CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



147 



two files, except for the little girls at that end of 

 the lines. When the recitation begins, el 

 letra steps forward alone and recites his part, 

 returning to his place when finished. There is 

 then a caminata, the files walking in a circle. 

 El segundo then does the same, followed by a 

 caminata. 



The ncgrito dancers begin to learn their parts 

 about a month before December 25. For 

 several evenings before the date they meet in 

 the house of the carguero and rehearse. The 

 procedures beginning the night of December 

 24 are described as follows in an account 

 written by Agustin Rangel : 



The negj-itos started to dance about 9:00 p.m. at the 

 carguero's house. There were lots of people and about 

 10:30 the candleniaker came to sell candles. The 

 negritos finished dancing about 10:30 p.m. Then they 

 were given supper and they sat around for a while. 

 They were waiting for the bell to ring from the church. 

 The bells were supposed to ring three times, first for 

 the Holy Child to start for the church, second when the 

 Holy Child was supposed to be half way from the 

 carguero's house and the church, and third, when the 

 Holy Child was at the door of the church to be blessed 

 before going inside the church. There was a 12 a. m. 

 Mass. The priest of the church came over to the 

 carguero's house before the Holy Child left the house. 

 The priest went with the Holy Child up to the church 

 where he blessed the Holy Child before going inside 

 the church. Lots of people went to the 12 a. m. Mass. 

 [Note: There were sevei-al hundred persons in the 

 procession, all with candles. The streets and houses 

 were all lit up by the candles. In some towns it is 

 said that pitch pine torches are carried and give even 

 more light.] 



December 25. Today the negritos started to dance 

 about 9 o'clock in the morning. First they went to 

 Mass and there they danced after the Mass. Then they 

 came to the carguero's house to eat dinner. After din- 

 ner they went to church again to visit the Holy Child. 

 Then they went home again to the carguero's house 

 where they danced again. Then they went to the night 

 Mass. After the night Mass they went inside the patio 

 of the priest's house and danced before him. After 

 they finished dancing, they danced in front of the 

 municipal building before the mayor and officials. 

 After they finished dancing there they went to the 

 carguero's house to eat supper. They ate supper and 

 every one of the negritos was free to go home. 



December 26. Today the negritos started to dance 

 first at the carguero's house after they had eaten break- 

 fast. After they finished dancing at the carguero's 

 house, they went to the Calvary, where they danced. 

 After they finished there they went to Paricutin 

 (barrio IV) where they danced at a house. I don't 

 know what saint is there. Then they went to the house 



of the carguero of the Three Kings, where they danced 

 in the afternoon. Then they went to eat at the 

 carguero's house. After they finished eating dinner, 

 they danced and then went to the house of the new 

 carguero for the Holy Child where they danced until 

 the evening. Then they came back to the carguero's 

 house to eat supper. Then they separated after supper. 

 December 27. This morning they danced at the 

 carguero's house and then they went to the house of 

 the carguero of San Isidro. Prom there they went to 

 the house of [the carguero of] San Rafael. Then they 

 went to the carguero's house for dinner, after which 

 they danced. From there they went to the priest's 

 house where they danced in front of the priest. Then 

 they danced in front of Don Emilio's store where they 

 were given fruit. 



UNORGANIZED CHRISTMAS DANCES 



A number of dance groups often appear at or 

 before Christmas. Collectively they are known 

 as the melebris, the masqueraders. Formerly, 

 they appeared about 10 days before Christmas 

 Eve and then appeared every third night until 

 December 24. Of recent years they have been 

 forbidden because the various groups often 

 arrived at the same house and then they would 

 fight. In 1940 a few masqueraders were out 

 but they went mainly to houses in their own 

 barrio for fear the police might catch them. 



Three types of dancers appear. First are 

 the ciirikua anapu tujica or SAkic, "the negroes 

 who go out at night." This group wears ordi- 

 nary clothing but with the crown of the hat 

 decorated with cut papers representing ribbons 

 streaming out behind. Dancers of this group 

 also wear paper ornaments on the front and 

 back of their clothing. They have guitar and 

 drum music and dance a zapateada, that is, a 

 sort of jarabe tapatio dance. 



The second group is the t'aJ^ aririca, the 

 dancing old men. The word "aai" also means a 

 person who talks too much and who certainly 

 does not speak the truth. This group dresses 

 like old men ; the members wear a long over- 

 coat and a black wooden mask with the beard 

 represented. The masks are similar to those 

 worn by the negroes of Uruapan. Some of the 

 dancers are also dressed as women. They have 

 five or six stringed instruments. No data were 

 collected on the type of dance. 



The third group is the apacica or the salvajes 

 or negritos salvajes (Apaches, savages, or negro 

 savages) . They paint their faces to resemble 

 the negrito masks but wear no masks. Rooster 



