INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



gave much time and effort to forward the pro- 

 gram. Dr. Alfonso Caso discussed many pro- 

 blems and gave valuable advice. Numerous 

 members of the staff of the Instituto Politecnico 

 Nacional also gave of their time. President 

 Robert G. Sproul of the University of Califor- 

 nia, arranged a special leave of absence to make 

 the study possible. Above all, thanks are due 

 to Dr. D. F. Rubin de la Borbolla, then head of 

 the Department of Anthropology of the Insti- 

 tuto Politecnico Nacional and now director of 

 the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia, collabor- 

 ator in the general program, who gave many 

 days of his time in completing necessary ar- 

 rangements to make the study possible. 



In addition to the persons mentioned, I wish 

 also to express my gratitude to those who have 

 helped further the general Program of Anthro- 

 pological Investigations among the Tarascans: 

 General Lazaro Cardenas, former President of 

 the United States of Mexico ; Dr. A. L. Kroeber, 

 of the University of California, Berkeley, 



Calif. ; Dr. John M. Cooper, Catholic University 

 of America, Washington, D. C; Sr. Luis Chavez 

 Orozco, former Chief, Departamento de Asuntos 

 Indigenas, Mexico; Dr. Gerardo Varela, Direc- 

 tor of the Escuela Nacional de Ciencis Bio- 

 logicas, Mexico; Lie. Gilberto Loyo, Director 

 General of the Census, Mexico; Dr. J. B. 

 Lockey, former Chairman, Board of Research, 

 University of California, Los Angeles; Dr. 

 Vern 0. Knudsen, Dean of Graduate Studies, 

 University of California, Los Angeles; and the 

 late Dr. Charles B. Lipman, Dean of Graduate 

 Studies, University of California, Berkeley. 



The excellence of the drawings is due to the 

 intelligent cooperation and skill of Virginia 

 More Roediger, who worked not only as an 

 artist but as an illustrator. 



Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the assis- 

 tance of the Institute of Social Anthropology, 

 Smithsonian Institution, for editing this manu- 

 script and for publishing it in this series, which 

 is devoted to inter- American cooperation. 



THE SETTING AND THE PEOPLE 



The modern Tarascans occupy the west cen- 

 tral section of northern Michoacan, Mexico. 

 In prehistoric times the Tarascan area was 

 larger, including most of the State of Micho- 

 acan, except possibly the rather abrupt and not 

 very hospitable seacoast, as well as parts of 

 the State of Jalisco to the northwest, Guana- 

 juato to the northeast, and the lower end of the 

 Balsas River basin in Guerrero to the south. 

 This expanded area apparently represented the 

 results of a series of conquests. Two or three 

 centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards, 

 the Tarascan area probably was not greatly 

 different from that of today. 



The State of Michoacan is one of the most 

 densely populated rural States of Mexico. It 

 lies to the west of Mexico City, and its capital, 

 Morelia, is about 250 miles from the National 

 Capital by road or railroad. Despite its dense 

 population, much of the State is rugged and 

 mountainous. Its eastern and northern parts 

 are on the plateau of Mexico. Level areas are 

 often above 7,000 feet elevation, but, although 

 it is technically a part of the Central Mexican 

 plateau, only the northern margins of the State 



have large level tracts, for most of the elevated 

 part of the State is in the so-called "volcanic 

 axis" of Mexico. In many regions, and this is 

 particularly true of the area occupied by the 

 Tarascans, the characteristic sky line is a series 

 of old volcanic cones, often surrounding basins 

 or long depressions, in which more recent low 

 cinder cones frequently occur (pi. 1, upper and 

 lower left) . Dozens of peaks have elevations 

 of over 10,000 feet, but only one may exceed 

 11,000 feet. 



To the south and southwest the terrain drops 

 sharply toward a great basin formed by tribu- 

 taries of the Balsas River. The slope is steep 

 and so thoroughly dissected by streams that, 

 despite the opening of many roads and truck 

 trails in recent years, it still is not possible to 

 reach the Balsas River by road from highland 

 Michoacan. This great basin forms an impor- 

 tant portion of Michoacan and is much visited 

 by the Tarascans. Tropical vegetation and 

 climate characterize the basin except for a 

 semiarid section in the west. 



The Pacific coast of the State is paralleled 

 by a large range of mountains, the Sierra de 



