28 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 



Table 5.- — Costs of Jwusing in Cherdn 



These figures show a very wide range, yet they 

 still do not represent the true situation. Actually, 

 of coui'se, if a poverty-stricken person can persuade 



a relative or friend to permit him to use a bit of 

 land — as many do — the cost of minimal shelter 

 could be as low as $11. By begging scraps, even 

 this figure could be reduced. Such a housing 

 situation would, however, be regarded as "fright- 

 ful" by all Tarascans. 



At the other end of the scale, there are numer- 

 ous Chcran residents who have much more costly 

 establishments than those represented under d. 

 Relatively few are in the condition of b; the great 

 majority of Cherdn residents would fall in cate- 

 gory c and a fair proportion in category d. The 

 discussion of house use will illustrate this point. 



RELATION OF HOUSES TO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS 



Only in a general way is there correlation be- 

 tween house size and type to social and economic 

 status. Very poor people would be in categories 

 a or b. But relatively poor and relatively wealthy 

 people will often be in class c. Where the family 

 occupies a class d category, this will usually be 

 owing to one, or a combination of the following 

 things: 



1. Size of household. Often two brothers, or a father and 

 one or more married sons oceupy the residence. 



2. A special occupation, such as storekeeping, may be 



followed. 



3. There may be definite social pretensions. Of these 



three causes, the last seems least operative. Wealth 

 is a necessary prerequisite to anji.hing more elaborate 

 than class d housing but wealth is often concealed. 

 Numerous families in class d are far from wealthy 

 by Cher^n standards. 



These judgments are somewhat subjective, but 

 case material could be cited to support them. 



USES OF THE TARASCAN HOUSE 



STORAGE 



The Cheran house is really a storehouse. The 

 loft and, sometimes, the lower floor are employed 

 for storage of crops and food reserves. The lower 

 floor is used for the storage of clothing, furnitiu'e 

 not in inunediate use, and for the family altar 

 and the image of the samt. On occasion, it may 

 be used as a sleeping room for guests. Supple- 

 mentary sheds also may be used for crop storage, 

 especially for fodder for animals. 



SLEEPING AND COOKING 



Cooking and eating is all done in the kitchen. 

 Guests may be fed in the kitchen, outside, on the 

 house veranda, or in the house. Female visitors 

 ar(^ usually entertained in the kitchen. Male 

 visitors are more apt to be entertained outdoors 

 or on the house veranda, depending on the 

 weather. 



In moiuilain towns, siseping is always in the 



kitchen. With few exceptions, the entire family 

 sleeps on mats about the fire. Cold weather and 

 lack of bedding are given as the reasons for this. 

 Even where a masomy-adobo structm'c with a 

 bed exists, the family normally sleeps in the 

 Idtchen. 



On ceremonial occasions modifications occur. 

 The house to some extent becomes a center of 

 activities, while cooking will move into the open 

 or under supplementary sheds. These occasions 

 are not many. In the main, family life takes 

 place outdoors when the weather permits; in the 

 kitchen when it docs not. The term "house" in 

 ]3ractice is a euphemism, and some members of 

 the family may not enter the structiu'e for days 

 at a time. 



HOUSE SIZE AND HOUSEHOLD SIZE 



A survey of Cheran houses was made to deter- 

 mine the relationship between size of buildings 



