EMPIRES children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



187 



suggested that he be sent to the authorities in Patz- 

 cuaro in the hope that he would be severely dealt 

 with. The president, however, refused, apparently 

 fearing that retaliation might follow, and also be- 

 cause the fine would be lost to him. A fine of $25 

 was levied, which was reduced to $9 when his wife 

 pleaded that that was all she had, and he was set free 

 on the condition that he go home. 



(6) Another dispute of the fiesta centered around 

 the games of chance which, although illegal, flour- 

 ish at all fiestas. The president had collected the 

 customary plaza tax to permit them to ply their 

 trade, when a local general from Morelia passed 

 through and ordered that the games be confiscated. 

 The general continued his journey, leaving two sub- 

 ordinates, who offered to return the games for a 

 rather high price. The gamblers refused, and carried 

 their complaint to the president, who blandly denied 

 that he knew anything about it. but told the subordi- 

 nates that as soldiers from Morelia they had no juris- 

 diction in Tzintzuntzan. While the discussion contin- 

 ued the lieutenant from Patzcuaro arrived and ruled 

 that the games were to be locked up for the duration 

 of the fiesta, but that no action was to be taken 

 against the gamblers. 



The basic principle of local justice seems to 

 be to jail the disputants to allow them to cool 

 down, extract as large a fine as the traffic will 

 bear, and then dismiss the case. In the course 

 of the field study countless cases of this type 

 were handled, and no permanent feuds seemed 

 to result. In a strict sense "justice" is not al- 

 ways meted out, but the system seems to provide 

 reasonable law and order, and the average citi- 

 zen enjoys relative personal security and safety. 



Apart from disputes, one of the functions of 

 the court is to draw up contracts of various 

 types, of which the most frequent is the empeno, 

 or pledging of land as security against a loan. 

 (See pp. 144-145.) 



MUNICIPAL FIESTAS 



The Mexican Independence Day, September 

 16, and the anniversary of the founding of the 

 municipio of Tzintzuntzan, October 2, are mark- 

 ed by the only two completely nonreligious fies- 

 tas of the year. Without the Church as the focus 

 of interest, plans usually are built around activ- 

 ities of the school children. Neither celebration 

 approaches the major Church fiestas in impor- 

 tance or interest. 



INDEPENDENCE DAY 



The one invariable ritual of this day is the 

 midnight reenactment by the municipal president 



of the Grito de Dolores, symbolizing Father Mi- 

 guel Hidalgo's 1810 call to independence. For 

 the 1945 observance a platform was raised 

 under the portal of Jesus Pena's El Progreso 

 store, facing the plaza. Most work stopped by 

 noon of September 15, when the band took its 

 place in the bandstand and people began to 

 promenade. About 10 in the evening the munic- 

 ipal council took its place on the platform, 

 sharing honors with the school children who, 

 having drilled on recitations and short one-act 

 dramas for the past month, romped through 

 their brief moment of glory with scarcely a 

 hitch. 



Toward midnight municipal president Zeferi- 

 no took a self-conscious place at the edge of the 

 platform, drew himself up into his most dramat- 

 ic pose, and uttered the magic words, "Viva la 

 independencia" which, simultaneously shouted 

 over all the land, from the balcony of the Gov- 

 ernment Palace in Mexico City by the President 

 of the Republic himself, to the most humble 

 village of the country, annually brings to 20 

 million Mexicans the supreme patriotic thrill. 

 "Viva, Viva," echoed the crowd. "Viva Mexico, 

 viva el senor Presidente de la Republica, viva 

 el libre e independiente municipio de Tzintzun- 

 tzan." the shouts continued, punctuated by the 

 sound of gunfire, the carbines of the town guard 

 and of any other citizens who wished to join in. 



On noon of the following day a parade com- 

 posed of nearly everybody in town, led by the 

 village officials carrying flags of Mexico and Mi- 

 choacan, made its way about town, its progress 

 marked by band music and the ubiquitous rock- 

 ets without which no Mexican fiesta is complete. 

 Festivities concluded in the evening with a gran 

 kermes. 



The kermes is a typically Mexican (and La- 

 tin-American) function, which corresponds to a 

 charity bazar in the United States. It may be 

 sponsored by a Church organization or any other 

 group, to raise money for some particular pur- 

 pose. In Tzintzuntzan the kermes, held several 

 times a year, whenever the traffic will bear it, 

 is usually for the benefit of the Church; each 

 time during the period of study it was managed 

 by the nieces of the priest, aided by teen-age girl 

 members of the several orders. We were told 

 that they also had been given for the school, and 

 even to bail out the town treasury. In the por- 



