THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



243 



special occasions, is worn beneath the organdy 

 overskirt. 



A unique specimen, best considered embroidery, 

 apparently simulates the handwoven mantel. The 

 background is a flour sack, or some similar com- 

 mercial product. On it, designs have been formed 

 by looping pabilo thread on the right side, with 

 a needle. The result is basically the same as our 

 candlewick work (pi. 33, /). 



-Embroidery motif. Skirt pattern, same 

 provenience as figure 63. 



Knitting is unknown in Tajin. Some women 

 finish the neck of the blouse with a simple cro- 

 cheted edge in shell stitch ; and young men may 

 apply a similar border to the "silk" handkerchief 

 worn at the neck. More elaborate crochet is not 

 attempted. 



For good measure, it may be added that al- 

 though the Totonac of the sixteenth century ap- 

 parently made feather ornaments, such as head 

 crests (Oviedo 3 : 259) , there is no work in feathers 

 today. 



DYES AND ADHESIVES 



Today, native dyes are little used in Tajin, but 

 several dye plants are recognized. 



Four plants are known to the Totonac by indi- 

 vidual names but are lumped under the Spanish 

 term, capulin; the fruit of three of these (Nos. 

 21, 41, 85) is considered a source of black dye. 



893477—52—17 



Ghuchurutana (No. 46) produces a yellow dye, 

 said to be fast color. One informant recommends 

 using the fresh blossom ; another says it should be 

 dried. The flower is boiled, turning the water a 

 brilliant yellow, following which the cloth is 

 added. The plant is said to grow "anywhere," 

 that is, it does not cluster about inhabited areas. 



Fustic {moral, No. 324) provides another yellow 

 dye. One woman boils small chips of the wood 

 to extract the color; then adds the article to be 

 dyed. A man recommends using scrapings from 

 the heart of the wood instead of chips. 



A green dye, not fast color, is obtained by boil- 

 ing cloth with the leaves of quitacalzon (No. 29) . 



Blue is derived from muitle. The leaf or an 

 entire spray is placed in water and cloth boiled 

 with it until it turns blue. Shirts for infants 

 sometimes are thus colored, to cure the child of 

 crying. "If a baby cries all the time, it has mal- 

 viento (a magical infirmity), but with a blue 

 shirt, it stops crying." 



Concerning muitle, there is a great deal of con- 

 fusion. Several informants distinguish three 

 kinds : red (colorado), purple {morado), and blue 

 {azul), from which dyes of corresponding color 

 are obtained. There is, moreover, casual mention 

 of a black and a green muitle; the latter may be 

 the same as the blue ; and the former may refer to 

 the purple. However, one woman claims that the 

 purple muitle dyes blue : "One puts a spray in the 

 water and the latter turns purple ; but cloth which 

 is boiled in it is blue." 



We collected three specimens of muitle (No. 45) , 

 for which the same native name was given, and 

 for all, the taxonomic determination was the same. 

 In one case, four different informants inspected 

 the plant; three considered it muitle Colorado (or 

 rojo ) , one, morado. One woman says frankly that 

 she cannot tell the plants apart : "The leaf is the 

 same; the flower might be different, but I am not 

 sure ; one knows the color of the dye only by boil- 

 ing the plant." 



In short, it would appear that there are at least 

 two local plants, both known as muitle, and both 

 bearing the same Totonac name. One results in 

 a blue dye, the other in a red ; it is quite likely that 

 there is still a third, which produces a purple dye. 

 Muitle, incidentally, is said to occur only in the 

 vicinity of habitations. 



Red muitle is used to dye pink or red. A child's 



