EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



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mouth, touches the nose and ear lobes with his 

 saliva-dipped fingers and sprinkles water from 

 the baptismal font on the tiny head. Finally, 

 lioly oil is placed on the child's breast, neck, and 

 armpits. For this act the priest receives $1.50. 

 The sacristan who has aided receives some small 

 change, and a bolo of a few centavos is distrib- 

 uted to each of the children who, hearing what 

 is under way, gather at the church door. The 

 father invites all who have participated to his 

 house for a meal of chocolate, bread, and pozole, 

 and later he gives a tray of bread, chocolate, 

 and sugar to the new godparents. A week or 

 two later the godparents respond with a gift of 

 a chicken, a little bread, and a pot of atole. 



For the presentation 40 days after birth the 

 godparents present the child with a complete 

 outfit of white dress and cap, sash, and cloth 

 shoes. If they are wealthy they may hire an 

 orchestra to accompany them to the house of the 

 child the night before its presentation, where 

 the parents greet them with a small fiesta. Usual- 

 ly only the godmother and child's mother go to 

 the church where, with the priest, they kneel in 

 the presbytery. With one end of the stole in 

 the child's hand and a large candle in the other, 

 the priest says the Benediction and tells the 

 women that the child is now entitled to inherit 

 the Kingdom of Heaven. He receives $ 0.50 

 from the godparents for this service. 



Compadrazgo of confirmation. — A single god- 

 father is selected for boys and a godmother for 

 girls. The archbishop is expected to visit each 

 parish at least every 2 years, and only on those 

 occasions can children be confirmed. The god- 

 parent is obliged to buy a ticket for S 0.25 which 

 entitles the child to join the others who are con- 

 firmed during the service. No significant obli- 

 gations are incurred. 



Compadrazgo of marriage. — These godpar- 

 ents are selected by the father of the boy with 

 the concurrence of the girl's parents. The fa- 

 ther takes a bottle of liquor when making his 

 request, and if accepted tells the date of the 

 festivities. Marriage godparents are expected to 

 serve a wedding breakfast of bread and choco- 

 late after the Church ceremony, and to provide 

 music during the entire day for dancing. Like- 

 wise they are expected to give advice to the 

 newlyweds, to tell them to be faithful to each 

 other, not to fight, and to work hard to make 



the new union a success. In case of serious dis- 

 putes the godparents are mediators, and the 

 couple is expected to follow their advice. An 

 example of this participation is described in 



the section on marriage. 



-Though moder- 



Compadrazgo of the croivn.- 

 ately important among the Tarascans, this com- 

 padrazgo often descends to the level of a joke 

 among the Mestizos. The relationships usually 

 are formed during the fiesta of Rescate or Easter 

 Week celebrations. For the former a special 

 crown known as that of Nuestro Seiior del Res- 

 cate is used, while for the latter, that of the 

 Santo Entierro is taken. Sometimes in advance, 

 but often on the spur of the moment, parents 

 may ask individuals to be their compadres dc 

 la corona. Usually no attempt is made to find 

 a married couple, and a man more often than a 

 woman will serve. Parents and prospective god- 

 father go with the child or children to the 

 church, where an encargado de la corona ("one 

 charged with the crown") holds the "crown," a 

 small tin object of the size and form of a cookie 

 cutter fastened to a short handle, over the head 

 of the child who is held by the godparent. While 

 an assistant rings a small bell a lighted candle 

 is held in the child's hand and a prayer is said, 

 after which the compadre drops a few centavos 

 in a nearby plate. At the door of the church 

 the new compadres may embrace each other, 

 though this is not obligatory. More important 

 is taking the children to a stand to buy them a 

 small trinket — earrings for girls, a rattle for a 

 small boy, and perhaps a wooden truck for a 

 slightly larger boy. 



Compadres may be selected in various man- 

 ners. Usually persons of the same economic 

 category are chosen, since intimate relations 

 between families of widely differing economic 

 status almost invariably are strained. Relatives 

 may be godparents, and among the very poor 

 this is quite common, since it involves less fi- 

 nancial outlay on the part of the godparent. At 

 the same time another force mitigates against 

 this becoming a rule; people are afraid others 

 will burlesque them, saying that they are trying 

 to avoid spending money. A godparent of one 

 type never becomes godparent of another type 

 to the same person, but a godparent of marriage 

 may be, and sometimes is, baptismal godparent 

 of a child of his married godchildren. Baptis- 



