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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 



The boy and girl had agreed to go out together since 

 the last time they talked together. The father was 

 chasing us because he was trying to get the girl before 

 she had reached the boy's house. The girl was not 

 taken to the house of the boy when we stole her but to 

 the house of one of his relatives. If the father caught 

 up with us, we would have to take what was coming to 

 us and not fight back. Some boys tried to make a 

 blockade on the road when the father was chasing. He 

 had three friends with him and so he got by. 



The following day Agustin's fears were 

 realized ; he was summoned to the mayor's ofRc^ 

 and shut up in jail from about 5 until 8 o'clock. 

 Then, since it was a first offense, he was let out 

 (although he had helped steal a number of 

 other girls) with the warning that next time it 

 would be a couple of days. The mayor also 

 scolded the boys severely, pointing out that 

 several people had been killed stealing girls; in 

 fact, the implication was that he had put them 

 in jail for their own protection, not because 

 there was anything wrong with stealing the 

 girl. As during the winter scarcely a Sunday 

 passes without a girl being stolen in the plaza, 

 the mayor's shock could not have been great. 



Another less typical case involved a girl who 

 had three suitors. The three suitors agreed 

 to steal her and make her choose between them. 

 If she refused to choose, then one of them, Jose 



H , was to take her. The aid of three 



other youths was enlisted to guard all the 

 approaches to the plaza in case the girl tried to 

 flee. The plan fell through, because the girl 

 did not come to church as she had promised. 



The following week Jose made signals to a 

 girl in Paricutin that he wanted to talk with 

 her. She was with two other girls, carrying 

 water. She stood and talked for a while and 

 Jose then started home. After a block or two 

 he discovered the girl following him. He made 

 a circuit beside the barranca, but she still 

 followed. He waited for her and asked where 

 she was going. She replied, "I am going with 

 you." On this, Jose ran down into the bar- 

 ranca, followed it down to the plain, and after 

 a very long circuit, returned home. He had 

 scarcely arrived when the police summoned him 

 to the mayor's office. There was the father of 

 the girl, accusing Jose of stealing his daughter. 

 Jose denied the accusation and explained, but 

 he had no witnesses and the girl insisted. The 

 mayor ordered Jose to marry the girl; he 



refused, as he was interested in the girl he had 

 hoped to steal the previous Sunday and the 

 present girl he knew visited one of the houses 

 of assignation. Jose was then put in jail, but 

 when his mother stood responsible for him he 

 was let out in a couple of days. The girl's 

 mother went around town talking about the 

 wrong that had been done, while Jose went 

 around town telling everyone bad things about 

 the girl. Eventually Jose had to run away and 

 no one knew where he had gone. 



Normally, sexual relations are begun between 

 the bride and groom soon after she is stolen. 

 Permission of the girl's baptismal godfather 

 (and perhaps the godfather of confirmation) 

 should be sought and is usually given ; to refuse 

 might cause hard feeling. Cases were cited 

 where the godfather and the boy's parents be- 

 came very angry with each other over a refusal. 

 On the other hand, evidently the boy is stimu- 

 lated to accumulate the property necessary to 

 hold the wedding if sex relations are not 

 permitted. 



The stealing of a girl sets in motion a com- 

 plex series of events constituting perhaps the 

 most complicated aspect of Cheran culture. 



The following account of marriage is one 

 written by Pedro Chavez. Parts in brackets 

 represent additional comments made by Sr. 

 Chavez on other occasions or data gathered 

 from other sources. All the features of the 

 wedding were verified by observation and 

 utilization of other sources of information. 



A TARASCAN WEDDING 



Marriage among the Tarascans of the town of Cheran 

 embraces many points of great importance. In the 

 first place, it is now a custom that the groom, when 

 he desires to enter into marriage, steals the girl. This 

 theft consists of catching her and carrying her off^ 

 forcibly or, sometimes, willingly without force. But in 

 either case, as much in the first instance as in the 

 second, the bride goes in accordance with an agreement 

 made in advance and the action is merely feigned by 

 the two. 



When the theft of the bride is completed [by taking 

 the girl to the house of an uncle or other relative or, 

 more rarely, to the house of the groom], the parents of 

 the groom proceed to the house of the bride and appear 

 before her parents. This act is called the puatperankua 

 or "the pardon." It should be taken into account that 

 in order to present themselves before the parents of 

 the bride, the parents of the groom must take a person 

 called t'aiepiti diosA uandari [who is a professional 



