CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



33 



Honey is used primarily to sweeten atole and 

 as a treat for children." 



For the village of Capacuaro, Silvia Rendon 

 reports what are probably native bees kept in 

 sections of hollow log hung on the walls. She 

 was told they produced "Campeche wax" (cera 

 de Campeche). 



Pets. — Only domesticated animals are pets. 

 Dogs and cats are most commonly treated as 

 pets, being stroked, fondled, picked up, or 

 played with. However, this is not true of all 

 dogs or cats, nor is it true of all individuals. 

 Pigs often seem to be treated as pets, especially 

 young animals, but they are not picked up or 

 fondled. Kids are sometimes pets, especially 

 if the mother had died and the animal has been 

 reared by hand. Even more common, although 

 by no means general, are sheep. Lambs are 

 placed on a leash until half-grown ; after this 

 they follow their masters everywhere, even to 

 automobiles. Many children have lambs as 

 pets. One boy of 10 had an immaculately 

 washed white lamb with a red sash tied about 

 its middle. The lamb followed him everywhere 

 and was even trained to stand on the pack pad 

 of a burro so it could be taken to the mountains 

 on wood-cutting trips. 



Beliefs and ceremonies. — The only ceremony 

 connected with domestic animals is burning 

 copal for bees. Beliefs are likewise few. The 

 association of cats with witchcraft ha.s been 

 noted. If a dog sits down and howls by day 

 closeby, it is a sign something bad is going to 

 happen. Coyotes are believed able to bewitch 

 the domestic animals they eat, especially chick- 

 ens. "Coyotes just shake themselves and chick- 

 ens will go right to them." 



Curing of animah. — A few men are special- 

 ists at curing animals. They are usually paid 

 for their services. Wounds and sores are 

 cleaned by washing with lukewarm water, to 

 which salt is sometimes added, until all pus is 

 removed and bleeding begins. If the wound is 

 deep, a wick of cloth may be inserted to keep 

 it open; sometimes peroxide of hydrogen is 

 used as a disinfectant, but creosote is more 



^ Beekeeping is very popular in La Canada. Nearly every family 

 has at least a few hives. Much of the honey is used in the house- 

 hold, and only the surplus and the wax are sold. Burning of copal 

 is not practiced. 



In Angahuan and Paricutin only a few people keep bees. The 

 largest apiary in Paricutin contained only four hives, and only 

 three people possessed hives. 



common. If wounds are bound, carefully 

 washed lard mixed vv'ith sugar may be applied 

 or wet dressings may be used, dampened at 

 frequent intervals with salt water. 



Rabies is believed to be caused by the bite of 

 some other animal, by inadequate food, or by 

 heat. There is no cure. 



Dysentery, "posicion," in horses and burros 

 is believed to be caused by cold or "salitre," a 

 very salty mineral-bearing earth. The animal 

 is fed pills of coffee, lemon, and bicarbonate 

 of soda. 



"Onia" is caused by overwork, but the symp- 

 toms were not recorded. Treatment is bleed- 

 ing the side of the neck and rest. (In general, 

 overwork is regarded as an important cause of 

 sickness.) 



Sore feet result from the feet becoming full 

 of blood. The bottom of the foot is bled and 

 the animal must rest until well. 



"Roncha" is a disease caused by mosquito 

 bites; if it is not cured within 24 hours, the 

 animal usually dies. Symptoms and treatment 

 were not recorded. 



"Pirojon" is very dangerous and kills in 24 

 hours. It is believed to be caused by mosqui- 

 toes or flies that have bitten a dead animal 

 already putrefying. One curer burns the bites 

 with a magnifying glass. 



Evil eye, malojo, may affect animals that 

 refuse to eat. There is no cure. The best 

 thing is to sell the animal to the man who cast 

 the evil eye (at his price usually) ; the animal 

 then recovers. 



Bats are reported to bite animals at night 

 and make them bleed. Nothing is done to pre- 

 vent this. As it is said bats never bite humans, 

 and as Cheran probably is above the range of 

 vampire bats, the report may be folklore. 



MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 



In the previous sections were described the 

 technological processes which involve the ex- 

 ploitation of the environment and the extraction 

 therefrom of raw materials. The present sec- 

 tion will describe techniques by which the raw 

 materials are processed and made ready for 

 consumption. Obviously, such classifications 

 must be somewhat elastic. No doubt, good rea- 

 sons could be advanced against including 

 domesticated animals under exploitative activi- 



