CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MODERN TARASCAN AREA—-WEST 33 
hectares in size,*8 and may be used indefinitely by 
the recipient, provided they are not left untilled 
for more than two successive years. They may 
be inherited by sons, daughters, or in-laws, and 
may be divided among them. <A family head 
may sell the use rights of his land to another 
member of the community, but not to outsiders. 
The official title to lands is held by the pueblo. 
Another remnant of communal holdings, com- 
mon in all parts of Tarasca, is found in the 
woodland, which is considered common land.*° 
48 In most parts of Tarasca land is measured in terms of the quantity of 
grain used in planting. Thus, in La Cafada a plot of maize land may vary 
from 1 to 8 liters of maize in size. Approximately 2 liters of maize is necessary 
to plant 1 hectare. (The term ‘‘hectare,” however, is unknown to most 
Tarascans.) Five liters of maize equal 1 medida; 100 liters of maize are equiv- 
alent to 1 fanega (one hundredweight), or one yunta, meaning the amount 
of land in which a team (ywnta) of oxen can plant one fanega of maize in one 
season. In terms of wheat, 44 liters equal 1 carga, or from 1 to 144 yuntas. 
The above equivalents are those used in Chilchota and Carapan. Similar 
land measurements are employed in the Sierra. 
49 This aboriginal custom parallels the ancient Spanish practice of reserving 
woodland as communal property. 
Before the promulgation of the Federal forest laws 
(1930’s), all members of the pueblo reserved the 
tight to cut wood and lumber in the monte with 
permission of the representante. Today a Federal 
tax must be paid (but is often evaded) by each 
pueblo for lumber rights. Small plots of Jand 
(desmontes) may be cleared and planted in any 
part of the forest, but the farmer must first gain 
permission of the representante and his committee. 
In addition to the monte many pueblos possess 
certain croplands, called tierras de la comunidad, 
which are not assigned permanently to individuals, 
but are worked communally, usually by landless 
farmers, who receive a portion of the harvest as 
remuneration. The remainder of the crop is often 
stored in the pueblo as communal property to be 
sold by the representante for the town treasury or 
to be used as food in time of shortage. 
TARASCAN ECONOMY 
Tarascan economy is today, and was in pre- 
Conquest times, as diversified as that of any 
large Indian group in North America. Agricul- 
ture has always been the preeminent occupation 
of most of the Tarascan population. Formerly, a 
significant part of the people were fishers (or 
farmers and fishers), living around the shores of 
Lakes Patzcuaro and Zirahuén and the numerous 
lakes and marshes of the northern plateau; the 
modern fishers are limited chiefly to the islands 
within Lake Patzcuaro. Moreover, hunting and 
gathering, although now of small importance, is 
still practiced throughout the area. Apart from 
the food quest, two other occupations have charac- 
terized Tarascan economy since prehistoric days: 
handicrafts and trade. Many of the Tarascan 
villages specialize in particular home industries, 
for which they are famed over a large area. Again, 
in prehistoric and modern times the Tarascan 
has been one of the more notable Indian traders, 
serving as commercial middleman between the 
tierra fria and tierra caliente to the south and west. 
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS AND ASSOCI- 
ATED CROP TYPES 
Tarascan agriculture involves a mixture of New 
and Old World plants and cultivation practices. 
The native trilory—maize, beans, and squash— 
still forms the leading crop complex, but the 
-European grains—wheat, barley, the broadbean 
and lentil—have become intimately associated 
with Tarascan agriculture. European fruits are 
grown with native types; Old World vegetables, 
mainly cabbage, have become an integral part of 
native food habits. But the modern Tarascan 
considers such crops, most of which were intro- 
duced over 400 years ago, as part of his aboriginal 
culture. Furthermore, although Tarascans still 
practice pre-Columbian shifting agriculture on 
steep slopes, the Old World plow has transformed 
indigenous cultivation on level and gently sloping 
lands. 
Agricultural acculturation continues constantly. 
Tarascan braceros returning from the United 
States have brought in apple cuttings from the 
Yakima Valley, grapevines from California, corn 
from Iowa. Within the last three decades a South 
American Ozalis (papa de Castilla) has been intro- 
duced in the Sierra south and west of Lake 
P&tzcuaro. Again, alfalfa cultivation is slowly 
penetrating into many parts of the Sierra. Recent- 
ly the Federal Government introduced a few steel 
plows in some Tarascan villages, and here and 
there one sees engine-powered threshing machines 
slowly replacing the ancient European threshing 
floor and flail. 
