INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



The exceptions were two storekeepers, both 

 from essentially Indian towns themselves, two 

 school teachers, a Federal tax collector, and the 

 town Secretary. 



The field work in Cheran was a cooperative 

 enterprise, involving the work of numerous 

 assistants. Most important of these helpers 

 was Thomas McCorkle, of Berkeley, Calif. 

 His greatest contribution was in accumulating 

 the endless amount of detail necessary to the 

 economic study, although there is scarcely a 

 section of the paper which does not make use 

 of data collected by him. Dr. Emmanuel 

 Palacios, of the Departamento Autonomo de 

 Asuntos Indigenas, is responsible for a great 

 deal of the data on childbirth, infant care, 

 midwifery, and medical practice in general. 

 Sra. Silvia Rendon, of the Escuela Nacional de 

 Antropologia, worked particularly in the field 

 of foods, but also contributed extensively on 

 other topics, especially on matters dealing with 

 women. She also supplied data from other 

 towns, especially Angahuan, Capacuaro, and 

 Chilchota. Sr. Pedro Carrasco R., of the 

 Escuela Nacional de Antropologia, worked pri- 

 marily on housing. His major contributions 

 are included in two other papers (Reals, Car- 

 rasco, and McCorkle, 1944; Reals and Carrasco, 

 1944), but he also provided miscellaneous notes 

 from Cheran, Angahuan, Capacuaro, and 

 Chilchota and some of the Lake Patzcuaro 

 towns. Some comparative notes from Patam- 

 ban were collected by Ricardo Pozas, of the 

 Escuela Nacional de Antropologia, in the course 

 of a study of pottery manufacture, the details 

 of which are not included in this paper. 

 Finally, some data were collected by Dorothy 

 Reals and Margery McCorkle. 



In addition to the foregoing, many persons 

 in Cheran were of assistance. Throughout the 

 entire period of the study two were especially 

 helpful, Agustin Rangel and Pedro Chavez. 

 The former, although a full-blooded Tarascan, 

 had been born and educated in California. As 

 a literate assistant he was extremely useful in 

 many ways; for example, in searching the town 

 archives and recording many important facts 

 therefrom. Perhaps his most important ser- 

 vice, however, was in providing an entree into 

 the homes of his almost innumerable relatives. 

 Particularly to be mentioned are his parents, 



his aunt. Dona Feliciana Rautista, and his uncle, 

 Don Antonio Sanchez. Agustin also afforded 

 fascinating data himself, as we were able to 

 observe closely the process of his assimilation 

 into the culture and life of the community. In 

 the course of the study, he changed from a not 

 untypical United States high school graduate 

 into a pretty typical resident of Cheran. 



A particular debt of gratitude is also due 

 Pedro Chavez. A native of Cheran, Sr. Chavez 

 had been educated in a Government boarding 

 school and was serving as a school teacher. 

 Owing to the lack of facilities, he was able to 

 teach only at night, and he spent his days aid- 

 ing in the investigation, without compensation. 

 No amount of pay could have secured more 

 conscientious and faithful aid, day after day 

 for many months. Regardless of the weather, 

 or, I suspect, very often regardless of his per- 

 sonal concerns, Sr. Chavez either worked as 

 systematic informant or accompanied one or 

 the other of the investigators on endless visits, 

 opening many doors to them which otherwise 

 would have been closed. When not actively 

 assisting, he wrote lengthy accounts of various 

 phases of town life. A person of some emi- 

 nence in the town, as well as belonging to the 

 dominant political group, he had served as 

 town Treasurer and was a member of the com- 

 mittee which administered the town's forest 

 lands. 



The hundreds of Cheran residents who aided 

 us at one time or another cannot, of course, be 

 listed. Many gave long hours of their time 

 and courteous and intelligent aid on numerous 

 problems. Essentially, this report is their 

 report and the outsiders acted primarily as 

 guides, recorders, and interpreters. That the 

 people of Cheran were willing to do this was due 

 partly to the unreserved cooperation of the 

 municipal authorities who endorsed the study 

 on every occasion. I am also indebted to the 

 Executive Authority of the State of Michoacan 

 for providing me with the proper introduction 

 to the town. 



A word should be said about field methods at 

 this point. Obviously, working with a large 

 group of investigators presents special prob- 

 lems. Perhaps the most important special 

 technique was to arrange to have all field notes 

 transcribed at the earliest possible moment. 



