CHERAN: A SIERRA TARASCAN VILLAGE — BEALS 



19 



Cheran prefers shakes 5 cuartas in length, 

 called "thick shakes" (tasamani tiapiti). 

 Shakes of 4 cuartas (1 vara) are sold primarily 

 in Uruapaji and are spoken of as de comercio, 

 or "small shakes" (tasamani sapirati). Shakes 

 6 cuartas long, preferred by some Tarascan 

 towns, are called "long shakes" (tasamani 

 iorati) . In Angahuan, shakes 5 cuartas long are 

 sold in Zamora and are sometimes called 

 Zamorana. 



Shake makers usually work from 8 a. m. to 

 6 p. m. A week's work routine is as follows : 

 On Tuesday suitable trees are sought and felled. 

 Wednesday is devoted to cutting trees in sec- 

 tions. Thursday and Friday the timber is split 

 into shakes. One day is spent drying the shakes 

 in the sun, and, if the maker is a professional, 

 the finished product is taken to Uruapan or 

 Zamora on Saturday and Sunday for sale. On 

 this schedule one person might make two bun- 

 dles of 400 shakes (two irepitas) in a week. 



Railroad ties are usually made under contract 

 arrangements. The workers leave town on 

 Tuesday, usually arriving in time to cut a 

 week's supply of logs for splitting and shaping. 

 Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are spent in 

 splitting and shaping the ties with the ax. 

 Saturday the ties are checked by the contractor, 

 and the men are paid in time to return home 

 that night. 



A minor industry is cutting out blocks of 

 madroiia and jaboncilla wood. These are sold 

 in Paracho, where they are made into doors, 

 spoons, wooden bowls, and the various small 

 wooden objects for which Paracho is famous. 

 A few people in Cheran also make broom 

 handles. 



A considerable amount of charcoal is pro- 

 duced on the more distant lands of Cheran. 

 Several men in town make their living entirely 

 from charcoal burning. Oak is used almost 

 exclusively for charcoal. Charcoal burners 

 usually spend from Monday until Friday in the 

 woods, and return home over the week end. 

 Charcoal is usually sold in the woods to dealers, 

 the unit of sale being a stack 8 by 7 inches 

 by 6 feet. 



In a number of Tarascan towns turpentine 

 production is an important industry. This has 

 been true of Cheran in the past, but, for rea- 

 sons not discoverable, output at present is 



negligible. Turpentine is produced at any 

 season of the year. The first cut in trees is 

 made about 20 or 25 cm. (8 or 10 in.) from the 

 ground, with a small ax called giirbia. The 

 initial cut is one-half cm. vertically and 10 cm. 

 horizontally. At the base of the cut a small 

 copper or pottery cup is fastened. The initial 

 cut is lengthened upward each year until, after 

 about 10 years, the cut is 1.50 to 1.70 m. in 

 height. A cut is then started on the opposite 

 side of the tree. Formerly it was the practice 

 to leave the cup for collecting the resin at the 

 bottom of the cut. This wasted considerable 

 resin, and now the cup is raised as the height 

 of the cut is increased. In order to lead the 

 resin into the cup, a small sheet of metal is 

 driven into the tree just above the cup. The 

 cup is emptied every 3 days and the cut cleaned 

 or enlarged. 



The collected resin or hrea is cooked in special 

 stills. An olla of resin is placed above a fire- 

 box (fig. 2). The cover and "coil" are made 

 of pottery (in the village of.Patamban) , and 

 the turpentine is caught in another vessel. Be- 

 fore the decline in turpentine prices caused by 

 World War II, a kilo of resin sold at 8 centavos 

 in the woods and a 5-gallon tin of turpentine 

 sold at 18 pesos. In 1941, prices were 4 or 5 

 centavos for a kilo of resin with a correspond- 

 ing drop in turpentine prices. 



HUNTING 



Probably no one in Cheran derives any con- 

 siderable part of his livelihood from hunting. 

 Some men hunt casually because their farms or 

 lumbering activities take them where game is 

 more plentiful. Others hunt a good deal be- 

 cause they enjoy it. Finally, sometimes people 

 hunt because they are poor and thus can aug- 

 ment their food supply or income. 



The most commonly hunted animals are deer, 

 peccary (guakin), squirrels (both ordinary, 

 kuinike, and flying squirrels), rabbits, quail, 

 pigeons, and less commonly, armadillos. Other 

 local wild animals are not eaten. Heavy rifles 

 are used for large animals, usually .30 or .32 

 caliber, and .22 caliber rifles for squirrels. 



Deer are sometimes trapped in pits in the 

 mountains. Squirrels are caught in snares. 

 Horsehair threads are used to make snares to 

 catch quail and pigeons. Quail snares are hung 



