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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 6 



Marriage records show an average interval for 

 men of perhaps 2 years beween death of the 

 first wife and remarriage; the shortest interval 

 noted was 3 months. Widows usually wait a 

 longer time, though it is hard to tell whether 

 this is due to respect for their deceased husbands 

 or whether they simply have fewer opportuni- 

 ties. Many widowers take second wives a num- 

 ber of years their junior, though not infrequently 

 they will take a widow in their own age class or 

 even a bit older. 



Marriage, as contrasted to birth, involves or 

 affords the opportunity to enter into kinship 

 relationships which are voluntary and not de- 

 termined by blood. Among the Mestizos kinship 

 terminology is practically the same as that for 

 urban centers. A significant difference, however, 

 has to do with the change, or rather the lack of 

 change, of the bride's surname after her mar- 

 riage. 



In urban Mexico, as in Spain and other His- 

 panic countries, the bride does not foresake her 

 surname for that of her husband. Rather, she 

 henceforth is called, for example, Mary Doe, 

 (wife) of Jones. Thus, Maria Mendez marries 

 Juan Morales and becomes Maria Mendez de 

 Morales, Mary Mendez (wife) of Morales. After 

 his death she legally becomes Maria Mendez 

 viuda de Morales, Mary Mendez, widow of Mo- 

 rales. But her own surname continues to be 

 that which she had as a single person. Children 

 acquire a double surname which incorporates 

 those of both parents. To illustrate, Roberto, 

 son of Juan Morales and Maria Mendez, be- 

 comes Roberto Morales y Mendez. His chil- 

 dren, in turn, bear the surname Morales plus 

 that of his wife. In Tzintzuntzan these sophis- 

 ticated technicalities are unknown. After mar- 

 riage a wife retains her own family surname, 

 and no one would ever think of adding the "of 

 Morales" or whatever the husband's name might 

 be. Likewise, children take only the surname 

 of their father; compound surnames incorporat- 

 ing that of the mother are never found. 



THE COMPADRAZGO SYSTEM 



Tzintzuntzan participates in the Mexican 

 complex of formalized friendships and fictional 

 kinship known as the compadrazgo or godparent 

 system. In outward appearance this takes the 

 form of a godparent-godchild relationship. 



Actually, the bond is almost if not quite as strong 

 between parents and godparents, for the new 

 godparents, by acquiescing to the request of 

 the parents, publicly proclaim their friendship 

 with them. No two major Mexican areas have 

 quite the same combination of compadrazgos, 

 and even within the Tarascan area there are 

 slight differences. Those of Tzintzuntzan are: 



1. 



2. 



o 

 O. 



4. 



Baptism. 

 Confirmation. 

 Marriage. 

 De la corona 



("of the crown'' 



Relative importance of the four types varies, 

 as will become apparent from the discussion of 

 each. 



Compadrazgo of baptism. — Baptismal god- 

 parents of a child constitute a sort of insurance; 

 should the parents die they must assume all re- 

 sponsibility for raising the orphans. Their obli- 

 gations transcend that of siblings or parents of 

 the deceased parents, and in turn they expect 

 exactly the same affection and respect that chil- 

 dren give to their real parents. Since no two 

 children in a family usually have the same god- 

 parents, death does not mean the added respon- 

 sibility of half a dozen children for godparents. 

 The drawback to the system is that, in case of 

 death of both parents, the children are separated 

 and distributed among the homes of the several 

 godparents. Though a married couple usually 

 will be asked to serve as baptismal godparents, 

 this is not obligatory and unrelated persons of 

 the opposite sex may be asked. If the persons 

 asked accept, the father takes brandy and ciga- 

 rettes to the new godfather and bread to the 

 godmother to seal the agreement. 



Baptism takes place a few days to a month 

 after birth, unless it is feared a sickly new- 

 born child may die, in which case the act is 

 performed immediately. The priest, clothed in 

 his black cassock, white rochet, and stole, faces 

 the godmother who holds the child's body, the 

 godfather who supports its head, and the par- 

 ents who stand to the rear. After reminding 

 those assembled that it is a mortal sin not to 

 present one's children for baptism, that only 

 Catholics can be godparents, that the new god- 

 parents are acquiring life-long obligations to 

 their spiritual children, and that they have con- 

 tracted spiritual kinship with the child's parents, 

 the priest places a pinch of salt in the child's 



