Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 17 



I have had frequent and close contact with the Navaho employees 

 of Shonto School and Navajo National Monument, as well as with the 

 local tribal councilman. All of them have contributed measurably to 

 the study. Communication with all except the latter has been largely 

 in English. My wife has made friends among the Shonto women, 

 who have contributed additional information. 



Although I myself was employed as trader at Shonto during most 

 of the time when my study was carried out, the reader should not as- 

 sume that I am presenting an analysis of my own behavior. So 

 far as I am able, I have omitted all of my own actions and attitudes 

 from the pages which follow, simply because I am incapable of ob- 

 jective evaluation of them. This is not to say that another or more dis- 

 interested student would not have foimd my actions and attitudes 

 generally comparable to those of other traders. 



Throughout most of my employment at Shonto Trading Post, the 

 owner of the store also was present at least one day a week (as re- 

 quired by his duties as claims agent — see "Eailroad Work," pp. 129- 

 133) . On many occasions he was on hand for the better part of a week. 

 I have therefore had ample opportunity to observe his behavior and 

 relations over several years, and he has been my principal White 

 informant. He has, however, been far from the only one. In the 

 periods between and to some extent overlapping my own employ- 

 ment I have had the opportunity to observe closely and to associate 

 on intimate terms with four other "hired traders" (like myself) at 

 Shonto, and all of these have played their part in my study. 



Shonto's owner is a man of about 40, who is married and has three 

 young children. The entire family lives in- Flagstaff during most 

 of the year so as to allow the children to attend school. Like many 

 another trader, Shonto's owner was born and had lived much of his 

 life in the town of Farmington, some 200 miles east of Shonto. He 

 holds an A.B. from Colorado State College of Education at Greeley, 

 and was for some years a high school teacher and coach in Farming- 

 ton. Subsequently, he became associated with one of the wholesale 

 houses in that town, and through it with the Indian trade. His father- 

 in-law, a trader for most of his life, helped set Shonto's owner up 

 in his first store at Oljeto, which he ran for 7 years before buying 

 Shonto in 1945. 



Hired traders whom I have known and observed at Shonto have 

 included a retired small businessman and his wife from Prescott (who 

 came to the reservation for the adventure and were hired by Shonto's 

 owner in the service of Freemasonry) ; a young former logger from 



tlon, In marked contrast to aU other White agencies employing Navaho help. Shonto's 

 owner professes contempt for long hair as a symbol of inferior status, but he has not had 

 a short-haired Navaho employee for years. This is part of the special role of the trading 

 post with its emphasis on preservation of the status quo — see pp. 290-296. 



