24 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—-PUBLICATION NO. 7 
that a new upward trend has been established. 
On the other hand, there has been a considerable 
increase in the population of the Sierra and Lake 
towns since 1750, which probably accounts for 
the level curve during the 19th century, in spite 
of drastic areal recession in speech during that 
period (fig. 2). Today areal recession is still in 
progress, but actual numbers of Tarascans appear 
to be increasing. The question is: Can the growth 
in number of Tarascan-speaking children continue 
to exceed or equal that of the children (of Tarascan 
speaking parents) who fail to learn the language or 
cease to use it in later life? Assuming equal rates 
of infant mortality and similar health facilities for 
both groups, it would appear that, owing to cul- 
tural changes now in progress within the Tarascan 
area, the indigenous speech will eventually dis- 
appear. Such cultural changes—improved trans- 
portation, more frequent contact with modern 
life, increased educational facilities both within 
the pueblos and in the large towns outside, the 
Government alphabetization program—all aid 
to increase the use of Spanish and to decrease 
the use of Tarascan. Such factors influence espe- 
cially the younger generation. Today the young 
people (5 to 20 years old) of many pueblos have 
not learned Tarascan, and often those who know 
the language speak Spanish by preference. More- 
over, as indicated above, mestizo merchants are 
still moving into the Tarascan market towns and in 
such centers intermarriage of Indian and mestizo 
continues; the offspring of such unions rarely 
learn the indigenous tongue. 
TARASCAN SETTLEMENTS 
The early Spanish adventurers and friars found 
Tarascans living (like many sedentary Indians of 
the New World) in agglomerated settlements, the 
larger of which the Spaniards called pueblos, the 
smaller, rancherias or estancias. The pueblo and 
the rancheria (rancho) have remained the basic 
units of settlement in the Tarascan area, as im 
most parts of Mexico. In size present Tarascan 
pueblos range from 200 to 3,400 inhabitants; the 
ranchos, from 9 to 900. Invariably the modern 
indigenous ranchos are offspring settlements from 
a pueblo nearby. For instance, the 11 ranchos 
on the southern and eastern slopes of Cerro de 
Patamban were formed by families, which for 
political or economic (land) reasons, left the 
mother pueblo, Pamatdcuaro. Sirfo, a former 
rancho of Pamatdécuaro, was made a pueblo and 
tenencia ca. 1926, its name being changed to 
Jestis Diaz. By such a process agglomerated 
settlements begin and develop. Moreover, the 
ranchos on the Tarf-uk‘éri Peninsula, Lake P&tz- 
cuaro, were founded 50 or 60 years ago by fisher- 
32 Although in general these two types of settlement are differentiated by 
size, the terms ‘‘pueblo” and ‘‘rancho”’ have acquired political connotations, 
From the point of view of State and Federal Governments the basic political 
unit in Mexico is the municipio, which may contain many pueblos and 
ranchos. Usually the largest pueblo within this political unit is named the 
cabecera, or chief administrative town. The affairs of the cabecera and those 
of the municipio as a whole are administered by a presidente or mayor. The 
remaining pueblos in the municipio are regarded as tenencias, each headed 
by a jefe. The ranchos are dependencies of certain pueblos, local authority 
being vested in the diputado de orden. Upon obtaining sufficient size, prestige, 
or political influence, a pueblo may be elevated to the rank of villa or even 
ciudad Because of historical prestige small (1,077 mestizo inhabitants) 
Tzintzuntzan holds the title of ciudad. Such rank, however, in no way 
changes the political function of the town. 
men from adjacent islands of Janitzio and Lo 
Pacanda. On the other hand, the mestizo 
ranchos now found in the Sierra are the product 
of migration of farmers and political refugees from 
the outside. One of these, Arato, was established 
soon after the struggle for independence in 1810, 
and in the 1930’s was given the title of pueblo 
with tenencia status. 
Other types of settlement in modern Tarasca 
include the lumber camp (aserradero), an ephem- 
eral agglomeration of workmen’s huts around the 
sawmill. Such settlements disappear after sur- 
rounding exploitable timber has been depleted. 
In 1946 there were but three lumber camps in the 
entire Sierra. In addition, a minor form of 
dispersed settlement is sometimes found in the 
Sierra; occasionally a woodcutter and his family 
live permanently in an isolated house on a forested 
mountain slope and visit the nearest pueblo only 
to market products, buy supplies, and attend 
fiestas. 
Settlement sites——The few available early 
descriptions of the Tarascan area indicate the 
existence of many more Indian settlements during 
the 16th century than at present.*? This was 
particularly true in the Sierra, where small 
agelomerations (estancias or rancherias) were 
numerous. Such settlements were scattered on 
33 The early sources which mention former settlements in the Tarascan 
area include the available Relaciones Geograficas, 1579-81 (Mus. Nac., leg. 
102); various late 16th-century documents concerning labor and associated 
problems in Zavala and Castello (1939-46); many documents concerning the 
congregations of 1595-1605 found in AGN Congregaciones and Tierras. 
