Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1913-12-05
ONE WAY TO VISIT
the Tarahumare of Mexico Has
a Style All His Own.
NEVER STARTLES HIS HOST.

and thu Compliment 10 Faithfully
acknowledgements In the House
Have a Rather Abrupt Ending.
For a barbarian the Tarahumare IL
very polite parsonage In his language
be even has word "reke." which
Is the equivalent OF the English
please" and which he uses constant.
ly. When speaking to a stranger OF
leaving person. he draws attention
to his action by saying. II am going"
AS he grows civilized. however. he
loses his good manners.
In spite of this he is not hospitable;
the guest gets food. but there is no
room for him in the house OF Tara
humare. A visitor never thinks OF en-
tering a house without first giving the
family ample time to get ready to re-
ceiye him. When he approaches a
friends home good manners require
him to stop sometimes as far as TWEEN
ty or thirty yards off. II be Is on
more intimate terms with the family
he may come nearer, and make bis
presence known by coughing; then he
sits down. selecting some little knoll
from which he can be readily seen.
In order not to embarrass his friends
he does not even look at the house.
but remains sitting there gazing into
vacancy. his back or side turned
toward the homestead. Should the
host be absent the visitor may thus
sit for a couple of hours: then he will
rise and go slowly away again. But
under no circumstances will he enter
the home, unless formally invited. "be-
cause he says. "only the dogs enter
houses unlimited"
Never will the woman of the house
commit such gross breach OF ETH
quette as to go out and inform him of
her husbands absence. to save the
caller the trouble of waiting. nor will
she. If alone at home. make any state
ments as to his whereabouts.
The Tarahumare never does any
thing without due elaboration: there
fore he may for a quarter Of an hour
discuss with his wife the possible pur-
port of the visit before he goes out to
see the man. They peep through the
cracks in the wall at him. and II they
happen to be eating or doing anything
they may keep the visitor waiting for
half an hour
Finally the host shakes out the blan-
ket on which he has been sitting.
throws 1t around himself. and. casting
a rapid glance to the right and left as
he goes through the door. goes to take
a seat few yards distant from the
caller. After some meditation on
either side the conversation. as in more
civilized society. opens with remarks
about the weather and the prospects
for rain.
When this subject Is exhausted and
the hosts curiosity as to where the
man came from. what he is doing and
where he is going is satisfied. the for
mer may go back to the house and
fetch some meat and pinole for the
traveller. The object OF the visit not
infrequently is an invitation to take
part In some game or foot race. and as
the men are sure to remain undis-
turbed they generally reach some un-
Outstanding.
A friend of the family is, OF course,
finally invited to enter the house. and
the customary salutation is "Assagap'
t"Sit DOWN. In this connection 1t may
be noted that the Tarahumares In con-
versation look sidewise. or even turn
their backs toward the person they
speak to.
After having eaten. the guest will
carefully return every vessel In which
the food was given to him. and when he
rises he hands back the skin on which
he was seated. Should occasion re-
quire the host will say: lit is getting
late and you cannot return to your
home tonight Where are you going to
sleep? There is a good cave over yon-
der"
With this he may indicate where the
visitor may remain overnight. He will
also tell him where he may find wood
for the fire. and he will bring him food
but not unless the weather is very
tempestuOus will he invite an outsider
TO sleep In the house From Carl Lum
holtz's Unknown Mexico"