parative isolation may, in fact, be far more 

 that of 16th-century Spain than that of native 

 America. This is not to say, however, that a 

 pure 16th-century Spanish culture survives any- 

 vv'here. In the case of Cheran, Beals suggests 

 that the distinctive characteristics may repre- 

 sent the "pattern influence of native ideas" on 

 European features, together with the effects of 

 Bishop Vasco de Quiroga's application of 

 Thomas More's "Utopia." For historical an- 

 thropology, these communities clearly pose im- 

 portant problems concerning 16th-century 

 Spanish culture, its imposition through the con- 

 quistadors and priests on the Indians, and the 

 subsequent long interval during which many 

 areas stabilized their culture in comparative 

 isolation. 



Despite being considered Indian, Cheran 

 seems to contain the potentialities for rapid 

 acculturation. Its essential economic patterns 

 will, so far as local productivity through agri- 

 culture or manufactures permit, facilitate fur- 

 ther economic development as the new highway 



stimulates increased commerce with other 

 areas. Its essentially Spanish social patterns 

 and its present proletariat consciousness and 

 political sense seem to afford a ready basis for 

 further assimilation of national culture through 

 the informal means of outside contacts and the 

 more formal means of governmental programs. 

 Its strong Catholic background will pave the 

 way for further Church influence. One cannot 

 predict the future of such a community in 

 detail, for it will depend partly upon national 

 and even international developments as well as 

 upon Cheran's reaction to them. General 

 trends are now observable among comparable 

 communities ; and the work that the Institute 

 of Social Anthropology is now carrying on in 

 cooperation with the Escuela Nacional de An- 

 tropologia of Mexico among other Tarascan 

 villages that have slightly different character- 

 istics and degrees of acculturation and the 

 Institute's studies in other parts of Latin 

 America will yield data that will both clarify 

 general trends and high-light local peculiarities. 



PHONETIC NOTE 



The phonetic symbols used conform to the Tarascan alphabet approved by the 

 Congreso de Filologos y Lingiiistas of Mexico in 1939 and employed by the Tarascan 

 Project of the Departamento de Asuntos Indigenas. The alphabet is based on standard 

 Spanish usage insofar as possible, with additional symbols added for Tarascan and with 

 some clarification of the Spanish symbols as indicated below. 



The vowels a, e, i, o, u have Spanish values. The vowel a is intermediate between 

 Spanish i and u. 



The consonants 6, d, f, g, j, k, I, m, n, p, y, s. and f have regular Spanish values. In 

 addition the following symbols are used: 



4 is the equivalent of English or Spanish ts. 



c is the equivalent of English ch. 



■q is used for the sound of English ng in "sing." 



ix. is intermediate between Spanish I and r. 



r is the equivalent of Spanish rr. 



s is the equivalent of English sli. 



4', 6', k', p', and t' are aspirated forms of the consonants given above. 



/, I, and r occur only in foreign loan words in Tarascan; 6, d, and g occur primarily 

 in words of Spanish origin but occur sometimes in purely Tarascan words. 



