6 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 1 



by one or more of 

 following: 



Sierra region: 

 Ahuiran 

 Angahuan 

 Aranza 

 Capacuaro 

 Charapan 

 Cheriln 

 Cocucho 

 Corupo 

 Nahuatzen 

 Nuri6 

 Paracho 

 Parangaricuttro 

 Parfcutin 

 Patamban 

 Pomacuariln 

 Quinseo 

 San Felipe 

 San Lorenzo 

 Tarecuato 

 Urapieho 

 Zirosto 



the authors included the 



La Canada: 



Acaehu^n 



Carapan 



Ciiilehota 



Hudncito 



Ichdn 



Santo Tom^ 



Tacuro 



Tanaquillo 



Ur6n 



Zopoco 

 Lake Pdtzcuaro: 



CucuchucJio 



Huecorio 



Ihuatzio 



Janicho 



Jardeuaro 



Tecuena 



Tzentz^nhuaro 



Tzintzuntzan 



Tzurumutaro 



Yunudn 



In the last area, information was also secured 

 from residents of Cuanajo and Pudcuaro, but 

 these villages were not visited. 



Many informants were used, but those most 

 employed in Chcran were Pedro Chdvez and 

 Agustin Rangel; in Paracho, Maximino Estrada, 

 master carpenter; and in Angahuan, the brothers 

 Jos6 and Miguel Bravo. 



Tarascan words are written in the alphabet 

 approved by the Consejo de Lenguas Indigenas. 

 Unless otherwise indicated, Tarascan words are 

 from Paracho or Cheran (the two are only 6 

 mdes apart, and dialect difl'erences are shght). 

 Spanish words are itahcized, but if the word has 

 a special regional meaning not found in standard 

 dictionaries, it is placed in quotations and the 

 meaning is explained the first time the word is 

 used. Names of towns are in the local Spanish 

 spelling. 



THE TARASCAN TOWN 



Tarascan towns tend to be located on level, or 

 relatively level ground. Exceptions arc found 

 only in a few villages located in the higher moun- 

 tains such as Quinseo, Cocucho, and others. Ex- 

 cept where the irregularities of the terrain prohibit, 

 the towns are subdivided by streets forming rec- 

 tangular blocks oriented approximately to the 

 compass points (pi. 1, upper). This is undoubt- 

 edly a reflection of the Spanish origins of these 

 towns; in many of the settlements traditions of 

 former locations stdl exist. The blocks are sub- 

 divided into lots, or solares, of quite variable size, 

 which are used both as building sites and gardens. 

 Usually, the lots are fenced, particularly on the 

 side facing the street. Houses either may adjoin 

 the street line or may be located well within the 

 lot away from the street. In the center of the 

 larger towns, structures are more apt to adjoin 

 the street, but the doors of living quarters almost 

 always open on the yard rather than tiie 

 street. 



In the Lake region, the fisliing villages tend to 

 be on the edge of the water. As a result, some 

 of the smaller villages, such as Tecuena and 

 Yunudn, do not have streets but merely paths. 

 Where the ground is very uneven, as at Janicho 



on the Lake and some of the Sierra villages, such 

 as Urapieho, the plan is irregular and the streets 

 have steps. 



If the town is of any size, it usually is divided 

 into from two to four districts known as cuarteles, 

 or barrios. The town tends to center on a plaza, 

 where usually is to be found a municipal building, 

 the school, and the church, although the latter 

 may not be directly upon the plaza. In most 

 cases, a fenced cemetery exists before the chm-ch, 

 but in some towns it has been replaced by a new 

 cemetery on the outskirts. A stone cross still 

 stands in the center of the cemetery in most towns. 



Two clearly defined types of construction exist 

 in the Tarascan area: wood, and a combination 

 of adobe bricks and stone masonry laid in adobe 

 mortar. In the region of the Sierra, the majority 

 of houses are of wood with shake roofs. Adobe- 

 and-masonry construction with tile roofs predom- 

 inates in the region around Lake Pdtzcuaro, the 

 district of Zacdpu, the region known as La Caiiada, 

 and the district of Zamora. The division, how- 

 ever, is not absolute. Adobe-and-masonry struc- 

 tures, sometimes with tile roofs, sometimes with 

 shake roofs, are found in most of the towns of 

 the Sierra, especially in the larger settlements and 



