CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MODERN TARASCAN AREA—-WEST 51 
and even in sheltered spots in the village streets. 
Again, collecting is done by women and children, 
though men may bring home a mess of mushrooms 
found while cutting wood. Eight to ten edible 
varieties are known in most towns. Children are 
trained early to recognize the poisonous kinds, 
called uaaié-terékua (ghost mushroom). Teré- 
kueéa are prepared by boiling and then frying 
in lard; they are also roasted with salt on the comal 
or over live coals; sometimes they are boiled and 
mixed with chile sauce. A tamal nikatamal- 
terékua) is often filled with boiled mushrooms. 
Aside from mushrooms, the fungus growth on 
maize ears is likewise called terékua (the cwitla- 
coche (Ustilago maydis) of the Aztecs), and is 
similarly prepared and eaten. 
In the Sierra acid fruits, particularly berries, are 
other food items collected. The fruit of the 
native blackberry bush (zarzamora, ¢‘ttin), which 
grows best in disturbed ground along hedgerows 
and on edges of fields, is gathered in May and 
June. The berries are eaten fresh with salt and 
are used to flavor atole (atole de zarzamora, 
¢‘tin-kamata). Other fruits commonly gathered 
include piniki, an orange-colored berry often 
carried to mestizo markets; tejocote and capulin, 
both gathered wild or semicultivated in hedgerows; 
wild grapes; the cherry tomato (Sapindikua), 
which grows along the edges of cultivated fields. 
The buds (Sam&8) of a wild mezcal type of 
agave is another food item commonly gathered 
in the Tarascan area and in most parts of Central 
Mexico. The buds and lower fleshy ends of the 
leaves of the plant are roasted in a hole about 1 
meter deep and 1 to 2 meters across, which is 
usually dug on the forested slopes where the wild 
agave is available. A fire is built in the hole, 
and after it has died down somewhat rocks are 
placed on top. When the stones become hot, 
the agave is placed in the hole and covered with 
maguey leaves andearth. After 3 days the cooked 
agave is taken out and carried to various markets 
where it is sliced and sold. Roasted agave is 
often termed mezcal (siudta), but it must be dis- 
tinguished from the distilled liquor (s‘Aku) of the 
same name. The former is rich in starch and is 
possibly one of the more ancient foods of Mexico. 
Aside from food plants, the coarse roots of 
zacatdn grass (Muhlenbergia macroura) are collected 
by men throughout the Sierra. Called raiz de paja 
or raiz de zacatén, the dried roots are sold in 
mestizo towns nearby for the manufacture of 
scrubbing brushes. This activity is not peculiar 
to Tarascans, for it is carried on by both mestizos 
and Indians in high altitudes of the Mesa Central 
where the grass grows in abundance. 
Before the eruption of Parfcutin in 1943, honey 
gathering was an important collecting activity in 
the Sierra. The heavy fall of volcanic ash killed or 
drove away all wild bees in the area, terminating 
the ancient trade of the panaleros, or honey 
gatherers. Formerly there were 15 panaleros in 
Urapicho, and several in Cheran and Tanaco. In 
the spring of 1946 it was rumored in some pueblos 
farthest from the volcano that a few swarms of bees 
were returning. (See Beals, 1946, pp. 13-14, for 
a description of honey collecting in the Sierra.) 
HUNTING ACTIVITIES 
In pre-Conquest times hunting formed a signif- 
icant part of the food quest among the Tarascans. 
Deer, rabbit, and grouse were hunted in the Sierra, 
while migratory waterfowl, chiefly ducks, were 
taken in the Lake area (Relacién de Michoacan, 
p. 15). Today only duck hunting on Lake 
Patzcuaro still has economic importance, and there 
it is limited chiefly to fishers—the islanders and 
some rancheros on the Taafu-k‘eri Peninsula. 
Nine varieties of migratory ducks (principally of 
the genera Nyroca, Mareca, and Nettion) are 
recognized by the fishermen. Customarily bird 
hunting starts on the Dia de los Muertos fiestas 
(October 31 and November 1), when as many as 
100 ducks are killed by a single hunter, and coa- 
tinues until the departure of the flocks in late 
March. The p‘atému, or spear propelled with the 
throwing stick (¢apdki, or the Nahuatl atlatl), is 
still employed by many duck hunters. The spear, 
with a carrizo handle 3 m. long, carries 3 points, 
called the fisga (k‘enééta), each 7 cm. in length 
(fig. 5). Old flintlocks (carabinas de chispas) are 
also used by the Urandén islanders, but many 
modern hunters from Janitzio possess modern 
shotguns. Ducks are eaten in the Lake pueblos 
and many are sold in Pétzcuaro. Waterfowl are 
hunted by Tarascans likewise in the Zacapu Basin. 
In the Sierra, hunting is looked upon as a 
pastime by most modern Indians. Men and 
boys often hunt deer, squirrels, and rabbits with 
flintlocks and some modern rifles. Game, how- 
ever, is largely depleted in the Sierra. Beals 
