enabled 

 the family to continue more normal and efficient 

 work; expenditures for burros and building ma- 



