CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MODERN TARASCAN AREA—-WEST 67 
palm are tied on one cord, half-hitched to the 
second one, and then tied back to the first; the 
loose end of the strip is permitted to hang over 
the second cord, thus forming a drainage surface 
similar to thatch (pl. 12). The process is re- 
peated, adding a new row of tied strips to the prev- 
ious one until the garment (4 ft. long and 3 ft. 
wide) is completed. Arantepacua capotes are 
marketed as far north as Guanajuato. No men- 
tion is made of these raincapes in the colonial 
sources, nor is there a Tarascan word for the gar- 
ment. It is not improbable that the capote is an 
introduced trait. 
Broommaking.—This is another minor industry 
now practiced by a few men in Arantepacua. 
Pimu palm leaves are symmetrically arranged 
around the end of a finished pine stick and then 
tied with agave fiber or a braided strip of palm. 
The result is a common broom found in all parts 
of central Mexico. 
WOODCRAFT 
According to the early Spanish chroniclers, the 
Tarascans were clever craftsmen in wood, and 
under the instruction of Spanish masters the 
natives became among the best carpenters in 
New Spain (La Rea, 1945, p. 20; Escobar, 1924, 
p. 147). By 1580 Indian carpenters in at least 
four towns—Pitzcuaro, Necotlin (Undameo), 
Tiripitio, and Tingiiindin—were turning out 
European-styled tables, chairs, and writing desks, 
which found ready sale among Spanish colonists in 
all parts of Michoacén.%= At that time lathework 
was established in Paitzcuaro, and probably before 
1540 Tarascans had begun to carve saddle frames 
for Spanish horsemen (Molotinia, 1903, p. 183). 
Like other Tarascan industries, woodwork was 
probably a rudimentary pre-Conquest craft greatly 
modified and improved by European techniques. 
However, the present commercial types of Taras- 
can woodwork—cabinet work, lathe work, and adz 
work—all appear to have been developed in the 
16th century. 
Specialized woodwork (apart from lumbering 
and shake making) was formerly more widespread 
among Tarascans than at present. At the end of 
the 18th century wood objects were manufactured 
in 21 pueblos (AGN Historia, vol. 73), today in 
only 13 towns. In but eight of the latter is the 
“tia Rel. de PAtzcuaro, 1581 (Martinez, 1889, p. 47); Mus. Nac., leg. 102: 
Rel. de Chocandiran, Rel. de Necotlin; Rel. de Tiripitio, ms. (in Garcia 
Library, Univ. of Texas). 
industry more than 150 years old; in only five of 
the present towns do more than 25 percent of the 
working population engage in woodwork. 
Adz work.—This is the simplest of the wood 
techniques now practiced by Tarascans (and by 
other Indian groups, as well as by mestizos in 
many parts of Mexico). Before the Conquest 
the Indians shaped boats from a single log and 
carved delicate figures on throwing sticks and 
tom-toms, possibly using obsidian and copper 
cutting tools. With the introduction of the 
European steel adz and gouge early in the 16th 
century, native wood carving was greatly facili- 
tated. One of the earliest European objects 
which the Tarascans carved with the adz was the 
saddle frame (fuste), an industry which disap- 
peared 100 years ago. Today wooden spoons 
and bowls (bateas) of softwoods are the principal 
adz and gouge products, Pamatdcuaro and its 
offspring settlements Sirio and San Benito being 
the chief producers.! These objects are also 
made in the Tarascan villages of Turicuaro, 
Cumachuén, Pichataro, Zirosto (formerly impor- 
tant) and Sevina (where the industry was intro- 
duced a few years ago), and in the mestizo towns 
of Patzcuaro, Técuaro, Zirahuén, Uruapan, Qui- 
roga. Spoons and bowls are made from softwoods: 
jaboneillo (Sa4pu), palo blano (urapit-tku), and 
aile (pamu). Occasionally bateas are made of 
pine. Tools include the common adz and vari- 
ously shaped gouges, which are driven with a 
wooden mallet (pl. 13). The products of Pama- 
tacuaro and surrounding settlements are marketed 
in all parts of Michoacan and sometimes are 
taken as far as Guadalajara and Mexico City. 
Lathe work.—This represents one of the most 
characteristic forms of modern Tarascan wood- 
craft, Paracho being the center of the torneros. 
Formerly the simple bow lathe was employed to 
make bowls, vases, candlesticks, chocolate beaters 
(molinillos), chessmen, toys (tops, yoyos), darning 
eggs, etc. (See Beals, 1946, p. 43, for illustration 
of bow lathe.) Since 1942, however, when a 
power line was constructed near the town, most 
of the bows have been replaced by electrically 
powered lathes. About six torneros in Paracho 
and five in neighboring Ahuiran still use the bow. 
Formerly turned objects, chiefly rosaries, choco- 
151 It is doubtful that wooden bateas were carved before the Spanish Con- 
quest. Gourds of Crescentia alata probably functioned for the modern batea. 
The “‘bateas’’? employed in early Spanish gold placering in the téerra caliente 
were likely fashioned from Crescentia gourds. 
