14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



was not, fortunately, kept particularly busy until the first of May, 

 when wool buying commenced in earnest. I was able to make use of 

 this period for further observation and recording of relations in the 

 store, concentrating this time on the extent and circumstances of 

 Navaho utilization of the trading post for noncommercial purposes. 

 Much of this information is found in pages 184-230. My fieldwork as 

 well as my formal association with Shonto Trading Post came to an 

 end early in May 1956, when my wife and I left the community for the 

 last time. 



METHODS 



It should be apparent that the primary technique involved in the 

 study of Shonto Trading Post and community was that of participant 

 observation (see F. Kluckhohn, 1940). Since my role of anthropo- 

 logical investigator was never openly avowed to Navahos, it was neces- 

 sary for me to do most of my recording "after the fact" and in private. 

 This was true in particular throughout my periods of actual employ- 

 ment as trader, when I would not in any case have had time to make 

 sustained notes. The best I could manage was to scribble short phrases 

 of mnemonic devises on the backs of paper sacks or in empty account 

 books, and stuff them into my pockets. These were then expanded into 

 respectable notes during lunch periods and especially evenings in the 

 privacy of my own hogan. As I also had to keep the store accounts 

 every evening, my work day was fairly prolonged. However, my wife 

 rendered invaluable assistance both in making and transcribing notes. 



My investigations in the store, even while employed as trader, were 

 not confined exclusively to the silent observation of behavior. Since 

 I had virtually no opportunity to circulate in. the commmiity outside 

 the store (see "Eole," below) , it was necessary for me to obtain straight 

 etlmographic data largely by inquiry. The information contained in 

 "Navaho Life," and to some extent in "Navaho Economics," of this 

 study was obtained partly by direct observation, but even more by a 

 disconnected and ingenuous series of questions addressed to Shonto's 

 Navaho clientele when and as the occasion permitted. As will be 

 apparent in later pages ("Interpersonal Relations," pp. 287-290), the 

 social atmosphere of the trading post freely allows of such exchanges 

 between trader and customer, particularly during the long, quiet 

 periods when there is no actual trading to be done. 



Most of the information contained in pages 167-184, as well as his- 

 torical data in pages 30-53 and 149-167, was obtained by querying 

 Shonto's owner and other traders in the same disinterested and unsys- 

 tematic way. As in the case of information from Navahos, this infor- 

 mation was later recorded in the privacy of the hogan. 



In keeping with my determination not to deviate from the role of 

 trader in my relations with Navahos, I did no formal interviewmg 



