The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Indian Mexico (1908), by Frederick StarrThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away orre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.netTitle: In Indian Mexico (1908)Author: Frederick StarrRelease Date: July 2, 2005 [EBook #16183]Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN INDIAN MEXICO (1908) ***Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Chuck Greif and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team.[Illustration: THE MUSIC AT CANCUC]IN INDIAN MEXICOA NARRATIVE OF TRAVEL AND LABORBYFREDERICK STARRCHICAGO FORBES & COMPANYLibrary of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataStarr, Frederick, 1858-1933. In Indian Mexico.Reprint of the ed. published by Forbes, Chicago. 1. Indians of Mexico.2. Mexico--Description and travel. 3. Starr, Frederick, 1858-1933. I.Title. F1220.S78 1978 972'.004'97 74-9025 ISBN 0-404-11903-4First AMS edition published in 1978.Reprinted from the edition of 1908, Chicago. [Trim size of the originalhas been slightly altered in this edition. Original trim size: 15.5 x23.7 cm. Text area of the original has been maintained in this edition.]IN INDIAN MEXICO IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO A.A. ROBINSON TO WHOMALL MY WORK IN MEXICO IS DUE AND WHOSE INTEREST HAS BEEN CONTINUOUS ANDUNFAILINGPREFACEThe reading public may ...
The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Indian Mexico (1908), by Frederick Starr
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: In Indian Mexico (1908)
Author: Frederick Starr
Release Date: July 2, 2005 [EBook #16183]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN INDIAN MEXICO (1908) ***
Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Chuck Greif and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.
[Illustration: THE MUSIC AT CANCUC]
IN INDIAN MEXICO
A NARRATIVE OF TRAVEL AND LABOR
BY
FREDERICK STARR
CHICAGO FORBES & COMPANY
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Starr, Frederick, 1858-1933. In Indian Mexico.
Reprint of the ed. published by Forbes, Chicago. 1. Indians of Mexico.
2. Mexico--Description and travel. 3. Starr, Frederick, 1858-1933. I.
Title. F1220.S78 1978 972'.004'97 74-9025 ISBN 0-404-11903-4
First AMS edition published in 1978.
Reprinted from the edition of 1908, Chicago. [Trim size of the original
has been slightly altered in this edition. Original trim size: 15.5 x
23.7 cm. Text area of the original has been maintained in this edition.]
IN INDIAN MEXICO IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO A.A. ROBINSON TO WHOM
ALL MY WORK IN MEXICO IS DUE AND WHOSE INTEREST HAS BEEN CONTINUOUS AND
UNFAILINGPREFACE
The reading public may well ask, Why another travel book on Mexico?
Few countries have been so frequently written up by the traveler.
Many books, good, bad, and indifferent, but chiefly bad, have been
perpetrated. Most of these books, however, cover the same ground,
and ground which has been traversed by many people. Indian Mexico is
practically unknown. The only travel-book regarding it, in English, is
Lumholtz's "Unknown Mexico." The indians among whom Lumholtz worked
lived in northwestern Mexico; those among whom I have studied are in
southern Mexico. The only district where his work and mine overlap is
the Tarascan area. In fact, then, I write upon an almost unknown and
untouched subject. Lumholtz studied life and customs; my study has been
the physical type of south Mexican indians. Within the area covered by
Lumholtz, the physical characteristics of the tribes have been
studied by Hrdlicka. His studies and my own are practically the only
investigations within the field.
There are two Mexicos. Northern Mexico to the latitude of the capital
city is a _mestizo_ country; the indians of pure blood within that area
occupy limited and circumscribed regions. Southern Mexico is indian
country; there are large regions, where the _mestizos_, not the indians,
are the exception. From the time of my first contact with Mexican
indians, I was impressed with the notable differences between tribes,
and desired to make a serious study of their types. In 1895, the
accidental meeting with a priest from Guatemala led to my making a
journey to Central America. It was on that journey that I saw how the
work in question might be done. While the government of Mexico is
modeled upon the same pattern as our own, it is far more paternal in its
nature. The Republic is a confederation of sovereign states, each of
which has its elected governor. The states are subdivided into districts
somewhat corresponding to our counties, over each of which is a _jefe
politico_ appointed by the governor; he has no responsibility to those
below him, but is directly responsible to the man who names him, and
who can at will remove him; he is not expected to trouble the state
government unnecessarily, and as long as he turns over the taxes which
are due the state he is given a free hand. Within the districts are
the cities and towns, each with its local, independent, elected town
government.
The work I planned to do among these indian towns was threefold: 1. The
measurement of one hundred men and twenty-five women in each population,
fourteen measurements being taken upon each subject; 2. The making
of pictures,--portraits, dress, occupations, customs, buildings, and
landscapes; 3. The making of plaster busts of five individuals in each
tribe. To do such work, of course, involved difficulty, as the Indians
of Mexico are ignorant, timid, and suspicious. Much time would be
necessary, in each village, if one depended upon establishing friendly
and personal relations with the people. But with government assistance,
all might be done promptly and easily. Such assistance was readily
secured. Before starting upon any given journey, I secured letters from
the Department of Fomento, one of the Executive Departments of the
Federal Government. These letters were directed to the governors of the
states; they were courteously worded introductions. From the governors,
I received letters of a more vigorous character to the _jefes_ of the
districts to be visited. From the _jefes_, I received stringent orders
upon the local governments; these orders entered into no detail, but
stated that I had come, recommended by the superior authorities, for
scientific investigations; that the local authorities should furnish the
necessaries of life at just prices, and that they should supply such
help as was necessary for my investigations. In addition to the ordersfrom the _jefes_ to the town authorities, I carried a general letter
from the governor of the state to officials of every grade within its
limits. This was done in case I should at any time reach towns in
districts where I had been unable to see the _jefe politico_. It was
desirable, when possible, that the _jefe_ should be seen before serious
work was undertaken. As Governor Gonzales of Oaxaca once remarked,
when furnishing me a general letter: "You should always see the _jefe
politico_ of the district first. These Indians know nothing of me, and
often will not recognize my name; but the _jefe_ of their district they
know, and his orders they will obey." In using these official orders, I
adopted whatever methods were best calculated to gain my ends; success
depended largely on my taking matters into my own hands. Each official
practically unloaded me upon the next below him, with the expectation
that I should gain my ends, if possible, but at the same time he felt,
and I knew, that his responsibility had ended. In case of serious
difficulty, I could not actually count upon the backing of any one above
the official with whom I then was dealing.
Upon the Guatemala expedition, which took place in January-March, 1896,
my only companion was Mr. Ernst Lux, whose knowledge of the language,
the country, and the people was of the utmost value. As the result of
that journey, my vacations through a period of four years were devoted
to this field of research. The first field expedition covered the
period from November, 1897, to the end of March, 1898; the plan of work
included the visiting of a dozen or more tribes, with interpreter,
photographer, and plaster-worker; the success of the plan depended upon
others. Dr. W.D. Powell was to serve as interpreter, Mr. Bedros
Tatarian as photographer; at the last moment the plans regarding the
plaster-worker failed; arrived in the field, Dr. Powell was unable to
carry out his contract; the photographic work disintegrated, and failure
stared us in the face. Reorganization took place. Rev. D.A. Wilson