74 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 7 
Tarecuato, and medicinal herbs of the Sierra to 
Colima, most parts of Jalisco, the tierra caliente of 
Michoacén and Guerrero. Tropical fruits make 
up most of the return load. A few professional 
carriers haul pottery from Santa Fé to Quiroga 
and, at times, to Morelia. Huwacaleros from other 
towns have practically disappeared. 
Although they do not use the large hwacal, 
many women of the Sierra devote most of their 
time to carrying various products to the sur- 
rounding mestizo markets. For instance, the 
women of the Pamatscuaro ranchos (Uringuitiro, 
Tierra Blanca, etc.) carry ocote splinters, wooden 
spoons, and tamales to Zamora, Chilchota, 
Patamban, and the Lake area.’ Again, some 
women of Corupo collect eggs and chickens from 
surrounding towns and take them to the Sunday 
market at Uruapan.'”! 
’ 
The arrieros, or the “mule-skinners,”’ in spite 
of inroads of motor transportation, still account 
for a large part of the interregional trade in 
Michoacdén. Mule and burro transport came into 
use on a large scale in New Spain after the forced 
services of the tamemes were restricted in the last 
half of the 16th century (Spain. Law, Statutes, 
ete., Lib. VI, tit. 12, ley 6-10). Indians, however, 
were slow to adopt animal transport. Even in 
the latter part of the 18th century the majority 
of the muleteers operating in Michoacan were 
Spaniards or mestizos, who hired Indians as 
helpers. By 1789 some Tarascans owned mule 
or burro trains in Cherdén, Urapicho, Angahuan, 
Charapan, and Pomacuarin (AGN Historia, vol. 
73). Even today the greater part of the arrieros 
operating in the Tarascan area are mestizos with 
headquarters in some of the northern towns. 
170 During such trips the women of these ranchos may be gone from their 
households for 3 or 4 days. In their absence housework is done by the child- 
ren or the men, who rarely travel. 
1 Such rounds may last a week. The women visit Charapan, Zacan, 
Ziristo, Pamatacuaro on certain days, returning to Corupo by Friday, and 
arrive at Uruapan Saturday evening. Eggs are carried in a small crate held 
on the back with the ayate. Six or seven chickens are tied on the top of the 
box, and, in addition, many women carry one or two fowls in their arms. 
fria. 
Like the huacalero, the arriero in the Tarascan 
area has functioned chiefly as a commercial inter- 
mediary between the tierra caliente and the tierra 
During the colonial period, however, some 
mule skinners extended operations into the north- 
ern mining districts. Moreover, various mestizo 
towns in Tarasca became arriero centers—strategic 
points along the main routes where mule trains 
met, animals were sold and traded, supplies pur- 
chased, and merchandise exchanged. Such towns 
became residences of many muleteers. <A series 
of these centers lies within the tierra caliente and 
includes Apatzingin, Huetamo, and Coyuca. 
Another series is located within the tierra tem- 
plada: Uruapan, Ario, Tac4mbaro. Other centers 
are found in the tierra fria: Cotija, and, formerly, 
Parangaricutiro and Jiquilpan. Most of these 
towns still function as arriero centers, and although 
motor transportation is continually replacing the 
mule and burro, some of them will continue to 
serve as way stations for fuel and repairs and 
collecting points for products carried out by 
trucks. 
Since the construction of motor roads in many 
parts of Tarasca, former arrieros and huacaleros 
have begun to use public busses and semipublic 
trucks to transport merchandise. Pottery vendors, 
for example, stand for hours along the highway, 
hailing through-trucks to take them and their 
goods to Guadalajara, Morelia, or Mexico City. 
Moreover, heavy sugar and cascalote trucks now 
operate from Uruapan, Patzcuaro, and Los Reyes 
into the tierra caliente. 
The wholesale buyers represent a modern type 
of merchant, who with the advent of road con- 
struction have begun to penetrate into the 
Tarascan area. Grain dealers from Morelia, 
Zamora, and Uruapan now run their trucks into 
the Sierra towns to buy surplus wheat. Again, 
many woodworkers in Paracho are on contract 
to city wholesalers for turned work and guitars, 
which are collected at intervals in trucks or pas- 
senger cars. 
