18 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 7 
buildings) measuring 600 yards (varas) in each 
cardinal direction from the village church. De- 
prived of land, most of the men of the pueblos 
sought work in the sugar plantations in the tierra 
templada around Ario and Tacdmbaro, returning 
only occasionally to their homes. Others became 
peons in the adjacent haciendas, working with 
mulatto and mestizo labor (AGN Historia, vol. 73, 
ff. 292-306). Consequently, the decreased use 
and subsequent loss of the native language was 
inevitable. Only the fishers inhabiting the small 
Urandén Islands immediately offshore, who were 
unaffected by the haciendas, were able to preserve 
their native tongue. 
MODERN LINGUISTIC DISTRIBUTIONS 
The modern Tarascan area is in no sense a 
solid block of indigenous speech (table 1). The 
inhabitants of only 32 of the 66 Tarascan towns 
and 31 of the 50 indigenous ranchos all speak the 
native tongue (map 12). Nearly 25 percent of 
the population within the present area is com- 
posed of mestizos who know only Spanish. Such 
people are mainly merchants and arrieros living 
in most of the Indian pueblos and farmers inhabit- 
ing nonindigenous ranchos scattered throughout 
the Sierra and the Lake district. Fifty years 
ago native market centers, the towns of Nahuatzen 
and Tingambato now contain but a handful of 
people who have retained the indigenous language. 
According to 1940 census figures, only 35 percent 
of the inhabitants of Patamban are Tarascan in 
speech, 38 percent of those of Parangaricutiro, 
30 percent of those of Paracho, 20 percent of those 
of Sirosto, and 10 percent of those of Corupo.” 
Moreover, in 1940, 18 mestizo ranchos were scat- 
tered between Tarascan pueblos in the Sierra. 
In addition to mestizo merchants and farmers, 
many Spanish-speaking lumbermen inhabit the 
ephemeral sawmills prevalent in the Sierra forests. 
Hence, infiltrating mestizo settlement has shat- 
tered the once-continuous indigenous area in the 
Sierra and Lake district into small islets of purely 
Tarascan speech. The more notable of these 
islets are: (1) seven towns in La Cafiada, (2) 
the pueblos and ranchos grouped around the 
flanks of Cerro de Patamban, (3) the Tarecuato 
district, (4) a string of villages east of Cerro de 
20 The percentage for Corupo is open to question. Although no actual 
Statistical sampling was done, an impression of a much greater percentage 
of Tarascan-speaking inhabitants was obtained by the writer when he visited 
that town in 1946. 
Quipceo, and (5) the islands and adjacent shore 
settlements of Lake P&tzcuaro (map 11). (See 
table 1.) 
TaBLEe 1.—Distribution of Tarascan-speaking folk by 
localities, 19401 
{Data from official census, 1940] 
THE SIERRA 
Total Tarascan-speaking 
popula- folk 
Locality '8 tion 
(num- 
ber) Number | Percent 
Municipio of Charapan: 
‘Charapan!(p)-222-- se ot tee 1, 715 1,311 76.4 
San Weline:(p) 2-222 eae ee 887 795 89.5 
MuUanchoG) 2 sen as onan ee 20 20 100.0 
Rancho Nuevo (r)-_ 24 19 63.0 
a Palmai(r) 2.22: 2. 225-.4-5--s--cencs. 161 0 -0 
Municipio of Cher4n: 
Cher&n (p) 3, 388 2, 969 87.6 
Cosumo (r) 195 81 41.0 
Tzipiatiro (r) 24 20 83.7 
Municipio of Chilchota: 
Hluécator (1)... -s22s:22t525.22c-aSacesce= 127 0 0 
osiNogales:(r)22 =. ---. 22822-2225 -<2see 396 0 0 
RanchoiSeco'(r)22 31252 =sees2 22 esa 60 0 0 
BliPedregal)(t) 52-222) asa e eta ae 118 0 0 
Municipio of Erongarfcuaro: 
Cauca it) eb 3 sce se be ee 26 0 0 
Portmibo;(h) 255. s22e- sens) oe ee eee 49 0 0 
La:Zarzamora (1) 2-2-2220 42<2cosesc one as 92 0 0 
Zinciro. (1) 22222 sore oo ees NES BS 413 0 0 
Municipio of Los Reyes: 
ATSDANA(D) ceo es Meee se nee ee ee 1,001 357 35. 6 
Jess Diaz:(Sirio)) (pe 122-2 22- 22ss 2222 ef 696 696 100.0 
Pamat&cnaro (p)==-=-.-_--=.--=-.-*==-- 1, 382 1, 372 99. 2 
Sienichoi(p)o == 20-2 os sao eee oee es 819 709 86.5 
Zachnl (p) {3.2 aseset odio sete 6 eek 876 439 50.1 
Gherato'(r) 5 <== 22222. -3-e:5--2e-s255-- 271 261 96.3 
IbauProvidencis ((r) i225 -2ss<cessoconceaae 95 95 100.0 
BSansBenito:(n)csssee ease eee een eee a ee 255 255 100.0 
San Luis: Sorena(r) 222228 -scee sane 64 64 100.0 
La Tinaja:(r)=<--.=- x 154 154 100.0 
El Tropezon (r) ewe 84 84 100.0 
Uringuitiro (Jusinitiro) (r)_.-....-------- 287 287 100.0 
ZarzamMora|(T) == 5-2 se saa s-seae sea enee 130 130 100.0 
Queréndaro'!(®) 20-22 tae ss2e-e bee 60 60 100.0 
Wha: Mesa ((r)4. 22 22222sa252-22 eee 3120 120 100.0 
San Marcos Arachticuta (r)?____-.------ 350 50 100.0 
Wa olla (rss 24 22.2 ee ee (?) (2) (2) 
Tapani (n)§:22 5- ose ance eo oeee ee eons 350 50 100.0 
Tiorras:Blancasi{r)2.2222-=5—-s-=a5----— 385 85 100.0 
"Viemad0))(0)9: 3s Ree eis eS oe seas (2) (2) (2) 
Municipio of Nahuatzen: 
Nahnatzeni(p) 22-2. <=. -2---22-225222cece 3, 046 25 By 
“Arantepacia:(p)t2=-=-.-22-sse2-2-e eee 660 660 100.0 
@umachuén \(p) = = s222-522--2-25--5--—=— 1, 056 1,039 98.3 
Sevina: (p)-----=----- 881 876 99. 4 
Turicuaro (p) 749 749 100.0 
a Miojoners (p) -===--==---s-cseees=-—n— 831 0 0 
Bl Padre.(r)-22225-2ss-25552----se25s5-5 94 0 0 
E] Pino (r) Selle 152 0 0 
SanvIsidro (1) 2-2-4. 2-- -fe--sssceee- se 845 9 ail 
1 This table does not necessarily include statistics for all settlements within 
a given municipio. The boundaries of many municipios listed, such as Los 
Reyes and P&tzcuaro, extend beyond the present limits of Tarascan speech; 
in such cases many purely mestizo towns and ranches have been omitted. 
However, all settlements containing Tarascan-speaking inhabitants are 
listed. 
18 In this column (c)=ciudad; (v)=villa; (p)=pueblo; (r)=rancho; (rr) = 
railroad station; (h)=hacienda. 
—— 
