CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



197 



Agustin arrived in Cheran from the United 

 States on January 25, 1940. For 17 days he 

 did not eat at home. There were no iiestas 

 but he was "taken around." He was brought 

 chocolate and bread before he got up. Febru- 

 ary 5 there was a wedding, which he attended 

 for a while in the evening and part of the next 

 day. February 6 was Carnival and he went 

 on horseback to Nahuatzen, where he followed 

 the music about for a time. In March, during 

 Holy Week, he went to church Thursday, 

 Friday, and Saturday. He spent some time 

 watching the Judios chase small boys with 

 their spears. The boys blew whistles to annoy 

 them. Between Carnival and Holy Week there 

 were several weddings, but he did not attend 

 any of them for more than an hour or two. 

 At the fiesta of the Octava following Holy Week 

 he spent 4 days going about with the musicians. 

 He spent 3 days at a fiesta in Nahuatzen, com- 

 ing home each night. At Corpus he spent 4 

 days, following the music and visiting various 

 parties. He spent 1 day at the carcruero's 

 house on the day of San Jose, April 10. After 

 Corpus he spent a whole day at one wedding 

 and an hour or two at another. On San Juan's 

 day, June 24, he spent the whole day watching 

 the horse racing and other activities. On the 

 day of San Pedro in June he ate posole at 

 various houses and walked around all day. In 

 August he spent 2 more days at another fiesta 

 in Nahuatzen and spent an evening and a day 

 in connection with the mayordomia of Santa 

 Nieves. He also attended three weddings, 

 spending an entire day at each. In September 

 he visited the Ahuiran fiesta for 1 day. In 

 October he spent 4 days at the fiesta of the 

 patron saint in Cheran. A half day was spent 

 at the Huansito fiesta in La Canada. The Day 

 of the Dead was almost all spent at the grave- 

 yard and at people's homes. In December he 

 danced with the negrito dancers for 4 days and 

 in January danced with the viejos or Europeos 

 for 4 days (he did not count any of the practice 

 time which was in the evenings). In January 

 he spent 1 day at a wedding. 



Another informant, between 40 and 50 years 

 of age, spent the following time in fiestas : 



Carnival, 2-3 hours 



Wedding, 1 day 



Holy Week, 3 days at church 



Octava, 4 days 



Corpus, 4 days 



Nahuatzen fiesta, 1 day (got drunk) 



San Juan, 1 day 



San Pedro, 1 day (wife's father had a little 



fiesta; got drunk) 

 Nahuatzen fiesta, 1 day 

 San Francisco fiesta, Chei'an, 4 days 

 Wedding, 1 day 

 Wedding, 1 day 

 Negrito dancers, watched 1 day 

 Wedding, 1 day 

 Funerals, remembers two, but not certain. 



Aside from the funerals, this informant re- 

 members spending over 24 days in entertain- 

 ment during the year. Agustin, on the other 

 hand, spent 41 days (aside from the time after 

 he first arrived in town), at least 6 days being 

 spent at weddings and 8 days in dancing. From 

 various information collected, it seems reason- 

 able to believe that most men spend at least 20 

 days in weddings, fiestas, and similar enter- 

 tainment, while young men probably exceed 

 this figure. 



Women, in general, work longer hours at more 

 varied tasks and with numerous interruptions. 

 While women also attend fiestas and weddings 

 in Cheran, they are less apt to go elsewhere. 

 Moreover, even on fiesta days there are meals 

 to prepare and water to carry. Women's work, 

 however, is essentially more social. Water 

 carrying is almost a ritual, as is going to the 

 mill with the maize. Water is almost always 

 carried in special decorated and polished 

 ollas used for no other purpose. Water is 

 dipped out of the fountain in the plaza, the 

 tank at the end of the pipe line, or out of the 

 hollow logs of the aqueduct. The ollas are 

 always carried on the left shoulder on top of the 

 rchozOy which forms a sort of pad. Women 

 often go in groups after water and the task is 

 frequently an occasion for meeting friends and 

 talking. Taking maize to the mill is less 

 formalized behavior, but it, too, is a social 

 occasion, which may take 15 minutes and may 

 take an hour, depending on the time of day and 

 the number of friends encountered. Most 

 women prefer to go at a rush hour when they 

 have to stand in line, because they meet so 

 many friends. 



The best picture of women's activities may 

 be presented by giving a number of actual 



