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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



washed. If the deceased is a girl, the dress is 

 a long gown of white with a sort of long cape 

 of blue. The corpse of a boy is dressed in the 

 same way except the inner garment is yellow 

 and the cape is green. In both cases a crown 

 of cardboard, covered with silver paper and 

 decorated with paper flowers, is placed on 

 the head. 



The body is placed on a table. Arches of 

 flexible wood, wrapped in paper and decorated 

 with paper flowers, are placed over the body. 



A bunch of flowers with a candle in the 

 middle is placed in the hands of the corpse. 

 Preparation of the flowers is done by girls 

 related to the deceased. The body is watched 

 during the night and candles are burned. A 

 "prayer," uandatsikuritic (rezador) , is asked 

 to come and pray. He is paid from $0.75 to 

 $1.50 for his service. 



In the morning all the relatives assemble and 

 are fed. The food is provided by the parents, 

 but the relatives of the mother aid in its 

 preparation. Opinion is divided regarding aid 

 given the parents. Some say that persons 

 attending the death watch during the night 

 bring aguardiente and that all those visiting the 

 house make a present of a few centavos to aid 

 in the expenses. Others denied this custom 

 and claimed the parents must stand all the 

 expense even though they have to sell some 

 property. However, everyone who visits the 

 house brings a candle, which is burned for the 

 deceased. 



The body is usually taken to the graveyard 

 sometime during the afternoon. Formerly the 

 body of a clnld was often accompanied by 

 musicians, but this practice seems to have en- 

 tirely disappeared, or nearly so. Each family 

 has a plot or section in the graveyard and three 

 or four male relatives prepare the grave in 

 advance of the burial. Four girls, who are 

 relatives of the deceased, carry the body to the 

 graveyard on the table on which it has rested. 

 Often only a few of the closer relatives will go 

 to the graveyard, but the godparents are always 

 present. 



At the graveyard the body is removed from 

 the table and placed in a wooden box or coffin. 

 This is lowered into the grave without ceremony 

 by relatives who also fill the grave with earth. 

 Sometimes some of the women will sprinkle a 



handful of earth on the cofiin in the form of the 

 cross before the grave is filled. The arches 

 decorating the table are placed over the grave. 

 There are no prayers or other ceremonies and 

 the party leaves immediately after the grave 

 is filled. 



The body of an adult is watched through the 

 night with candles; this night watch is attended 

 by many more people than in the case of an 

 infant and atole made of rice and brown sugar 

 is served at midnight. The corpse is di-essed 

 in black clothing of the type worn in life. 

 Nothing is placed on the head. A candle is 

 placed in the hand of the corpse but no flowers. 

 The clothing is prepared by the nearest rela- 

 tives, the godparents taking no part in the 

 funeral of a person over about 14 years of age. 



In the morning the visitors and mourners 

 are served beans and tortillas. At noon it is 

 obligatory to serve broth, curipo, and white 

 tamales, kurundas (although these are regarded 

 as injurious to the digestion). The food is all 

 prepared by relatives of the wife. The body 

 is taken to the graveyard in a wooden coffin 

 and is carried by four male relatives. A few 

 people take the body first to the church, but 

 generally it is taken directly to the graveyard. 

 In any case, there are never any prayers at the 

 graveyard. As in the case of a child, all the 

 prayers are in the house, usually with the aid 

 of a professional "prayer" or rezador. The 

 priest is never asked to officiate, although he 

 may have been summoned while the person 

 was dying. The body is buried in the family 

 plot (but a woman is buried in the plot of her 

 husband's family) . In the case of both adults 

 and children a small stoppered olla of water is 

 placed at the head of the corpse but outside the 

 coffin. There are no flowers, but each mourner 

 carries a candle. 



One evident contradiction between theory and 

 practice was observed. Numerous informants 

 insisted that there was never any music for 

 funerals of adults at any time. In actual fact, 

 several funerals were observed in which music 

 played in the house almost the entire day of the 

 funeral. 



In some cases, the interment ends all mourn- 

 ing. In others, the family hires a rezador to 

 come to the house every afternoon for 9 days 

 to pray. The members of the family join in 



