THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



99 



with the machete, so that the bees will fall into the 

 box. Otherwise, a "broom" is made of capulin 

 (Appendix C, No. 85) "because it has a nice odor" ; 

 it is dipped in water, and with it the bees are 

 brushed from their resting place into the container. 

 The box is covered with a cloth from 4 to 6 days, 

 until the comb is begun and the bees are less likely 

 to leave. 



The Old World bee has a sharp sting and some 

 protection is necessary. When bees swarm, their 

 pursuer carries a smudge of corncobs in a home- 

 made pottery incense burner (fig. 45). Some who 

 handle bees burn a large cigar; others prefer 

 incense. 26 



"Castration" takes place every two or three 

 months, but not when the young are plentiful nor 

 when the rains are heavy. The bees are quieted by 

 smoke ; the box is opened, the combs removed and 

 cut with a sharp knife. A bit of honey is left as 

 nourishment. The honey is extracted simply by 

 squeezing in the hand. If it contains much for- 

 eign material, it is strained through a thin cloth. 

 Jose Bautista sells a bottle containing three- 

 fourths liters of honey at 25 centavos. 



The bee, the comb, and the wax seem all to be 

 known by the Spanish term, cera (wax). Some 

 wax is sold to the stores in Papantla, at $5.00 pesos 

 the kilogram, a price slightly higher than that 

 of the native bee. Most people in Taj in prefer 

 commercial candles, but home-made ones are pre- 

 pared from unsold wax ; these vary, according to 

 size, from 10 centavos to a peso. Wicks of pur- 

 chased twine are hung from a loop of liana, which 

 is suspended from the rafters of the house. With 

 a spoon, the molten wax is dribbled in turn over 

 each wick ; the latter are not dipped. 



A candle of the wax of the introduced bees is 

 known simply as kantila (Spanish candil, can- 

 dela?). It is used for illumination, for burning 

 in honor of Christian saints, and for "curing" or 

 purifying a person by stroking. A dying individ- 

 ual is given a lighted candle of cera puerca, duly 

 blessed, to hold. But for certain subsequent cere- 

 monies connected with death (the funeral, and 

 rites which take place the ninth and eightieth 

 days following death), candles of the wax of the 



Old World bee are used. There seems to be some 

 correlation between introduced ceremonies and 

 candles made of the wax of the introduced bee; 

 and, in part at least, candles of cera puerca are 

 associated with ceremonies which appear to be 

 basically indigenous. 



AGRICULTURE 27 



Since early times, the Totonac have been an 

 essentially agricultural people. In "Cempoala," 

 the Spaniards found ample provisions, as well as 

 generous hospitality, and local economy evidently 

 was based on intensive agriculture, accompanied 

 by irrigation. 28 For two Totonac pueblos of the 

 same general area — Colipa and Tepetlan — there 

 are sixteenth-century reports of irrigation, as well 

 as for a nearby Mexican town, Atexca (Paso y 

 Troncoso 5 : 115, 117, 120) . The Tajin Totonac do 

 not practice irrigation, which seems out of the 

 question, given the rugged terrain and the fre- 

 quent shortage of water. 



In Tajin today, virtually every family plants. 

 Men are the farmers, although women sometimes 

 assist in the fields, and a few carry about as heavy 

 agricultural responsibilities as do the men. The 

 mainstays of local agriculture are maize, cane, 

 and vanilla, of which the first is an aboriginal crop, 

 the second an introduced one, and the third, 

 aboriginal, but apparently not ancient in the 

 Papantla zone. Maize is grown chiefly for home 

 consumption. Any surplus is sold, but most fam- 

 ilies harvest only sufficient for their needs. Some 

 produce less than they consume and are obliged 

 to buy toward the end of the season. Cane is 

 grown both for local vise and for sale. Probably 

 Tajin produces most of the brown sugar it con- 

 sumes, and some families derive a considerable 

 cash income from the sale of sugar in Papantla. 

 Unlike the preceding, vanilla is exclusively a cash 

 crop. 



The Tajin trio of maize, cane, and vanilla is by 

 no means general throughout the Papantla zone. 

 Gratuitously, the Federal census taker has in- 



20 Said to be the type brought for sale by traders from the high- 

 lands. Assuredly, this is copal incense ; in fact, the vendors call 

 it "kopali." One informant is certain that it is different from 

 the incense bought in Papantla, but a storekeeper there assures 

 us that incienso and copal are one and the same. 



27 A number in parentheses following the name of a plant refers 

 to the herbarium catalog, in Appendix C. 



28 We have found no early report of irrigation nt "Cempoala." 

 However, Ing. Jose 1 Garcia PayCn (letter of December 19, 1949) 

 has discovered archeological evidence of irrigation canals; thesp, 

 he says, have been widened and are in use today. One of his 

 published reports (Garefa Pay6n, 1949 b, pp. 453-454) indicates, 

 moreover, that potable water was brought to the settlement 

 through a system of canals. 



