154 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



with the peso. From the plaza we then went west over 

 to the store of Don Emilio Rojas where we danced and 

 were given a .50-eentavo piece. Fiom there we then 

 came over to the house of Rafael Castillo, where we 

 danced and were given two packages of cigarettes. 

 From there we went over to the store of Benito 

 Pahuamba, where we danced and were given a bottle 

 of sherry. From there we went over to the carguero's 

 house to eat supper, but before we ate we danced the 

 whole works. Then we ate supper and after that they 

 gave each of the vicjos a loaf of white bread. But 

 before, when we were dancing and reciting, the 

 carguero's wife began to pass out sugarcane and 

 oranges and then we went to eat. After supper we 

 danced for a little while, up to about 11 p.m., and then 

 we went home. We danced [this time] because that 

 was the combate for this year's mayordomia for Don 

 Aurelio. [The last sentence is obscure. Don Aurelio 

 was the cargucro for the succeeding year.] 



Ordinarily the dancers appear again for 1 

 day at the time of Candelaria, February 2, 

 reciting the s^ame rclatos but without the Three 

 Kings. For 1941 one man had agreed to pay 

 for the music and two others had agreed to 

 provide food for the dancers, but for some 

 reason the arrangement fell through. On the 

 vespers of Candelaria, people burn pitch pine 

 (ocote) in front of their lots. 



OTHER DANCES 



On January 1 a group of children, 6 to 8 

 years old, dances in the day time. Six boys 

 and six girls participate and are called tare 

 sapiratica, or the "little old men." They go to 

 church very early in the morning and change 

 the image of the Holy Child, which had been 

 placed in a reclining position in a crib on 

 December 25, placing it in a sitting position. 

 After the Mass the children go to the house of 

 the colector, where they breakfast and dance. 

 They then go to the house of the ker;i and dance. 

 Later they go to some other houses to dance. 

 At midday they eat at the house of the colector 

 again. The dance is performed to music 

 furnished by wind instruments. It apparently 

 attracts little attention and often is not per- 

 formed. A former colector stated the girls are 

 the nandnces for the ensuing year, but this fact 

 seemed not to be generally known. 



In connection with the viayordom'm of Santa 

 Nieves or the Virgin of the Snows, a group of 

 girls performs a dance on August 5 for 1 day 

 to music of wind instruments. The dance is 



known as the caballita uaaarica dance of the 

 little horses. The figures of horses are made 

 of withes from certain plants, with openings in 

 the middle in which the girls stand. The head 

 is made so it can move, and the dance consists 

 mostly of the girls standing and moving the 

 horses' heads in time to the music. Again, 

 little attention is paid to the dance, and the 

 carguero often does not arrange to have it 

 performed. 



In connection with the fiesta of the Virgin 

 of Guadalupe, the carguero ordinarily arranges 

 a dance known as the uaris. The dancers con- 

 sist simply of unmarried girls and young 

 women who dress in the traditional costume 

 but perhaps with a few more ornaments than 

 usual. They dance the usual Cheran fiesta 

 dance in the streets. 



DANCES IN OTHER TOWNS 



Only a few dances were observed or learned 

 of in other towns. The past or da of Capacuaro 

 was the most thoroughly studied, but the data 

 remain superficial and unrelated to the cere- 

 monial setting. The dancers are connected 

 with the cargucro for the December 25th cere- 

 monies. A pole is erected in his patio with a 

 large paper lantern suspended from the top 

 (this is done by the kevji at Cheriin, but use of 

 this term was denied at Capacuaro) and a stage 

 is erected at one end of the patio on which 

 some of the rclatos are given. The house is 

 also decorated with paper flowers and pine 

 boughs. A table altar on the porch has a 

 creche with miniature figures. The dancers 

 appear for 3 days at Christmas and again on 

 January 1. On Christmas Eve it is claimed 

 that they perform a very long colloqnio, lasting 

 18 hours without repetition, on the stage at the 

 carguero's house. Doubt of this statement 

 seems indicated. 



The dancers consist of between 35 and 40 

 raneheritfis and ranchcritos, boys and girls of 

 8 to 12. In addition, there were two "hermits" 

 or hermltanos, dressed as friars with gray robes 

 and a conical cap. They wore a rosary and 

 carried a whip, serving, among other functions, 

 as police (pi. 6, upper right). Two Europcos 

 were dressed in white wooden masks with long 

 blonde wigs of goat hair, citified clothes, and 

 boots (pi. 6, lower right). Three "devils" or 



