CHERAN : A SIERRA TARASCAN VILLAGE — BEALS 



35 



tory. Palm leaf originates in Ario de Resales, 

 whence it is transported to the market at 

 Paracho. Weaving of the straw into braid is 

 done by women of the several small villages in 

 the municipio of Paracho. The finished braid 

 is sold in the Paracho market, the bulk of it 

 going to the village of Jaracuaro on an island in 

 Lake Patzcuaro. The thread used for sewing 

 the braid is an imported machine-made thread. 

 The tools of a hat maker include : 



Sewing machine 



3 or 4 hat blocks 



Wooden paddle for blocking 



Smooth stone for blocking 



Wooden reel for thread (which is bought in 



skeins) 

 Iron punch for ventilators 

 Roller like a clothes-wringer for straightening 



and smoothing braid 



The type of hat most commonly made has a 

 low crown and broad brim. Each hat requires 

 about three bundles of braid. The braid is 

 sewn together in a spiral beginning at the mid- 

 dle of the crown. Each spiral of the braid 

 overlaps its predecessor about three-quarters or 

 five-sixths of its width. One man, working 

 steadily, can make about three hats a day, but 

 no one in Cheran works steadily every day. 

 Essentially, hat making is a part-time occupa- 

 tion. Some hat makers are also farmers, while 

 one is also a "tailor." Another also operates 

 a nixtavial mill. One hat maker employs an 

 assi-stant who is said to be paid 50 centavos a 

 hat. This is doubtful in view of hat prices and 

 the cost of materials. 



Sometimes hats are whitened. They ai-e 

 first treated with glue, then successively coated 

 with oxido (a crystalline material melted 

 down), a white pigment (bianco de sin), and 

 then a white varnish (bianco de Espana). 

 None of these materials was further identified. 

 The price obtained for hats varies with the 

 thinness of the braid, fineness of the sewing, 

 and the finish applied. 



Embroidery, crochet, and drawn work.- — A 

 number of women ornament women's blouses 

 or make crocheted petticoat borders as a part- 

 time occupation. Women's blouses are some- 

 times equipped with crocheted yolks. Cro- 

 cheted bands are also placed on the short blouse 

 sleeves. Bands of embroidery for the bottoms 



of petticoats are made by one woman, although 

 this technique is primarily found in Nahuatzen. 

 The proportion of women doing this work 

 seems significantly smaller in the third cuartel 

 or barrio when compared with the other 

 citartels. 



The crochet may be replaced by embroidery 

 or drawn work, especially on finer materials 

 such as linen or rayon. Designs either conif. 

 "from one's head" or patterns may be bought 

 in market. Usually the poorest designs come 

 from the market, but no evidence was found 

 either to indicate preservation of traditional 

 patterns on the part of those not using com- 

 mercial patterns, or to indicate creativeness in 

 designs. Blouses decorated with crochet in- 

 volve 1 week's part-time work, and embroidered 

 or drawn-work blouses, from 1 to 3 weeks. 



Blanket IV eaving. — About four men in Chenin 

 weave blankets. These men buy raw wool, and 

 wash, clean, card, and spin the wool, and do 

 the weaving. White, brown, and black colors 

 are usually natural wool colors. For blue, the 

 only other common color, the weaver dyes white 

 wool with indigo. A urine mordant is used. 

 To produce a gray thread, white, black, and 

 blue wool are mixed together before carding. 

 Raw wool is washed and cleaned, losing about 

 one-third its weight in the process. 



Carding is done with commercial steel cai'ds 

 which cost $8.00 a set and last about 3 years. 

 A handful of wool is placed on one card and the 

 other is drawn across it several times. The 

 wool is then folded on one of the cards and the 

 process repeated. If wool of two or more 

 colors is being mixed, the rectangles of carded 

 wool are torn into pieces, mixed together, and 

 carded a second time in order to give a more 

 uniform color. 



Spinning is done with a wheel (fig. 6) . The 

 edges of a rectangle of carded wool are folded 

 along the long side. The rectangle is then 

 pulled apart down the middle except at one end, 

 giving a strip of carded wool about IV-; inches 

 wide. One end is thrown over the left arm and 

 the other end fed into the yarn with the left 

 hand while the wheel is turned with the right. 

 When 6 to 8 inches are lightly twisted, the yarn 

 is stretched to from 24 to 30 inches, given a 

 tighter twist, and then wound on the spindle 

 (fig. 6). 



