THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



87 



SWINE 



Hog raising is a greater drain on the maize sup- 

 ply, and fewer families have swine than have riding 

 and pack animals ; moreover, the number per capita 

 is considerably less. Our information comes from 

 40 of the 44 families mentioned above. Of them, 

 21 have no swine; among the remaining 19, hogs 

 are distributed as follows : 



'amily 



No: 







Number of pigs 



Pigpen 



1.. 











i 6 



X 



2_. 











1 



X 



3.. 











1 



X 



5.. 











1 





9.. 











2 





11. 











2 



( 2 )X 



16. 











1 





19. 











1 





21. 











1 



X 



22_ 











3 1 



( 4 ) 



27. 











1 





30. 











6 1 





31. 











1 





33. 











2 



X 



34. 











1 



X 



36. 











2 





39. 











2 



X 



41- 











2 



X 



44. 



total 









2 





1 





31 





1 3 sows, 3 small ones. 

 1 2 pigpens. 



• Small, a recent gift. 



* No pigpen as such; the 

 » Small. 



hog is kept 



in the granary. 







Three kinds of pigs are known to the Totonac : 

 (a) cuinos (makltintili pasni ?, bald pig) , of which 

 there is none in Tajin; (b) cochinos grandes 

 (lanqa^ pasni a , large pig), the most frequent in 

 Tajin; and (c) polinche, another large form, said 

 to yield "the most lard of all. There once was 

 one predominantly of this breed in Tajin, but even 

 it was of mixed blood." 



Although pigs are not treated with any evident 

 affection, in at least one household they attain the 

 dignity of personal names. One little female 

 porker is called La Guaracha (the leather sandal) , 

 and a young male is known as Juan Charrasqueado 

 (the name of a current popular song). 



There is a certain amount of local breeding of 

 swine — assuredly more than of horses. The owner 

 of a sow arranges to take her to the boar. To the 

 owner of the latter, either he pays $5.00 pesos or 

 promises him the first choice among the progeny. 

 It is considered "more convenient" to pay the $5.00 

 pesos and thus avoid a dispute later. 



A sow is given maize gruel, with lard, to stim- 



ulate the flow of milk ; if, by any chance, her supply 

 fails, the offspring are reared on maize gruel. 

 For the first 8 days after birth, the pigs suckle. 

 Then they begin to look for plants, and at 2 weeks, 

 they are able to eat corn. 



Swine run free most of the time; "that is the 

 way they become fat, by walking around." How- 

 ever, if the owner's fields are adjacent, the pigs are 

 tethered. Sometimes they burrow and make a 

 shelter of sorts for themselves along the edge of 

 the house clearing. When there are two or more, 

 a special pen and shelter generally are built, and 

 irrespective of number, some sort of protection is 

 necessary during the heavy summer rains. If the 

 household boasts only one pig, it may sleep in a 

 corner of the family dwelling. Ordinarily, a sow 

 with young is kept in an enclosure. Once the 

 little ones begin to put on weight they are released ; 

 by this time, they have little tendency to wander 

 very far ; "they think only of eating." 



At the time of our count, about half the families 

 with pigs had special shelters (chigueros) for 

 them ; one (No. 11 ) , in fact, had two. These belong 

 to one of the local storekeepers; although at the 

 moment he had only two pigs, ordinarily he main- 

 tains more. The pigpen usually is a small gabled 

 building with walls of bamboo and roof of thatch 

 (pi. 17, e) (p. 203). 



It is difficult to estimate the cost of maintaining 

 a pig. In the first place, food consumption varies 

 greatly, according to the size of the animal. In 

 the second place, although the principal food is 

 maize, supplementary foods vary considerably 

 in quantity, from family to family. All pigs 

 forage, but some have better opportunities than 

 others. 



Unfortunately, there is no equivalent of the 

 green fodder on which riding and cargo animals 

 subsist, and little greenery is cut for the pigs. 

 Sometimes the vine of the calabaza (Appendix C, 

 No. 273) grows out of bounds and is believed to 

 keep the maize from developing properly ; accord- 

 ingly, parts of it are pulled out and fed green to 

 the hogs. An overluxuriant sweetpotato vine 

 (Appendix C, No. 260) also may be cut and 

 brought home to them. Kitchen refuse is rela- 

 tively slight. Left-over tortillas, when there are 

 any, are given the pigs. Green beans are shelled, 

 for the seed alone is considered fit for human con- 

 sumption ; the remainder of the bean is boiled and 



