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Changes in Indian Life in the Clear Lake Area (4 pages)
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Page: of 4
lA sins ACA tn
LOS TARAHUMARAS, EL GRUPO
ETNICO MEXICANO MAS NUMEROSO
QUE AUN CONSERVA
SU PRIMITIVA CULTURA
Por Finiperto GOMEZ GONZALEZ
(México)
108 América Indigena
after more than a century of contact with western civilization the four
hundred or so Indians remaining in the Clear Lake area have made
only an unsatisfactory adjustment to our way of life as “hewers of
wood and drawers of water”.
Summary
The Tarahumara Indians —characterized by their pasivity, sense of truth, and marvelous physical endurance—,
live in the Sierra Madre Occidental (the continuation of the
. Rocky Mountain system) in the State of Chihuahua, in
Northern Mexico. They call themselves “Raramuri”, which
means “runner on foot”.
The men wear a cotton cloth shirt, a breach cloth, and,
not always, “huaraches”. They hold their hair with a piece
of cloth called “coyéraca”; a wool blanket complements his
dress. The women wear wide cotton cloth skirts and blouse;
the “coyéraca” on their head, and always go bare-footed. She
is shorter and stockier than the man, whose medium
height is 1.64 meters.
Agriculture and shepherding are their basic economic activities, which hardly give them enough to eat. Corn, potatoes, chili and beans are their chief foods. Their miserable
econcmic and cultural condjtions prevent their children
from going to school.
The Tarahumaras live in trunk cabins, in promiscuity;
in natural caves; or, where wood is scarse, in stone houses.
Their kitchen utensils: “metates”, “jicaras”, “molcajetes”.
Their ceramics is very similar to that of the American Indians in the South Western part of the United States. They
have no tables, chairs or beds; they eat and sleep on the
floor.
About 85 per cent of their diet is made up of corn made
into “tamales”, “tortillas” and, especially, “pinole”, or crushed corn. They also eat lizards field mice and wild roots.
Meat is eaten generally on ritual or special occasions. They
rarely eat fruit, or cheese, or drink milk, Through the fermentation of fresh corn they make a beverage called “tesgiiino”. The pceyotl, “jiculi”, is used by the shamans and
by the long-distance runners in their games.
The Tarahumaras marry rather young —boys at 16, and
girls around 13 years of age. The inhospitable environment,
and their psychology dictate the existence of small families, which live far apart one from the other. Their idea
of property is individualistic; they really do not understand
communal property —their “rancheria” is the most eloquent manifestation of this individualistic society.
With astonishing tenacity, these group of Mexican Indians have clung to their ancient culture —the same symbols in their artistic works; the same rituals for their dead;
the old totemism; ritual dances in vantomime, such as the
“Tutuguri’, the “Yuamare”, the “Pascola”, and _ primitive
musical instruments: hand-made violins. guitars, flutes,
drums, gourds and sticks.
The supreme authority is invested in the community
itself. The Governor, “Siriame” presides over the sessions,
América Indigena.—Vol. XIII, N° 2.—Abril, 1953.
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