Clieran: A Sierra Tarascan Village 



Bv Ralph L. Beals 



INTRODUCTION 



The study of Cheran was carried out in 

 1940-41 as part of the Program of Anthro- 

 pological Investigations among the Tarascans, 

 a cooperative undertaking of the University of 

 California, the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia 

 del Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e His- 

 toria (formerly the Departamento de Antropo- 

 logia de la Escuela de Ciencias Biologicas del In- 

 stituto Politecnico Nacional), and the Departa- 

 mento Autonomo de Asuntos Indigenas. In 

 general, the program aims at a thorough in- 

 vestigation of the Tarascans and their culture, 

 both past and present.^ An extensive program 

 of this character is obviously the work of many 

 persons and involves many individual projects. 

 Consequently, a number of subjects which 

 might have formed a part of the study of 

 Cheran were not undertaken because they will 

 be dealt with in other studies. The chief omis- 

 sion has been the lack of any general considera- 

 tion of the Tarascans as a whole or any investi- 

 gation of historical backgrounds. In some 

 respects the study of Cheran would be more 

 rounded and intelligible had fuller knowledge 

 of the historical changes in Tarascan culture 

 been available. 



Unfortunately, the historical aspects of the 

 Tarascan program are still little developed. 

 Several years of documentary research would 

 have been necessary to approach the study of 

 Cheran with reasonably full background knowl- 

 edge. Consequently, the description of Cheran 

 is primarily a cross section of the culture of 

 the community at the time of the study without 

 any effort to interpret its historical develop- 

 ment. 



1 For a fuller discussion of the Program, see Rubin de la 

 Borbolla. D. F., and Beals, Ralph L. (1940) and Beals, Carrasco, 

 and McCorkle (1944). 



Financial support for the field work came 

 from two sources. The Board of Research of 

 the University of California contributed ma- 

 terially to field expenses and to the preparation 

 of the manuscript. In addition, a substantial 

 amount was made available for field expenses 

 by the Departamento Autonomo de Asuntos 

 Indigenas in Mexico. Funds for a preliminary 

 survey of the Tarascan area, which resulted in 

 the selection of Cheran for study, were sup- 

 plied by the Board of Research of the Univer- 

 sity of California and the Instituto Politecnico 

 Nacional. 



The village of Cheran was chosen for several 

 reasons. In the first place, it is the largest of 

 the mountain Tarascan villages and conse- 

 quently offered an advantageous opportunity 

 for several people to work simultaneously. 

 Until about 1937 Cheran was also one of the 

 most isolated of the mountain Tarascan towns. 

 In that year the grade for the branch highway 

 from the Guadalajara-Mexico City highway to 

 Uruapan was established. Paving of this high- 

 way was completed in 1940, but little effect on 

 Cheran had yet taken place. This situation 

 offered an attractive opportunity for later in- 

 vestigation of the results of lessened isolation. 

 Finally, Cheran is an almost wholly Indian 

 town, a situation which is not true of most of 

 the large mountain Tarascan settlements. 

 Actually, in 1940 only a few families in Cheran 

 did not regard themselves as Tarascan. The 

 non-Tarascan families were more or less tran- 

 sient and occupied a low position in the social 

 scale ; most of them were the fiotsam left from 

 the highway construction crews and had 

 neither influence nor status in the town. The 

 majority actually left the town during 1940. 



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