THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



85 



day. Horses are not named, but some receive 

 rather surprising consideration. We were told by 

 Rutilio Olmos that if we wished to borrow his 

 beast, we should request it a week in advance, "so 

 that the horse might know where it was going." 



A good mule is equally useful as a mount and as 

 a beast of burden. It pushes effectively through 

 the mud ; it is able to carry heavy loads ; and when 

 hitched to the sugar mill, it is more efficient than 

 a horse. Thirty years is considered the average 

 life of a good mule, although Francisco Xochigua 

 had one which allegedly endured 38 years. This 

 extraordinary longevity is attributed to the fact 

 that the animal was not laden until it was 4 years 

 old. 



A good mule represents a considerable capital 

 investment. One broken costs between $600 and 

 $800 pesos ; not broken, about half that price, but 

 an additional $100 pesos must be paid someone in 

 Papantla who will train the animal. A mule may 

 be ruined in the breaking; it may become timid 

 and skittish or it may become "mean." Accord- 

 ingly, it is a great gamble to buy an unbroken 

 mule. The Totonac are aware that it is false econ- 

 omy, yet because of the reduced cost, it is more 

 popular to take a chance on an unbroken animal. 



On the whole, those who own burros are recon- 

 ciled to them, simply because they cannot afford 

 a more expensive animal ; most of those who have 

 horses would prefer mules, were it not for the 

 high initial cost; with few exceptions, the horses 

 are not prepossessing. Generally, those who have 

 mules are of better than average means. 



Animals are surprisingly plentiful and indicate 

 that the Tajin Totonac are prosperous when com- 

 pared to other indigenous groups in Mexico. 

 Probably the average is nearly one animal per 

 family. Our count does not include all households 

 in the community, but we have information from 

 44, of which 34 live in the fundo legal. It cannot 

 be said flatly that the group is entirely representa- 

 tive, although we believe it to be; certainly, it 

 includes some of the most prosperous, as well as 

 some of the most poverty-stricken families of the 

 community. For convenience in reference, the 

 households have been numbered. 



Of the total of 44 households, 18 have neither 

 riding nor draft animal; with this group is one 

 family (No. 12) generally considered affluent. 

 Among the remaining 26 households, animals are 

 distributed as follows : 



Family No.: 



1 



2 



3 



4 



6 



9 



11 



14 



17 



19 



21 



23 



24 



25 



27 



28 



29 



31 



33 



35 



36 



37 



39 



41 



43 



44 



Total. 



Burros 



Horses 



Mules 



Total ani- 

 mals 







1 







1 











2 



2 







1 







1 











1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



3 



1 











1 



1 



2 







3 











1 



1 



1 



2 







3 







2 







2 







1 







1 



3 











3 











1 



1 







1 



1 



2 







2 



1 



3 







1 







1 







1 







1 



1 











1 







1 







1 



1 











1 







1 







1 











1 



1 











1 



1 







2 



2 



4 







1 







1 







1 







1 



21 



12 



42 



Of these 26 families, 17 have 1 beast each; 

 but 3 families have 2 ; 5 have 3 ; and 1 has 4. Of 

 the households with multiple animals, three (Nos. 

 6, 11, 25) run local stores and use their beasts to 

 transport merchandise. One family (No. '23), 

 close to indigent, has three burros temporarily. 

 Originally, it owned a female donkey, which pro- 

 duced two offspring. Since our count was taken, 

 one of the progeny has been sold and the other 

 given to a son-in-law in Ojital, so that the family 

 again is reduced to one beast. 



There is virtually no local breeding of animals. 

 From time to time, they are sold locally in Tajin, 

 or exchanges are arranged between individual 

 owners. Most purchases, however, are made from 

 dealers who come from Papantla. These vendors 

 accept both cash and produce, such as timber, 

 maize, vanilla, pigs, and turkeys; they also re- 

 ceive other draft or riding animals as part pay- 

 ment. 



In Tajin, animals require a minimum of care. 

 Generally, they are tethered beneath a tree, near 

 the house. A few families have a corral of sorts 

 which consists of an enclosure fenced by vertical 

 posts, the latter connected by horizontal bars. 



