194 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



Table 



3 chairs (usually small low style) 



Machete 



% dozen spoons 



2 table forks (rare) 



1 table knife (rare) 



1 can opener (rare) 



Objects found in a lot: 



Pear picker (if there is fruit on the lot) 

 Hollowed logs for water and feeding pigs 

 Smooth rock and wooden paddle for washing 



clothes 

 Wooden pitchfork 

 Wooden hook 



Carrying crate with tumpline (occasional) 

 Frame for carrying water olhis on donkcyback 



(occasional) 

 Clay oven with shovel and broom (occasional) 

 Hoe 



In addition to these items there are the tools 

 of work to be acquired. A farmer needs a 

 plow, yoke, goad, oxen, carrying nets, weeding 

 machete, and perhaps other items. A forest 

 worker needs an ax, a hafted blade for splitting 

 shakes, a wooden mallet, oak wedges, a 2-man 

 crosscut saw about 8 feet long, and an oil can 

 (to oil the saw). A mason will need a trowel, 

 hammer, .sledge hammer, and string for guide 

 and plumb lines. A traveling merchant will 

 need burros, pack saddles, and halters. 



Clothing must also be secured. The man will 

 own huaraches, or sandals, two or three pairs 

 of calzones, or cotton trousers, often a pair of 

 overalls, a pair of shoes, shirts, knitted cotton 

 undershirts, a blanket or poncho, belt, straw 

 hat, straw or rubber raincoat, a rubber cover 

 for the hat, and a Catholic amulet. In addi- 

 tion, many will own a jacket or coat and pair 

 of trousers of "citified" style to wear when 

 going to Uruapan. 



The wife will need a skirt, petticoat, blouse, 

 sashes, jacket, shawl or reho.:o. bead ornaments, 

 and shoes for special occasions. For working 

 about the house she may have a few cheap 

 cotton dresses of Mestizo style. 



As children arrive, clothing must also be pro- 

 vided. Boys usually own calzones or cotton 

 trousers with a strap fastening, straw hat, 

 small blanket, shirt, sandals, and perhaps an 

 amulet. Girls will have skirt, petticoat, blouse, 

 jacket, sashes, rcbozo, and sometimes shoes. 



Not everyone will have the above things, 

 but some will have more. The lists given are 



based on actual inventories of a few middle- 

 class homes and persons. 



In addition to a house and kitchen, which 

 constitute the Cheran minimum of decent hous- 

 ing, there are also many other structures to be 

 built, mostly by the man himself. If he has 

 burros or cattle, he will have a shed used as 

 a stable when the animals are kept at the 

 house. A pigpen is usually built of small poles, 

 often with a shake roof over all or part of it 

 and an opening to the street. Additional 

 storage space for fodder or straw is often pro- 

 vided, usually a pole con.struction roofed with 

 shakes. The lot needs to be fenced with poles 

 and the street side preferably should have a 

 wall of stone or stone topped with adobe bricks. 

 A substantial gate with a sheltering roof is 

 regarded as a virtual necessity. 



Most of the family life goes on in the kitchen. 

 Cooking, eating, and sleeping all take place in 

 the one structure. In fine weather, people may 

 sit outside or sit on the porch of the house. 

 Guests may sleep in the house, and when a son 

 marries he and his bride will occupy the house 

 for a year or more. Much of the business of 

 living takes i>!ace in the lot, in the fields and 

 mountains, and in the streets of the town. 



When children come, the acquisitive activities 

 of the family become even more important. 

 Now, not only is there a desire to secure the 

 minimum of housing, food, and clothing, as 

 well as the property to make these things possi- 

 ble, but there is the urge to obtain resources 

 with which to .start the children out in life. 

 Efforts are made to obtain additional fields and 

 to buy lots so that when the children marry 

 they can immediately have their own home and 

 their own means of subsistence in what Cheran 

 residents regard as the most satisfactory way, 

 that is, by possessing sufficient farm lands. 



As solid citizens the family members will 

 also have additional responsibilities. At least 

 one out of four families will hold a mayordomia 

 at some time. The father will also serve as 

 comisionadn for various fiestas, perform some 

 community labor, and serve on the night watch. 

 He may also take some position in the church 

 organization or occupy some office in the munic- 

 ipal government. If he can i-ead and write 

 he almost certainly will at some time be chosen 

 for an office. 



