EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



225 



restriction applies only to individual speci- 

 mens which clearly are pairs, and is not generic. 

 Twins are also thought to be a punishment of 

 God; if a woman admires twins He will see 

 to it that her next children are twins. There 

 are few prognostications about sex and ap- 

 pearance of unborn children. It is said that 

 a woman who clearly shows her pregnancy will 

 have a daughter, while one less evidently preg- 

 nant will give birth to a son. Bitter saliva of 

 the mother-to-be forecasts a child with thick 

 hair. 



Miscarriages are so common that almost all 

 women probably experience them at one time 

 or another. "There are a few women," says 

 Carmen, "who miraculously have not suffered 

 miscarriages." Probably the heavy pummeling 

 of the abdomen given by the midwife is a con- 

 tributing factor in this high incidence. One 

 case was noted immediately after this treat- 

 ment. Popular belief attributes miscarriages to 

 a fall or blow, a fright, an eclipse, lifting heavy 

 objects, or failure to satisfy the whims of the 

 expectant mother. An infusion of rotted oak, 

 a piece of cowhide, and the coral purchased in 

 markets is sometimes taken to prevent mis- 

 carriages. 



Abortions are sometimes produced, both by 

 unmarried girls and by women who feel that 

 they already have enough children. Lejia de 

 jabon, purchased in drug stores in Patzcuaro, is 

 the most common method, though infusions of 

 ordinary soapy water are also said to produce 

 the desired results. Urban practice reaches as 

 far as Tzintzuntzan; there a professional abor- 

 tionist plies his trade by means of pills. He is 

 also rumored to have pills which aid women to 

 become pregnant. 



The same restrictions which govern pregnant 

 Mestizos in Tzintzuntzan are generally observed 

 by the Tarascans, who have a firmer belief 

 in the necessity of strict observance, and who 

 add a number of other taboos. The parents-to-be 

 must not eat rabbit for fear the child will have 

 big ears, nor do they eat squirrel for fear it will 

 have big teeth and a long nose. They do not 

 kill rabbits or snakes or look at lizards; to do 

 so would cause the child to suffer teronen (T.) 

 or uitsaman (T.), a chest or heart ailment. 



Before parturition the midwife cautions the 

 father to have ready cooking oil, brandy, al- 



cohol, and chocolate. Vicente Rendon, before 

 the birth of his first child, was the typical anx- 

 ious father-to-be. He laid in his stocks well in 

 advance of die anticipated day, with the result 

 that small daily inroads completely exhausted 

 the supply, and at the last minute he had to 

 rush out to make new purchases. When labor 

 pains begin older children are sent to the homes 

 of relatives and the midwife is summoned. She 

 is aided, normally, only by the husband and 

 perhaps by the girl's mother or some other old- 

 er female relative. A few children are delivered 

 with the mother lying in bed or reclining in a 

 chair. Customarily, however, when pains be- 

 come severe the woman kneels on a petate and 

 supports herself on her husband who kneels op- 

 posite her and holds her around the waist. The 

 midwife gives her a drink of chocolate mixed 

 with pepper and a local, unidentified herb, cho- 

 popaskle. Often a stew of deer snouts and opos- 

 sum, lard, or children's urine, or all three are 

 given. Sympathetic magic may be invoked by 

 folding a "doll," a wad of rags, in a sash tied 

 around the woman's waist. 



A number of techniques are used to facilitate 

 difficult births, most common of which is mas- 

 sage and abdominal pressure. Or the woman 

 may be placed on a blanket held by midwife 

 and husband and rolled back and forth for a 

 few minutes. Sometimes a small fire is built 

 in the room, on which is placed a casserole con- 

 taining sugar and alcohol. The laboring woman 

 straddles the fire, covering it with her volumi- 

 nous petticoat, so that the vapor moistens her 

 lower extremities, and turns around three times. 

 A mixture of heated lard and onions is used to 

 annoint buttocks, stomach, and vulva, and some- 

 times tortillas smeared with onions and oil are 

 placed on the thighs and hips. Hot, steaming 

 cloths may also be placed on the abdomen. To 

 help produce muscular contractions to expel the 

 infant, vomiting is caused by forcing a woman's 

 braids down her throat. 



When the infant finally emerges it is turned 

 over to the other female to hold, and the mid- 

 wife directs her attention to receiving the after- 

 birth. When it is slow in appearing, a ground 

 prickly pear cactus leaf is boiled and given to 

 the woman to eat. Walnut blossom tea may be 

 given to stimulate the flow of blood follow- 

 ing birth, and infusions of sugarcane and epa- 



