In conclusion the flags are waved in front of the house.  The father then rises and the people untie him, whereupon he first salutes the women with the usual greeting, “Kwira!” or “Kwireva!” Now they all go into the house, and the man makes a short speech thanking them all for the assistance they have given him, for how could he have gotten through his work without them?  They have provided him with a year’s life (that is, with the wherewithal to sustain it), and now he is going to give them tesvino.  He gives a drinking-gourd full to each one in the assembly, and appoints one man among them to distribute more to all.

The same ceremony is performed after the ploughing and after the harvesting.  On the first occasion the tied man may be made to carry the yoke of the oxen, on the second he does not carry anything.

The southern Tarahumares, as well as the northern Tepehuanes, at harvest time, tie together some ears of corn by the husks, two and two.  The ears are selected from plants which have at least three or four ears, and after a while tesvino is made from them.  At the harvesting feast, the stalks of these plants are strewn on the ground, as well as stalks of squash plants, and over them the people dance kuvala.

The Tarahumare takes good care of his domestic animals and never kills one of them, unless it be for a sacrifice.  Sheep and goats are kept at night in enclosures or caves.  The shepherd follows his flock wherever the animals choose to find their food, and there are no better herdsmen than the Tarahumares, who wisely trust to the natural instinct of the beasts.  They do not pride themselves on breeds.  It is astonishing to notice the number of rams with two pairs of horns among the tribe.  In every flock two or three specimens may be observed, one pair bending forward, the other to the side.  I have seen some with three pairs of horns.  Near Nonoava, where the Indians are much Mexicanised, they make butter and cheese, using the rennets from the cow, sheep, and deer, but they do not drink the milk, saying that it makes them stupid, and they are watchful to prevent their children from drinking it.  Dogs are not much liked except for hunting.  A great number of them hang around the houses, but they have to make their own living as best they can.  They are of the same mongrel class found everywhere among the Indians of to-day.  They are generally of a brownish color and not large, but some of them are yellow and with ears erect.

The so-called dogs of Chihuahua, which command quite a price among dog-fanciers, are found only in the capital of the state.  They are small pet dogs and very timid, with large ears and prominent eyes.  I understand that the yellowish-brown are considered the purest breed, but they are found in many different colors, from snow-white and black-and-white to dark-brown.  They are said to have a small cavity on the top of the head, though according to some authorities this is not an unfailing mark of the breed, which seems to be indigenous.  The illiterate Mexican, in his tendency to connect everything good with Montezuma, thinks that the pure dogs of Chihuahua are descendants of those which were left behind by that regent near Casas Grandes at the time when he started south, which afterward became wild and degenerated into the prairie-dogs of to-day.