CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



29 



orate ornaments of wheat straw at harvest 

 time, which are hung on the veranda or inside 

 the house. Beliefs about these ornaments were 

 denied. 



No beliefs or customs were discovered re- 

 garding other plants except those connected 

 with roasting the wild agave. 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



The domestic animals found in Cheran are 

 cattle, horses, mules, burros, sheep, goats, pigs, 

 dogs, cats, chickens, pigeons, and bees. Of 

 these, cattle, burros, sheep, and pigs are the 

 most numerous and of greatest economic im- 

 portance. Turkeys, ducks, and geese are com- 

 pletely lacking, although they are found in 

 other Tarascan towns. Sevina, for example, 

 has a fair number of turkeys. 



Cattle.— Ownership of cattle is widespread 

 in Cheran, but accurate knowledge of the extent 

 of ownership is impossible because of the tend- 

 ency to conceal wealth. As most cattle are 

 kept at pasture, usually in the mountains, house 

 censuses are of no value. Possession of cattle 

 seems to make little difference in the economic 

 position of their owners. Wealthy men often 

 own herds of some size which they do not 

 appear to exploit to their fullest extent. Such 

 men, though, probably gain some social prestige, 

 for their bulls will be sought for use in the bull 

 riding which forms an important part of the 

 fiesta of the patron saint of Cheran. 



Cattle are rai.sed for several economic uses: 

 meat, milk, draft animals, and sale outside the 

 town. Somewhat different treatment is ac- 

 corded animals raised for various purposes; 

 consequently, separate discussion is indicated. 

 Relatively few cows are milked, and most 

 families do not keep milk cows. There is no 

 special breeding for milk cattle and a "very 

 good" cow will not give over 2 liters of milk a 

 day. The milk is sold in Cheran, usually for 

 pregnant women or sick people, or it is made 

 into cheese. Only a small part of the local 

 demand for cheese is supplied in this fashion, 

 however. No butter is made. 



Milking is done only by men, but women 

 clean the milk containers, make the cheese, and 

 may care for the animals. Milking is done by 

 primitive methods; the cow is tethered closely 

 at the head and the hind legs are tied together. 



The calf is then tied nearby while the cow is 

 milked; it is then permitted to suckle. 



The cow is milked only once a day and only 

 from June to January or February while pas- 

 tures are good. Ordinarily, the cows are kept 

 and milked in the fields. If only one or two 

 cows are milked, they may be pastured close 

 to the village and driven into the house yard 

 for milking. In this case, if the owner has 

 feed, the cow may be milked after February. 

 Oxen, and sometimes bulls, are used exten- 

 sively for plowing. In a very few cases they 

 also draw two-wheeled carts to bring in the 

 harvest, although most of this is done by pack 

 animals. Oxen are broken to the yoke after 

 they are fully grown, but fairly young steers 

 are sometimes yoked together in the pastures 

 in order to accustom them to traveling together. 

 Animals are not bred or raised specially for 

 beef. Cows, bulls, and steers are killed, the 

 main consideration being the fatness of the 

 animal. A considerable number of the animals 

 slaughtered are oxen considered to have out- 

 lived their usefulness as draft animals. Al- 

 though specially fattened for slaughter, the 

 beef is as tough as might be expected. Calves 

 or young animals are never slaughtered. Ani- 

 mals dying of disease are not eaten in Cheran 

 but are in other towns. The hides of slaugh- 

 tered cattle are valued according to prices in 

 adjacent Mexican markets. 



Although Cheran raises more than enough 

 cattle for its own use, cattle raising is not re- 

 garded as a very satisfactory business because 

 of the lack of pasture during the latter part 

 of the dry season. Usually, numbers of ani- 

 mals die of starvation during April and May. 

 This is true of other grazing animals also. 



When not in use, cattle are ordinarily pas- 

 tured in the mountains. They are visited every 

 third day to make sure they have not been 

 stolen and that they are getting water. They 

 are driven down to the farm lands and allowed 

 to graze on the cornstalks or wheat stubble 

 during the winter. This practice not only aids 

 the animals over part of the dry season with 

 its scanty pasturage, but is recognized as a 

 means of fertilizing the soil. 



Little care is used in breeding, and new bulls 

 are never brought in from outside. If a man 

 owning a cow has no bull, he simply drives the 



