THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 — KELLY AND PALERM 



175 



a nephew whose house is equipped with an oven. 

 The estimate follows : 



For mole: Pesos 



3 turkeys @ 25. 00 $75. 00 



4 hens @ 8.00 l 32.00 



2 roosters @ 10.00 ] 20. 00 



1 pig 100.00 



.5 latas (presumably half a 5-gallon tin) 



lard 35. 00 



Cinnamon 3. 00 



Cloves 2 1. 20 



For tortillas : 



9 almudes (108 liters) maize 22.50 



For bread : 



6.25 kg. sugar 5.40 



Flour 28. 00 



Eggs 3. 75 



Miscellaneous : 



3 kg. salt .90 



10 kg. coffee 28.00 



Brown sugar 15.00 



3 cartons cigarettes (a- 1.15 3. 45 



3 demijohns aguardiente @ 4.50 13. 50 



2 bottles aguardiente @ 1.50 3. 00 



3 demijohns "sherry" 7.50 



Special items : 



3 kinds of skyrockets 13. 65 



Materials for a new dress for the image of 

 St. Joseph, made by the daughter of the 

 family 50. 00 



Total $460. 85 



1 Price excessive. 



2 Apparently through oversight, chili is not listed. 



It is clear why not more than four or five fam- 

 ilies in Tajin are able to receive St. Joseph on his 

 annual pilgrimage. One man, usually among the 

 hosts, told us regretfully that he had not been able 

 to invite the saint that year, because his supply 

 of maize was low. But corn is a very modest item 

 when the total expense is figured. Feasts are im- 

 portant in the budgets of most Tajin families, 

 although relatively few entertain on the scale of 

 the Mendez. Yet every family is under obligation 

 to offer several large feasts following the death of 

 its members, and it is evident that death is a costly 

 business for the survivors. 



tween 2 and 3 years, seated beside his mother, 

 gravely puffing on a cigarette. Little Maclovio 

 Calderon, aged 3, repeatedly asked us for a jmro ; 

 and his small sister, aged 6, collected all burning 

 cigarette butts in sight and puffed on them. 



Commercial cigarettes are smoked quite gen- 

 erally, by both sexes. However, many people, both 

 men and women, prefer to roll a cigar (puro) ; "it 

 lasts longer." Tobacco is not grown locally and 

 that purchased in Papantla is thought to come 

 from the vicinity of Gutierrez Zamora and Comal- 

 teco and from some "unspecified" part of the 

 Huasteca. A leaf is cut to rectangular shape, and 

 shredded tobacco is sprinkled along one edge. 

 This then is rolled, first between the fingers, then 

 between the palms. Occasionally, a host passes 

 leaf tobacco among the guests, so that they may 

 make cigars. 



It is said that fifty or sixty years ago, the pipe 

 was in general use, although now it has disap- 

 peared completely. Leaf tobacco was rolled be- 

 tween the palms and placed, unshredded, in the 

 bowl. Regardless of type, the pipe is known, curi- 

 ously enough, as cachimba (puskuli 2 ). 



Two kinds of pipe were described and models 

 made for us. One (fig. 18, b, c) is a simple elbow 





s 



/ 1 



° m 



SMOKING 



Both men and women smoke. "Some smoke all 

 day, but most, only in the morning or evening, so 

 as not to become dizzy with the heat." One elderly 

 woman feels tired and her legs ache if she refrains 

 from tobacco. Youngsters begin to smoke at an 

 early age, and occasionally one sees a child be- 





Figure 18. — Model pipes, a, Bowl of coyol palm; b, c, of 

 clay. See text (pp. 175-176) for description, a, Made 

 by Lorenzo Xochigua; b, c, by Modesto Gonzalez. 

 Scale: ^2 natural size. 





