EiMPIRE S CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



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the new constitution of February 5, 1917. Res- 

 toration of lands was to be made on the basis 

 of the number of eligible and needy individuals 

 in each community requesting land. The ejidos 

 were to be owned jointly and communally by the 

 community, and each individual was to receive 

 an allotment, or parcela, of several hectares, 

 depending upon the nature of the land. Such 

 land could not be considered as privately own- 

 ed, could not be rented or sold, but was to re- 

 main with the ejidatario as long as he worked 

 it himself. 



Tzintzuntzan appears to have been one of the 

 first towns to request the return of its lands, the 

 original petition having been made February 

 11, 1916, one year after the decree of 1915. 

 There is some question as to who instituted pro- 

 ceedings, since the two men whose names ap- 

 pear on the petition are unknown in town. Sub- 

 sequent events suggest that there was little en- 

 thusiasm or interest in Tzintzuntzan, and that 

 the "pushing" was done by State officials in Mo- 

 relia. On January 22, 1917, the original titles 

 to land of the antigua comunidad de indigenas, 

 the corporate body which held communal title, 

 were delivered in 4 volumes to the State Archive 

 in Morelia. The Government request that the 

 date when the lands were taken from the com- 

 munity, and an account of how and why, could 

 not be met, nor could witnesses to the event be 

 produced, since all had died. This is surpris- 

 ing, since restitution proceedings were begun 

 less than 40 years after the land distribution. 

 In view of this, the Local Agrarian Commission 

 ruled, August 6, 1919, that for the time being 

 the Government would not proceed with the res- 

 titution, but that the case would remain open 

 to be taken up again at an opportune time, and 

 that the papers would be put through the mill 

 in the hope that formalities could be fulfilled. 

 This judgment was approved by the governor 

 on August 13 of the same year. 



Accordingly, the Local Agrarian Commission 

 took a census on January 1, 1921, which showed 

 1,180 inhabitants in Tzintzuntzan, with a total 

 of 468 persons with occupations including 200 

 potters, 125 jornaleros or hired laborers, 45 

 farmers, 28 servants, 18 fishermen, and small 

 numbers engaged in other types of work. This 

 census appears to have been padded in order to 

 make as drastically apparent as possible the 

 town's need of land. The Federal census of 



1921 showed a population of only 958, includ- 

 ing 71 farmers, and when compared to the ge- 

 neral population trend manifest in other cen- 

 suses would appear to be much more nearly 

 correct. Studies were carried out to determine 

 what lands should be expropriated, and parts 

 of the haciendas of Sanabria, belonging to Se- 

 nora Soledad Tovar, viuda de Villanueva, and 

 Corrales, belonging to Senora Dolores Diaz Ba- 

 rriga, viuda de Arriaga, were decided upon. 



Both women were notified of the impending 

 action, and asked to show cause. Through their 

 lawyers they proceeded to argue that their lands 

 should be left intact, and in dog-eat-dog fashion, 

 demonstrated why the lands of the other were 

 those that should be taken. Apparently as a 

 result of their protests, a second census was 

 taken by the same body, on October 4, 1932. 

 This showed a population of 1,091, somewhat 

 closer to the correct figure, with 166 potters, 

 69 farmers, 20 fishermen, and 49 family heads 

 engaged in other occupations. A total of 61 

 landowners was listed, while 57 individuals 

 were listed as capacitados, apparently meaning 

 capable of working and in need of lands. In 

 the analysis of potential lands, the haciendas 

 were classified according to the common system 

 of tierras de riego, or irrigated fields ; temporal, 

 cultivated only by means of natural rainfall; 

 monle, or brush and forest; and pastol-cerril, 

 pasture lands. Action before 1925 is unclear. 

 In that year a statement of the Local Agrarian 

 Commission declares that the minimum allot- 

 ment to be given to each prospective ejidatario 

 should be the minimum prescribed by law, either 

 3 hectares of irrigated land, 4 hectares of first- 

 class temporal, or 6 of other types. Then fol- 

 lows a detailed description of the lands of Tzin- 

 tzuntzan and the bordering holdings on all sides, 

 including the areas earmarked for expropriation. 

 Most of the bordering lands are, as might be 

 anticipated, those listed in the padron of 1878 

 of landowners of Tzintzuntzan. Pottery is given 

 as the chief occupation of the town, with estimat- 

 ed annual incomes of potters of $300 to $350, 

 and fishermen of S800 to $1,000. 



As a result of this analysis, the Local Agrar- 

 ian Commission ruled on March 10, 1926, that 

 Tzintzuntzan should receive 60 hectareas of tem- 

 poral and 180 of monte, to be taken from the 

 Hacienda of Sanabria. The governor approved 

 this action March 23, thereby authorizing the 



