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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



forest fire damaged a considerable area and the 

 forestry engineers called the representative 

 down severely for not having been more effi- 

 cient in fighting the fire. This attitude M'as 

 hardly justified in view of the strong Tarascan 

 tradition of burning the pastures in the winter. 



Illegal exploitation of the forests is also 

 blamed on the representative. Two major 

 cases occurred during the period field work was 

 under way, one involving illegal cutting of rail- 

 road ties, the other, illegal sale of lumber. 

 Responsibility for failure to prevent both in- 

 fractions was laid to the laxness of the repre- 

 sentante. In connection with one of these 

 cases, a town junta was called to discuss what 

 should be done, but no decision was reached and 

 the matter was finally dropped. 



It was evidently felt that the representante 

 would be involved in boundary disputes if they 

 affected public lands. The two disputes exist- 

 ing in 1940, however, apparently affected only 

 lands in private ownership. The dispute with 

 Arantepacua was in process of settlement 

 with a compromise being made between the two 

 claims. As there was only a question of which 

 town would get credit for the taxes paid, the 

 dispute was not bitter. The quarrel with the 

 former tenencia of Cheranastico, however, was 

 much more prolonged and bitter. Apparently 

 Cheranastico claimed some of the best agricul- 

 tural lands of the lower plain as community 

 property. It was, however, owned in individ- 

 ual holdings by owners who all had registered 

 titles. Consequently, Cheranastico has accom- 

 plished nothing, but every time there was a new 

 governor or other governmental change, the 

 people of Cheranastico made another attempt. 



BARRIO FUNCTIONS AND COMMUNAL 

 IMPROVEMENTS 



In addition to the function of the barrio or 

 cuarfii as an administrative device as described 

 above, certain public improvements are made 

 through the barrio mechanism. In this the 

 barriof; do not act independently but merely as 

 instrumentalities of the vumicipio. No infor- 

 mant had ever heard of a barrio doing anything 

 on its own initiative. 



The major duty performed by the barrio is 

 the maintenance of the water system. Each 

 barrio has a section of the aqueduct within the 



town (not the pipe line to the edge of town but 

 the system of hollowed logs which conducts 

 water to the center of town) for which 

 it is responsible. Upon notification that re- 

 pairs are needed or that logs must be 

 replaced, the barrio chief notifies men in his 

 barrio of the work needed and the time. 

 This notification may come from the sindico 

 (or his veedor) , or any person noticing some- 

 thing wrong may report it to the mwiicipio. 

 The barrio not only provides labor but must 

 raise funds if equipment or materials are 

 needed. Barrio I is responsible for the section 

 from the cement water tanks to the street called 

 Arista. Barrio II is responsible for the section 

 from Arista to Pensador, barrio III for the 

 section from Pensador to Olvide, and barrio IV 

 for the section from Olvide to the pipe line. 



The work is done under the direction of the 

 sindico. Usually 24 comisionados are named 

 for each log trough needed. Eight men are 

 responsible for cutting the log and hollowing it 

 out ; 8 more bring the log down from the moun- 

 tains, and 8 others put it in place. 



In addition, each barrio has responsibility for 

 certain other public works. For example, 

 barrio III is responsible for maintaining two 

 bridges on the road to Zacapu. 



Still another barrio duty is cleaning the 

 graveyard of weeds and brush in preparation 

 for the Day of the Dead. The cemetery is 

 divided into four squares corresponding to the 

 four barrios, and the young men from each 

 barrio are assigned to a section. In 1940, in 

 barrio III, having the most numerous popula- 

 tion, each youth had a strip 4 paces wide by 65 

 paces long to clear, while youths of other 

 barrios had strips from 6 to 8 paces wide. 

 Barrio IV, although having a population as 

 large as barrio II and larger than barrio I, took 

 a half day longer to do its part and the young 

 men were teased about it. 



The maintenance of the pipe line is a sore 

 point, evidently. The original pipe line was 

 installed by the State or Federal Government. 

 Some maintenance is done by the mimicipio, 

 but the line was in bad condition in 1940 and 

 needed replacing. Even more interest, how- 

 ever, was shown in replacing the present wooden 

 aqueduct with a pipe line and perhaps extend- 

 ing it to some other parts of town. It was 



