THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



207 



Pablo Gonzalez, whose menage probably is repre- 

 sentative of a family in comparatively comfortable 

 circumstances. Vegetation in the patio or house 

 clearing is indicated, as are the various structures 

 and their furnishings. Don Pablo has no sweat- 

 house, no oven, and no mill for cane ; but his estab- 

 lishment boasts a kitchen, living room, and two 

 separate bedrooms, plus the ubiquitous laundry, 

 and a poultry house and hog shelter. The figure 

 is accompanied by a detailed description, in which 

 reference is made to a number of photographs 

 which complement the account. 



The household is situated on a slight east-west 

 hogback, in the northern half of parcel 115. To 

 the south, there is a relatively abrupt drop, and 

 here monte begins; to the north, the land slopes 

 gently toward the family's maize and cane fields, 

 hidden from view by a narrow strip of monte. 

 The house clearing continues somewhat farther 

 west than we have shown, where formerly were 

 located several buildings belonging to the previ- 

 ous owners of the parcel. To the east, clearing 

 and property lines coincide and are marked by a 

 long row of handsome chaca trees (No. 228). 



SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR FESTIVALS 



From time to time, virtually every Totonac 

 household is under obligation to receive numerous 

 guests (p. 173) . At a really large feast, a hundred 

 guests, or even two hundred, are by no means un- 

 common, and the problem of preparing food for 

 so many people is, quite obviously, a severe strain 

 on kitchen facilities. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances, the kitchen, with its small platform 

 hearth, its few metates and water jars, its limited 

 number of cooking vessels and dishes, is quite in- 

 adequate, and most of the preparations are made 

 out of doors, in the clearing adjacent to the 

 kitchen. 



We had opportunity to witness the makeshift 

 kitchen arrangements for several festivals. An 

 account of two, given below, will give some idea of 

 the way in which the problem is met. 



Eighty days following the death of an individ- 

 ual, the family ordinarily gives a large feast. We 

 were fortunate enough to be invited to one at the 

 house of Agustin Mendez : 



Most of the preparations have been made in the patio 

 adjoining the kitchen on the east and north. Immedi- 

 ately outside the east door of the kitchen is a large copper 



cauldron, ordinarily used to prepare brown sugar ; today, 

 it is filled with water, so that the cooks may have an 

 adequate supply. From time to time, several girls go to 

 fetch more water, each carrying a jar. They cross the 

 main patio of the house, in front of the "parlor," where 

 the male guests are assembled ; they go and return, single 

 file, very self-consciously, without a glance to the right 

 or the left. 



A few steps in front of the kitchen door, and to one side, 

 are two very large, home-made jars, containing the 

 bollitos de anis (p. 153). They rest on firedogs (pi. 19, 

 «), having one large stone in common, and each vessel is 

 further supported by two inverted clay pots. Each of the 

 large jars is covered by a shallow gourd container, con- 

 vex side up. 



Beyond is a table, at which several women are prepar- 

 ing tamales. They cut leaves for the wrapping, as needed, 

 from nearby banana trees. Each leaf is opened at the 

 tip and is torn down the vein, then the halves are cut in 

 suitable lengths. 



A few meters to the north is a thatched roof, under 

 which brown sugar generally is prepared. Today, the 

 "oven" for boiling the cane juice is not in use. But a 

 great copper cauldron is filled to the brim with tamales. 

 It is raised above the fire by a pole thrust horizontally 

 through its two rim handles ; one end is tied securely to 

 a post of the roof ; the other rests in the fork of an upright 

 stick, evidently set up for the occasion. 



Beneath the same thatched roof is a large clay pot in 

 which the atole is being cooked. It sits on three small 

 inverted pots, which serve as firedogs. The atole is stirred 

 constantly with a long stick (fig. 36), and the woman in 

 charge of this operation has her organdy skirt and her 

 apron tucked between her knees, in the hope of not soiling 

 them. 



Along the east side of the same shelter, further prepara- 

 tions are under way. A clay baking plate, resting on 

 three stones, is being used to toast the totopos (p. 155), 

 and along with the latter, small cakes of chocolate are 

 being softened before they are tossed into a nearby pot, 

 where the chocolate is being beaten with a home-made ap- 

 paratus (pi. 20, a; fig. 29, a). 



The kitchen itself is not deserted, but it is the scene 

 of less activity. On the grinding table along the north 

 wall are five metates, one of which is upended and evi- 

 dently has not been used. The bulk of the grinding, of 

 course, has been completed long before the guests arrive. 

 On the floor just inside the kitchen door is a large baking 

 plate, on which tortillas are being cooked. 



The food is served principally from the thatched roof 

 shelter where ordinarily cane juice is boiled. Not only 

 guests are provided generously, but gift lots of food are 

 prepared, to be sent to various houses. It is said that 

 some is sent every family whose members attended the 

 wake, even if none presents himself at the feast of the 

 eightieth day. Various men leave the shelter, carrying 

 tamales and totopos in fiber hags, and atole, with chocolate 

 foam on top, in new pottery pitchers, purchased for the 

 occasion in Papantla. One man, almost more in evidence 

 than the host, is said to he particularly eager to assist, 



