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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



serving and preparing tortillas is over. Ordi- 

 narily, the only utensils are spoons and these 

 are used only when coffee is served. Food is 

 taken in the fingers or, more commonly, in a 

 piece of tortilla. 



In fiestas, separation of sexes is more pro- 

 nounced. The men are seated in two rows on 

 beams or planks. Each is served a bowl of 

 curipo. Tortillas, tamales, salt, and water are 

 placed at convenient intervals between the rows. 

 Male children are served later in the same way. 

 All serving outside the cooking place is done by 

 men. Women and female children eat apart 

 with less formality, often in the cooking place. 



The only possible trace of ceremonial habits 

 relating to eating is the habit of always leaving 

 a little water when drinking. This is poured 

 on the ground after drinking. No reasons were 

 advanced for this procedure. 



In Mestizoized Chilchota, according to Silvia 

 Rendon, men are always served first. At wed- 

 dings, however, unmarried girls are served 



first, then the men, and then the married 

 women. When in the fields or woods, Chilchota 

 men make the fire, heat the food, and serve the 

 women. However, they always turn the tor- 

 tillas on the fire with long sticks; turning the 

 tortillas with the fingers would be womanish. 

 Changes in food habits at Cheran probably 

 have been marked in recent years. Old people 

 say that "anciently" the major diet was cabbage 

 and tamales. Lard was disliked so much that 

 people could not eat it. Although the change 

 in Cheran is attributed to the highway and the 

 entry of Mestizos, probably the large-scale 

 migration from Cheran to other places had 

 much to do with the change. Although it is 

 difficult to point out specific changes without 

 comparative data from conservative towns, the 

 major differences seem to be the displacement 

 of tamales by tortillas and the eating of fiesta 

 foods on ordinary occasions. Soft drinks, 

 cookies, and other manufactured foods are also 

 becoming more common. 



ECONOMICS 



The techniques of raw material production, 

 manufacting processes, and utilization of prod- 

 ucts have been discussed in the preceding pages. 

 Under the heading "Economics" I wish now to 

 consider problems of production, consumption, 

 and exchange of goods and services apart from 

 the technologies involved. Such a separation 

 is artificial, although perhaps no more so than 

 is the segregation of any two aspects of a cul- 

 ture, but separate consideration is suggested 

 both by the complexity of the subject and by 

 the tendency in many ethnographic studies to 

 consider discussion of technology to be a suffi- 

 cient treatment of economics. Special discus- 

 sion of economic problems also seems desirable 

 in view of the present great interest in altering 

 the basic economics and living standards of 

 large areas of the world and the long-continued 

 Mexican efforts to incorporate native groups 

 more fully into the national economy. 



The study of Tarascan economy is facilitated 

 by the fact that many of the exchanges of goods 

 and services are made on a money basis. More- 

 over, the convenience of money as a measure of 

 value has so impressed the Tarascans that ex- 



changes on a barter basis are often calculated 

 in terms of the money values of the goods or 

 services involved. 



The fact that Tarascan economy is a money 

 economy signifies more than ease in the study 

 of exchange; it also indicates at once that 

 Tarascan economy is far from primitive as that 

 term is usually understood. Actually Tara- 

 scan economics, like the rest of Tarascan cul- 

 ture, is strongly influenced by European cul- 

 ture. It does not necessarily follow, however, 

 that Tarascan economics is not distinctive. 

 The long period of assimilation and reintegra- 

 tion that characterized all of Tarascan culture 

 occurred also in the economic field, and the 

 result is a hj'brid. Nevertheless, Tarascan 

 culture is more European in origin than is that 

 of most Mexican Indian groups. Moreover, 

 especially in recent years, the economy of the 

 outside world has impinged increasingly upon 

 the Tarascans so that in 1940 there were indi- 

 viduals whose livelihood had been seriously 

 affected by the outbi'eak of war and who, fur- 

 thermore, were quite aware of their relation- 

 ship to world markets. 



