Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-11-04

lflDe OF ludl Dlhles Aue lilol A"'' ."
Trinidad Pereyra, who spent some
time among the Indians, commissioned
by Gov. Creel to study the most APP
propriate means to civillze them.
The Tarahumara Indians are descen-
dants Of the Nahoas, who lived many
years in the Slerras of chihuahua. Ac-
cordng to the latest census, the tribe
is formed by about 10000 individuals.
At the home OF n Tarahumara the
woman works more than the man, who
does almost n,thing. The women
spin the wool and cotton, make thread,
cloth, zarapes, hats, etc. At night
all members of the family sleep on the
floor grouped together around big
fire If It is cold
The Tarahumara men, with few eX-
ceptons, wear long hair, which they
braid into queues as do the Chinese.
During the rainy season corn and
i-AanS-apa-lAlA lAtad,- on small
scale. Only what is needed for the
family's consumption is raised. When
the crops are gathered, the men spend
their time smoking and drinking "tez-
guno," kind of aguardiente which
they make of corn, and the women
90 the work They do not cultivate
wheat, but after the crops are gath
cred in the neghboring districts, they
pick up what is left by the reapers.
All members of a family go together
to the Hidalgo district, and pick some
lImes as much as two hundred pounds.
Children are taught to take care OF
sheep. They have no cattle, and live
on sheep milk plnole, tortillas, fri
joles, birds, rats, mice, and snakes.
The pinOle is cooked corn mixed with
sugar or piloncilli, and pounded into
powder. When the pinole is mixed
with water or milk, End boiled, it Is
called champLrrado. Birds, rats,
snakes. and the other animals used for
food are hunted by the children, who
early are taught to use the bow and
arrow. Some OF them are very good
marksmen.
The Tarahumaras have their own
language, and only a few OF them
speak Spanish well. Their dress Is
something that surprises one who has
never seen tribe of savage Indians,
Only very few men, 10 more than four
per cent, wear cotton breeches; the
balance wear lreech-clouts. None OF
them wears shirt, or shoes, anu
there are many who have no hats.
When there is fiesta, / funeral, or
such occasion the gala attire consists
. g1,
The women wear blouses and skirts,
and sometimes rebozo. These are
/ homespun. The women also makes
zarapes for their husbands and broth
ers to be used during the cold season.
| Children are naked until the age or
four or five, when they begin to wear
breech-clouts.
The TarahumarGs have their own
Government and Legislature, although
these are appointed by and subject to
the Mexican authorities of the neigh
| boring towns. In each Tarahumara
town there is "gobernardorclllo,"
or little governor, and a chief of police.
| All gobernardorcilleS and chiefs OF
| police are subject = a captain-general
or superior jefe, who is also appointed
| by the Mexican authorities. 1t is only
seldom that the latter have occasion
to intervene, as the Tarahumaras have
become rather law-abiGing. The most
frequent crime committed within their
territory is drunkenness, and an oc-
casion murder. Drunkenness Is not
| punished severely.
Tarahumaras like and admire 2lYili.
cation. They believe that the Mexican
Government is good, because it pro-
tects them. This refers only to those
who live near towns of civilized peo-
| pie. Those who live in the heart OF
the mountains do not know any other
rulers than their gobernardorcillo and
captains general, and they believe that
all the country Is just like the country
where they live.
Property is highly respected among
Tarahumaras, and robbery is seriously
punished. Offenders of all kinds are
tried and sentenced by the gObernador.
cillos, who usually take advice from
| the oldest man of the town. Marriages
are also performed by the gobenador-
cillo but when man gets tired of a
wife, all he has to do, says Pereyra,
is to drive her from the house and to
bring in another. Some marriages,
however, are performed by the MeXi-
can authorities. Tarahumaras usually
marry when still very young, between
fifteen and twenty-five years. When
| M pn1 In n re In m n Pr
a woman, he locates the hut, jacai, or
cave where she lives with her family,
and drops his culver at the entrance.
If the girls parents come and pick
it up, it is sign that they approve
the marriage; If they do not and the
! culver is left where it was or thrown
away, it is sign that suit is rejected.
Very often, however, when a culver is
thrown away, the girl follows her
lover. That is, they have sort of
eopement
The Tarahumara women are treated
by their husbands in much the same
manner that the North American In
dian used to treat his Squaw. They
have all the hard work to do, while
| the men loaf. They shear the sheep
and spin the wool to make thread and
cloth or zarapes. They also cut out
palms and make petates or mats. All
this is done during the hours left free
- the meal getting. A Tarahumara
woman generally gets up at five o'clock
in the morning, milks the sheep, and
begins to pound the corn for the tor
tillas the atole, and the pinole. The
woman spends the rest OF the morning
making cloth or zarapes. After the
noon meal the women continue their
weaving or work in the fields until
dark.
Children, as soon as t ey can walk
are taught to take care of the sheep
At the same time they begin to use
the bow and arrow. They are required
to hunt birds, rabbits squirrels, rats