To offset this problem, the Indians must own many plots of land per household . They may also supplement their income by working for wages on a lowland Ladino farm, by engaging in a craft, or by renting out a lowland plot to sharecroppers.
The Indian population is increasing, and the demand for food is greater than the land can supply. This causes more Indians to go to the lowland Ladino farms to labor for wages. The money this brings encourages the Indians to have more children, which exacerbates the land shortage problem.
Land distribution is a complex issue with the Indians. Even within a family, a son who is getting married must prove himself worthy of owning land, and then perform rituals, before his father will give him a piece of land for his new family.
Between families, obtaining land can be difficult, too. If a household needs land, and another family is known to have an extra plot, the needy family can ask the other for it and expect to get it. However, the wealthy family won't want to give up the valuable property, and may charge any price it likes for the land.
On the township level, the Indians, in the past, have broken their policy of non-communication with the nation when government change and land reform gave them the opportunity to reexert their claim over their land or to acquire some new.
Because of the unsuitability of the land for growing corn and because of the growing population, land becomes ever more scarce, and ever more valuable.