CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



181 



marriage manager]. The first act of this person is to 

 arrive at the house of the parents of the bride, saluting 

 them very respectfully, and immediately falling on his 

 knees, accompanied by the parents of the groom and 

 various other persons most near to the father [es- 

 pecially the brothers and sisters of the groom's father]. 

 Then the marriage manager says a Catholic prayer, 

 making reference to the marriage of Joseph and Mary, 

 how it was, and that thus it is necessary to effect the 

 marriage they propose to bring about. This act com- 

 pleted, he offers a cigarette to the offended party [that 

 is, the father of the bride]. If the latter receives the 

 cigarette, it is an indication that he does not find the 

 marriage undesirable. If he does not receive it, it is 

 an indication that he wishes to be begged with many 

 favors to give his consent, but finally he always gives 

 his consent. [Because if he did not, the girl would be 

 returned to her parents and no one would marry her. 

 The girl's father is often very annoyed. He may scold 

 his wife for letting the daughter be stolen and he often 

 refuses to receive the boy's relatives for several days, 

 going off and hiding in the mountains in order to show 

 his anger and to cool down a bit.] Immediately [on 

 giving his consent] the father of the bride calls to- 

 gether all his neighbors and principal relatives, others 

 coming by themselves later. This reunion is with the 

 object of drinking with the bride's father, for the 

 parents and companions of the groom have brought a 

 quantity of liquor, until all are very drunk, which con- 

 cludes the first ceremony. The marriage manager 

 reminds everyone to await them again within 8 days, 

 that is to say, that they [the groom's relatives] will 

 return within 8 days. 



Eight days after the first ceremony, both the father 

 of the bride and the father of the groom assemble all 

 their relatives. Four or five days before they are 

 notified so that the relatives of the groom will each 

 prepare a quantity of bread costing not less than 1 peso 

 and not more than 5 pesos, while the relatives of 

 the bride make tamales with chile and meat of the 

 kind we call nakatamali. Once the day arrives, all 

 assemble in the house of the parents of the bride and 

 begin to exchange. The parents and relatives of the 

 groom give 4 or 5 pieces of bread to all those of the 

 other group. The latter in their turn give 6 or 8 

 tamales, continuing until all the bread and tamales have 

 been given away. [Each relative of the groom gives 

 bread to one or more of the relatives of the bride in 

 accordance with his wishes.] This affair also ends in 

 drunkenness. During all this time the bride has been 

 left at the house of the relative in whom the groom 

 has most confidence, but this day she is brought to be 

 present at the function. 



The following day after the function referred to, 

 the couple present themselves at the civil registry to 

 make their application to marry, accompanied by the 

 closer relatives. The authorities notify them to present 

 themselves within 8 days to effect the civil marriage. 

 [This represents an ideal case. Often the application 

 for marriage and the civil marriage may not occur for 



weeks or even months. In at least one case the religious 

 marriage took place before the civil marriage, although 

 on the same day. However, the priest normally refuses 

 to perform the service unless the certificate of civil 

 marriage is presented. The relatives accompanying 

 the couple are parents, uncles and male first cousins of 

 the groom, the parents and close relatives of the bride, 

 and the godmothers of the groom and the godmother 

 for the wedding. The latter stands by the couple when 

 the legal formula is lead by the seci-etary or the mayor. 

 All the relatives sign the papers as witnesses. Some- 

 times the secretary or mayor makes a little speech, 

 pointing out to the husband that now he has to support 

 his bride and can not expect her father to go on support- 

 ing her. He also may deliver a homily on behavior, 

 pointing out that a married man shouldn't have two 

 women or a married woman two men, warning them to 

 avoid divorce, etc.] 



After following the course indicated by the authori- 

 ties, the proper steps are taken for the religious 

 marriage. On the vespers of the day of the marriage 

 they celebrate the t'irenkua or the dance. For this 

 the parents of the bride hire a band with the object of 

 going to the house of the groom with the music to take 

 him the clothing called Ariperata, or gifts, which con- 

 sist of a pair of shoes, two or three pairs of trousers 

 {cahones), three shirts, and a hat. The cost of this 

 is divided by the godparents and relatives of the bride 

 in this way: one pair of trousers, a shirt, and a sash 

 from each of the two godfathers of the bride and the 

 rest from her father. The groom is dressed in this 

 clothing by the grandfathers, grandmothers, siblings, 

 and first cousins of the bride. [One of the latter 

 actually dresses the groom. The groom is called tem- 

 buca and his siblings and cousins of both sexes are 

 called tembucas. Similarly, the bride is called tembunga 

 and her siblings and cousins are called tembungas. 

 The female tembucas give the female tembungas nar- 

 row colored ribbons or bands to wear in their hair.] 

 Immediately the dressing is completed, the musicians 

 play some regional tune and the groom has to dance, 

 with which ends the affair of the gifts of the groom. 

 [Atole is sometimes brought to this function also. 

 The custom seems to be decaying.] 



On the day of the wedding the parents and god- 

 parents of the groom, together with the grandfathers, 

 uncles and cousins, are those charged with going to the 

 house of the bride very early in the morning when the 

 bells ring the first call to Mass to take her clothing also, 

 that is to say, the Ariperata. [The bride has returned 

 to her own house a few days before the wedding. 

 During this time the groom may visit her freely.] 

 This consists of three rebozos, a shirt and blouse, ear- 

 rings, corales (red glass beads), sash, and a pair of 

 shoes. The cost of these is divided as follows: one 

 rebozofrom each godfather, these being the blue rebozos 

 of Paracho, and the father of the groom a very fine 

 white rebozo [it is not actually white but one of the 

 remarkably fine mixed color rebozos from Tangancicuaro, 

 costing anywhere from 20 to 80 pesos] and all the other 



