HOUSES OF THE SIERRA TARASCANS BEALS, CARRASCO, McCORKLE 



BUILDING MATERIALS AND THEIR SOURCES 



WOOD 



All wooden materials used in Cherdn are pro- 

 duced from local timber. The forests stand al- 

 most entirely on public lands considered to belong 

 to the town. Formerly, exploitation of any sort 

 was open to all residents who had paid a small fee 

 to an administrative committee. The fee was 

 used to pay federal taxes on the land. Recently, 

 the Department of Forestry of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment has restricted exploitation of the forests 

 for any purpose other than the collection of fire- 

 wood to persons having permits. In Cheran this 

 apparently wnll mean that persons wishmg to cut 

 lumber or shakes (or make charcoal) must join a 

 local cooperative, for the Department of Forestry 

 has refused to give permits to any other group 

 or to individuals. 



In general, the cutting of lumber is done by 

 specialists. Men who have no land or inadequate 

 land or, in some cases, men who prefer the activ- 

 ity, cut most of the timber and shape it into planks 

 and beams. Shake making is even more special- 

 ized, and men who make shakes may do nothing 

 else except look after whatever farm lands they 

 may own. Only a very poor person would attempt 

 to cut the planks and beams needed for a house if 

 he were not a specialist, but anyone might cut 

 poles and stringers used in the roof construction. 



Woods used in house construction are pine and 

 fir. Pine is most used and two types are dis- 

 tinguished, red (iaaini), the heartwood of large 

 trees, and white, the sapwood of large trees or 

 wood from young trees. From these woods are 

 made shakes, tejamanil, "vigas" (any piece over 

 2 inches (5 cm.) in thickness), and planks, or 

 tablas} 



Trees are felled and trimmed with the ax. To 

 cut trees in sections, a two-handled saw is used 

 caUed a "sardina." Splittmg is done with oak 

 wedges and an oak maul. Large pieces produced in 

 this fasliion are sometimes dressed down with ax or 

 adze. Planks, or tablas, are sawed with a long two- 

 handled saw (k'ereri a.iakutarakua) . Logs des- 

 tined for planks are squared with the ax, marked 



1 The measure of length is the raTa, which is divided in fourths or thirds. 

 Each fourth contains eight English inches (20 cm.) ; so the vara equals 32 inches, 

 or 81.28 cm. Fotirths and inches are measured usually with the hand and 

 fingers, but the span is also used. 



by a chalk Ime, and then placed on a platform of 

 poles, sometimes with a pit underneath.^ 



Shakes, tejamanil, are made from both pine and 

 fir. Fir shakes are preferred as they last longer 

 despite breaking more easily. Trees used to 

 make tejamanil must be straight-grained. The 

 trunk is cut in sections with saw or ax; each sec- 

 tion is then split lengthwise with wedges to pro- 

 duce a number of pieces, usually 8, each 4 fingers 

 wide at the bark edge. These pieces are then spht 

 mto 16 shakes. A special machete is used to start 

 the spht, which is then completed with a thin 

 metal or wooden tool. 



Several types of shakes are made. In Auga- 

 huan, a shake 5 cuartas (40 in.) long and 7 inches 

 wide is made to sell in Zamora and is called 

 Zamorano. One shake 4 cuarfas (32 in.) m length 

 by 4 inches in width, called "little shake" 

 (tasambani sapirati), is sold in Uruapan, M'hile 

 one called "long shake" (tasambani i6rati), 6 

 cuartas (48 in.) by 1 quarta (8 in.), is used in the 

 tow^l itself. Cheran, on the other hand, uses a 

 shake called "thick shake" (tasamani tiapiti), 5 

 cnartas (40 in.) in length. This is the size used in 

 most Tarascan towns. Shakes are occasionally 

 sold by the hundred, but the most common unit is 

 a bundle of 400 (irepita) . 



Master carpenters may use an elaborate variety 

 of modern tools for woodworking and house 

 building. However, everythmg may be done in 

 woodworking with ax, adze, saw, drill, cliisel, and 

 wootlen wedges, and many persons work only with 

 these tools. 



ADOBE BRICKS 



Adobe bricks are usually made from suitable 

 earth near the village by specialists. The earth is 

 nuxed with manure and water to the proper con- 

 sistency, then shaped in wooden forms. Two 

 sizes of brick are made, one 3 spans long, one 2}^ 

 spans long. Adobes are laid by a mason in a mor- 

 tar of adobe and manure. Because of the moist 

 climate, adobe walls always rest on a foundation of 

 stone masonry laid in adobe mortar; tlie foimda- 

 tion may extend as much as half a meter (20 in.) 

 below the gi'ound sm-face. 



2 A fuller description of lumbering techniques will be given in a general 

 monograph on CherSn in preparation. 



