Adamsl SHONTO : ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 7 



descriptive integrations of Kluckliolm and the Leightons (e.g., 

 Kluckhohn, 1944; Leighton and Leighton, 1944; Kluckhohn and 

 Leighton, 1946; Leighton and Kkickholin, 1948), with their pene- 

 trating insights into modem culture contact and its consequences. 

 These studies have opened the door to a whole new school of Navaho 

 investigations, with emphasis on the here and now. Nevertheless, 

 and amazingly, they are little better than their predecessors in deal- 

 ing with the Navaho economy. Kluckhohn and Leighton 's (1946) 

 magnificent "The Navaho," which in other respects is certain to re- 

 main the definitive work on modern Navaho life for years to come, pre- 

 sents a picture of Navaho economy and income which was distinctly 

 out of date even at the time of publication, and is doubly so today 

 (ibid., pp. 13-41, especially pp. 24-26). The work, moreover, de- 

 votes only 4 pages (38-39, 78-79) to the trader and his role, as com- 

 pared with 6 pages (80-85) for the missionary, 28 pages (33-37, 

 85-100, 105-111) for the Federal Government, and 8 pages (36, 100- 

 105, 111-112) for other contact agencies. The companion volume 

 (Leighton and Kluckhohn, 1948) does not mention traders at all. 



The most recent phase in Navaho studies comprises the investiga- 

 tions carried out by the successors to Kluckhohn and the Leightons, 

 which follow the general direction laid down by them. These are 

 the numerous studies of the Navaho in the Eamah area, published 

 variously as "Reports of the Ramah Project" and "Reports of the 

 Rimrock Project" in the Peabody Museum Papers of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, plus a number of titles published elsewhere (for an enumera- 

 tion of these see Roberts, 1951, pp. viii-x). They have emphasized 

 various loci of Navaho- AVhite culture contact and conflict, such as the 

 armed forces (Vogt, 1951), missions (Rapoport, 1954), and the pres- 

 ence of White settlers (Landgraf, 1954). Like their predecessors, 

 they have uniformly ignored the trader as a force in culture contact. 

 Even Hobson's (1954) examination of Navaho acquisitive values has 

 nothing to say about the possible influence of the trader thereon (cf. 

 "Perceptions and Values," pp. 281-287). 



Not until 1956 has any general account of Navaho life, popular or 

 technical, given more than passing attention to the role of the trading 

 post. However, in her most recent history of the Navaho people, 

 Ruth Underhill (1956, pp. 177-195) not only devotes a whole chap- 

 ter to traders, but bestows upon them the not wholly inappropriate 

 sobriquet of "Navajo Shoguns" (ibid., pp. 180-181). In keeping 

 with the nature of her work, she is actually speaking primarily of the 

 historical influence of the trading post, particularly in the develop- 

 ment of the Navaho rug, and she draws a large part of her material 

 fromAmsden (1934). 



Although individual traders have been the subject of several popu- 

 lar biographies (Coolidge, 1925 ; Gillmor and Wetherill, 1934; Faunce, 



