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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



Somewhat later, after the storm had subsided, 

 the chiriniia band arrived. Four or five players 

 on an oboelike wooden instrument (with a 

 double reed mouthpiece and a number of finger 

 stops) played in unison, accompanied by a 

 drum. They played for some time in the arcade 

 before the municipal building. The shrill 

 music, played with great verve and noise, 

 seemed vaguely familiar and finally became 

 recognizable as the "Beer Barrel Polka." It 

 remained the favorite and almost only piece 

 played by the chiiimia band throughout the 

 fiesta. 



Sunday the market was in full operation, and 

 the plaza and adjoining -streets were jammed 

 with people (pi. 4, lower right). Not only 

 were most of the residents of Cheran on the 

 streets, in some cases making extensive pur- 

 chases (this is the only time of the year that 

 pottery is sold in Cheran, for example), but 

 there were hundreds of visitors. The bands 

 played early in the morning. The young men 

 were busy working on the bull ring. 



The High Mass was celebrated about 10 

 o'clock, with the church filled to overflowing. 

 About 12 o'clock the first moro appeared on 

 horseback, followed in a short time by the 

 other two. They rode slowly around the plaza, 

 followed by one of the bands. After a short 

 time the moros went to lunch without dancing. 

 Many people invited guests home to eat with 

 them at this time, often issuing invitations well 

 in advance. To a lesser extent, guests may be 

 invited on other days of the fiesta. About 3 

 o'clock the moros returned and sat on their 

 horses in the plaza in front of the church while 

 the bands played. The moros then went to the 

 municipio, dismounted, and danced in front of 

 the building. Remounting, they returned to 

 the church and danced in front of the church. 

 Many people were openly critical of them for 

 not dancing first in front of the church. After 

 the performance in front of the church, the 

 dancers went on foot down the main street, 

 dancing in front of various stores until about 

 6 o'clock, when they went to eat again. During 

 the afternoon a basketball game was played 

 between Cheran and Paracho. It aroused little 

 interest. 



In the evening the big castiUo or fireworks 

 set was to be burned. Not until after dark 



were attempts made to raise the structure, 

 various volunteers working under the direction 

 of the fireworks maker. The commissioners 

 for the fireworks had kept their promise to 

 bring in a 20-meter pole, and great difficulties 

 were encountered in trying to raise it. The 

 climax of several abortive eiforts came when 

 the pole snapped about halfway up. By some 

 miracle no one was hurt, although it appeared 

 to fall in a dense crowd. 



The collapse of the pole cast a damper on the 

 whole fiesta, for the burning of the Castillo is 

 one of the high points of any Mexican fiesta. 

 Sorrie violence was threatened the fireworks 

 maker, so he was promptly arrested by the 

 authorities, partly to protect him from the 

 crowd. He pointed out that he was not re- 

 sponsible for furnishing the pole and that the 

 commissioners had brought a pine pole instead 

 of a fir pole of similar size. The fireworks 

 maker also argued that there was a smaller 

 Castillo, planned for the following night as a 

 surprise; if he were arrested, he would be 

 unable to put the finishing touches on that 

 Castillo and there would be no fireworks at all. 

 Finally, he promised he would salvage a large 

 part of the damaged castillo and the following 

 night it would be possible to have two castillos. 

 When the crowd quieted down, the fireworks 

 maker was released and succeeded in carrying 

 out his promises. 



The threats of the crowd were not idle, by 

 any means. The fireworks maker is always 

 held responsible for any failures and cases are 

 known where the maker has been badly mauled. 

 In any case he is usually jailed and often 

 heavily fined. In the present instance the 

 municipal officers were all reasonable men, and 

 no drastic measures were taken. The fireworks 

 maker did not, however, receive the full price. 



Monday morning the market continued. The 

 first band appeared and began to play about 

 11 o'clock. The second band appeared with 

 the moros about an hour later. The moros 

 dismounted in front of the church and went 

 into the priest's residence, dancing before him. 

 Then they went down the street dancing before 

 the stores again, finally stopping for dinner. 

 About 2 o'clock it was rumored that the bulls 

 were about to be brought in. Actually, they were 

 being held in a meadow in the barranca below 



