Zinacantoco Curing Roles
(see B. Metzger, 1960). tee
ese eecieere oat
as Soper
er a beet me oe Sme
rece aS el ie prem te
ee net hae te ete
ses rnin en
Fahne ts ft mihi up)
cere ie vi mr ling ite win mnt
sulted by Zinacantecos; and in some cases, these saints have represent
Soe aE Soe ew
Chapter four
Economic and Social Aspects of Curing
lv Ti1s cuarren we analyze the important social and economie char-
‘acteristics of hletik. This is accomplished by comparing male hioletie
with 2 group of male laymen on a variety of relevant indicators that r=
fleet achievement and wealth, The family backgrounds of hiloletik are
also discussed. Some attention is given to the economic benefits and
rawbacks associated with occupying the role of hilol in Zinacantan.
In general, our analyses draw on survey information obtained from
approximately 4oo households in Hteklum, ‘Apas, Patosil, Nachih, and.
Vo'elYohvo’. The data from the fst three of these are more extensive,
and for this reason we have focused on them comparatively. The ques-
tionnaire used inquired about the names and ages of all occupants of
a house, the background characteristics of the head of household, and:
the cargo career and economic assets of the head of household,
Economie Indices
Gross household income. This figure was computed by adding all
Sources of income. The following are the categories of information used
and the rationale for each
3. Amount of com seeded in cold country, This was converted into
income by multiplying the quantity seeded by two constants based on
the midpoints of fluctuation in yield and price mentioned by informants,
We have used an average yield of 1.5 fanegas for every cuarto seeded
and an average price of $110 per fanega harvested; thus one cuarto
‘would yield $165 annual income, The procedure gives results close to
those stated by Cancian in his discussion of the economies of Zi
teco corn farming (F. Cancian, 1972).Economic and Sociel Aspects of Curing
hot country. This was given a value of
ased on considerations similar to
6
1. Amount of com seeded in I
er evey svar ede
$5 ac ccm itn ses pe faces were
ions for transportation and hired labor.
tice soumces of income forthe houschold head and any other contribu
aemenbers ofthe domestic group. These were mostly entrepreneurial
rats and wages in eash or kind, Careful questioning in each ease
Tite the approximate annual value of such income in monetary terms.
ig: Fruit oes. In some hamlets frit trees planted in sitios ae an im
portant part ofthe domestic economy. Generally, however, fruit merely
Fepplements a family’s det, adding litle or no cash income. We have
Considered fewer than ten fut tees a negligible contribution. ‘Trees in
frces often are counted at $10 each—an arbitrary estimate, but one
‘nase on th rough estimates tat informants were able to give
Household liquid asets. We derived this figure by adding the follow-
{ng two items
2 The toal value of any horses or mules owned by the household
head, The consensus of our informants was that the average market
vale of a horse was $30 and that of a mule SS0o.
‘2 The quantity of land owned by the household head. Land owned
bya wife through her ovn inheritance was not counted as aliquid asset
easured by the volume
of com that canbe planted on athe than by arca, All responses, there
fore, wer in cuartos that could be seeded and we have given one euarto
the value of $500.
er capita household income, Sine not all the persons resident in a
house are necessarily part ofthe same domestic economy or dependent
‘on the gross household income, we use the following general guidelines.
‘Unmarried children are considered to he dependent onthe gross inc
4s areal other unmarried or obviously dependent persons living inthe
‘house (eg. grandparents, inlaws, and stray children). For married
‘children living in the parents’ house (almost always a married son living
ith is fater), we tried in each ease to determine wether te yourgee
‘couple maintain common domestic economy with the rest ofthe house-
old—that is the son and father farming together, and the mother and
ede jointly preparing food from onmon sup. In ost
vas the case and all in the house were counted as depen-
Economic and Social Axpects of Curing
conn Comparisons Between Hl nd Lay Howscholds
s hoehcl ncome
Hiehiun
Pato
Henschel ase:
Hick
on
Rom
Paton
dlent on the gross income. When it was possible to separate the income
ofthe parental generation from that of offspring living inthe same house,
the gross and per capita income figures were calculated only for the
senior household male and his immediate dependents.
Holand Lay Households
Je 4 compares the gross household incomes, liquid assets, and per
capita incomes of biol and lay households in each of three samples. Al-
though the configurations are by no means the same from hamlet to ham
let, a general patter is discernible: h'ilo-headed households tend to be
less wealthy in both assets and income than those headed by laymen.
Before we discuss these figures in detail, it should be noted that the in-
‘come figures fr hilol-headed households do not include income derived
from curing. A healer is paid by gifts of rum and perishable food and
since these are unmarketable, they cannot be considered in the same
manner as the cash and salable commodities on which the household in-
come figures are based, although they obviously affect the economy of
the hilol's household. Generally speaking, we ean regard the present
figures as indicative of some economic disadvantage for the hiloletik.
‘Household assets. In all three samples the assets of hilo households
are generally lower than lay households. In “Apas the lay
average 24:3% higher; in Patosil and Hteklum the figures are 19
9.9% respectively.
‘The general tendency for hol households to possesse if ti sived
=
Our figures suggest that the average hill farms on a smaller scale
in hot country, and plant and harvest less corn, ‘The reasons for this
Economic and Sock Aspects of Curing st
Wioletik in “Apes although they have a lower average gross Sncome
than laymen, abo tend to have fewer dependentsa phenomence for
which we have no explanation,
‘There was no strong association between the size of a howsehold group
and whether or not the household head was ale But we have feed
that Holt do tend to lve in smaller households (this trend is sep
Ported by data cllectd in the controled stay reported in Chasers
hich shows that Wloltk also have fewer children). The aereoe ois
of Will and lay households, respectively, in our samples was: and
374'Apas;36and 42 in Htcklam; and 49 and 4 iv Patrol
Since these vals do not reveal any striking pater, is difcut to
telat houschold size to cconomie status. The potential role of famly
size in determining family income ean obviously be viewed from tro
opposing standpoints. Large families tend to lower average income by
"sing the denominator in the per eapta income exlelation, But large
families, when they contain tenage or older sons, are an economic ad
Yantage insofar as they increase the supply of agricultural labor, We
chose to examine the ater consideration by comparing the inomes of
Wiloletik and laymen who had sons helping them in the elds, Howevee,
our samples donot include consistent data on the ages of son, but spy
state the number and sex ofa subject’ children. Thus we mut use the
age of the household head to estimate the roloof children in family
Income. Age 35 was arbitrarily chosen as th point a which i may be
assumed that a man’s sons begin tobe of eaoomie value to im. A coms
Parative tabulation ofa sample of cases revealed the samo average num
ber of sons per household for bth hiloletikand laymen inthis age group,
These data, then, ofr lite support for the hypothesis that ages of ci
dren may account for difference in income.
Ablebodied sons are undoubtedly an astet in farming activity, but
stisby nomeans clear that they area major factor in determining wealth
Cancio's detailed analysis ofthe activities of Zinacantec com farmers
(F. Cancian, 1972) emphasizes that factors of ‘Management and in-
herted assets are much more important than family size inthis
It seems fair to say that with management skill, good luck, and
capital resources (which may bea function of
through astute borrowing, rather than a matter of
Zinacanteco can be a successful agricultural
Since management sil erucial to economic