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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBUCATION NO. 11 



and 7 miles due east from Quiroga by foot trail, 

 Sanambo is only about a mile from the paved high- 

 way (Mexico City to Guadalajara) which curves 

 northward to pass through the Puerto del Tigre. 

 Numerous trails connect Sanambo with all of the 

 communities in the area, and the former main high- 

 way from Morelia to Tzintzuntzan passed through 

 Capula (about 4 miles distant), Buenavista, 

 Sanambo, and El Tigre. The rancho is bounded 

 (going clockwise from the north) by Buenavista, 

 Iratzio, El Tigre, possibly a little of Atzimbo, 

 Caringaro, Icuacato, and Capula. The earliest 

 mention of Sanambo is its listing (as Sanabo and 

 Zanambo) in 1569 as part of the dodrina or parish of 

 Tzintzuntzan, although the Loma Guatzivet chaga- 

 ricuandtheMonte Yraocojuatoof the 1534 Cocupao 

 titulo fall within or on the boundary of Sanambo. 

 The first mention as a pueblo is in connection with 

 the 160.3 congregation when it is mentioned with 

 Zirandangacho under the name Tzanambo. It 

 reappears as a rancho in the eighteenth century 

 and has maintained its identity under the forms 

 Sanambo and Zanambo. This name has two 

 locally accepted etymologies: (a) from xanambo, 

 place of xanamu (a type of reddish vesicular lava 

 used in masonry); and (6) from sanango, place of 

 sanaga, a cocoon common on madrono trees in the 

 area. Sanambo possesses the largest chapel of 

 any of the ranchos, erected early in this century and 

 said to be dedicated to the Sagrado Corazdn de 

 Jesus. This would imply that San Diego or 

 Santiago was the titular saint of the original 

 pueblo, whose name is still remembered in the area. 

 The population has remained rather static, 

 although a gain was registered in 1945 over the 

 figures for 1900, which was true only for Icuacato 

 and Sanambo among the ranchos. The population 

 has been 299 in 1945; 286 in 1940; 326 in 1930; 307 

 in 1921 ; and 259 in 1900, throughout which period 

 it was the most populous of the ranchos. In 1945 

 there were 61 families living in 49 of the 52 houses 

 in the settlement. The settlement composes an 

 inverted L shape which centers on the main 

 springs and adjacent chapel. The waters of these 

 strong and good springs are now concentrated in 

 concrete basins or pilas which were constructed in 

 the 1930's. The waters of Sanambo had such a 

 good reputation that during the second half of the 

 nineteenth century and until the revolution there 

 was a rum factory here, which has given rise to 

 the name of La Fabrica for the plot or predio where 



the distillery was situated. There is no school in 

 Sanambo, and only 6 of the inhabitants are 

 literate. Neither is there any store except a 

 tendajon kept in the house of one of the farmers, 

 nor other enterprise besides those connected 

 directly with farming. In 1945 there was one 

 batellero (maker of crude wooden bowls), six 

 families of landless agricultural workers or peones, 

 and the remainder were farmers all of whom owned 

 their house site or solar and the fields that they 

 cultivated. The 38 active farming households all 

 planted maize (2,699 liters each year); 30 also 

 planted wheat (2,144 liters); 19 planted habas 

 (890 liters); 10 planted barley (505 liters); and 15 

 planted kidney beans (125 liters). There were no 

 other cultivated crops, excepting occasional inter- 

 planting of pumpkins with maize and beans. The 

 principal cultivated fields or areas within the 

 rancho are El Albaricoque, Barranca de los 

 Chavez, La Campanilla, La Capilla, EI Capulin, 

 Los Capulines, La Casita, El Cerrito, Cerro Chi- 

 quito, Cerro de Irauco, Cerrito de Sanambo, El 

 Corral, La Cuesta, El Desmonte, El Encinal, La 

 Estacada, La Fabrica, La Fabrica Chica, El 

 Fresno, La Ilimiedad, El Jagiiey, La Loma, El 

 Madrono, Mesa de Pineda, Las Mesitas, Pila de la 

 Guare, El Pinabeto, El Salto, and San Rafael. 

 Livestock consisted of 169 work oxen, bulls, cows 

 and calves; 32 horses and 9 burros; 40 pigs; 20 

 sheep and no goats; 14 turkeys and 6 pigeons; 222 

 hens, roosters, and pullets ; and 47 dogs and 22 cats. 

 Sanambo, like Icuacato and all the other 

 ranchos, has no formal subdivisions such as 

 barrios and blocks, nor any named streets or 

 numbered houses. However, the pattern of 

 settlement is the most closely knit of any of the 

 ranchos, and Sanambo and Caringaro are the 

 only ones of these communities which have any- 

 thing approaching a center — in the area of the 

 chapel and the main springs. The 51 houses and 

 the chapel are all of 1 story, and 49 of the houses 

 are inhabited by 61 families. Although 26 of the 

 houses had walls constructed of wooden planks 

 or split logs there were 13 that combined adobe 

 and planks, 3 that were entirely of adobe, 3 of 

 adobe and stones, and 6 of more varied materials. 

 Somewhat greater attention to appearances was 

 manifested by the fact that 14 of the houses had 

 the walls whitewashed or plastered with mud. 

 Grass thatched roofs were in the minority (only 

 8 of grass alone or in combination with tile or 



