Prices abroad range from between three and five times the retail price in Oaxaca, with a median of US$100, with lowest usually around $10 and highest around $2,000. One of the most expensive pieces sold from a carving village occurred in 1995, when a doctor from Mexico City paid Isidro Cruz of Tilcajete the equivalent of US$3000 for a piece entitled "Carousel of the Americas." This piece took Cruz three months to complete. Typical household income of families from Arrazola and Tilcajete averages about US$2000 per year, but exceptional artists can earn up to $20,000 per year. Two thousand a year is substantially more than average in Oaxaca and allows families to build or expand housing and send children to secondary school. However, most families carve as a sideline with agriculture providing basic staples. In some towns, especially in Tilcajete, the economy has shifted from agriculture to the making of wood carvings with a number of families abandoning farming altogether. However, for most households in Oaxaca, the success of alebrijes has not replaced the need to farm or alleviated the need to send family members to Mexico City or to the United States and work and send remittances back home. Despite Oaxaca's reputation for the production of crafts by indigenous peoples, alebrije makers are monolingual Spanish speakers who generally do not identify themselves as a member of an indigenous group although almost all have Zapotec ancestors. The alebrijes are considered to be novelty items for the makers rather than expressions of a cultural heritage. More traditional woodcarving, such as utensils, toys, religious figures and the like are still made by older residents, but these crafts are overshadowed by alebrijes. Approximately 150 families now devote themselves at least part-time to the making of alebrijes, with carving techniques being passed down from generation to generation and many children growing up around fantastic figures both finished and in process. Due to copies from other places, a certification scheme is being considered to ensure the viability of crafts from this area. That would include educating consumers and working with reputable stores. The carving process The carving of a piece, which is done while the wood is still wet, can last anywhere from hours to a month, depending on the size and fineness of the piece. Often the copal wood that is used will influence what is made, both because of the shapes the branches