The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-06-16
THE HISTORY OF MEXICO

couraged to undertake certain indus
tries, such as making baskets, pottery,
ironWork, leatherwork and the like
Basco de Quiroga, Bishop OF M1choa-
can, was especially successful in this
respect, and the Indian villages
around Lake Patzcuaro which he es-
tablished nearly four hundred years
ago still practice the trades which he
taught the Indians.
In addition, the Indians were taught
to wear clothes Not that they went
naked in pre- Columbian days. The In
dian wore a breech clout and a
blanket, and pair of sandals-some-
times-completed his costume. He
wore no hat. The missionaries in
some districts taught the Indian to in
crease his wardrobe by hat and a
pair of cotton trousers, and cotton
blouse.
Difficulties Encountered.
The difficulties encountered by the
missionaries can be illustrated by the
curious experience of the Jefe Polltlco
of Celaya, as late as the latter half of
the Nineteenth Century. That func-
tionary decided that the Indians COM
ing into town must wear pants, and
issued an order accordingly, and i'm
posed fine large enough to purchase
a pair for noncompliance. The In
dians came to town, were arrested,
fined, and then supplied with the nee
essary garments and shown how to
wear them. After that the obedient
Indians came to the town limits with
the pants neatly rolled UP in the pack
on their backs; there they complied
with the law, donned the garments
and entered the town. On leaving they
stopped at the limits, removed the
pants, and carried them home on their
backs.
The Indians before the Conquest
used cacao (chocolate) beans as a
medium of exchange, and continued
to so use them after the Conquest.
The Viceroy Mendoza decided to stop
the practice and introduce copper
coins instead. The coins were issued
and the Indians were ordered to re-
ceive them in exchange for their wares
in the market. This they dutifully
did, but on the way home they cheer
fully threw all the bright new coins
into the lake. Silver coins were tried,
with like result, and the Vice
roy eventually had to give up in de-
spair
"Uncivilized" But Not miserable"
The question undoubtedly will be
by those who have
made trip to Mexico City and back
by railroad-"If the Spanish King and
the clergy took such pains with the
Indians, why are they SO uncivilized
and miserable?" The answer is that
while they are indeed uncivilized and
appear to be most miserable accord
ing to our standards, yet by their own
standards they are as civilized as they
care to be, and are most decidedly not
Their ideas of comfort are
those that their ancestors found per-
fectly satisfactory, and they look upon
the appurtenances of the white man S
civilization" as complicated nuis-
ances, requiring not only unnecessary
labor to acquire, but still more unnec-
essary labor to maintain The Indian
builds his own house, and, as he be-
lieves in economy of effort, he builds
it of one room and as small as posi-
BILE. The floor is Of dirt for the very
obvious reason that the fire could not
be built on it if it were of wood, and
if it were of brick it would be torn up
and sold at the first temptation to sat
isfy some childish fancy.