22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



KOLE 



Unlike anthropologists who work openly, I cannot claim that I 

 have gamed the confidence and the sympathy of the natives to a 

 degree not accorded other Wliite men. To the best of my knowl- 

 edge and belief, I remain in the eyes of Shonto nothing more nor 

 less than a trader, and neither better nor worse liked or trusted than 

 the run of other traders. Certainly, I do not possess any super- 

 ordinate personality traits which would enable me to obtain special 

 information which does not normally accrue to a trader. 



Throughout the study of Shonto my status as anthropological inves- 

 tigator was suppressed as much as possible among both Navahos and 

 Whites, but especially among the former. I attempted in every 

 way possible to sustain my status as trader even when I was not actu- 

 ally employed as such. My purpose in this was aided by the fact 

 that I continued to reside on the trading post premises and to take 

 my position behind the counter in the store (see fig. 3, p. 162), a pre- 

 rogative normally reserved for the trader. It was and is my belief 

 that the special type of information which I sought would accrue to 

 me most readily by maintaining the trader's role throughout. 



My relations with my Navaho neighbors at Shonto were, therefore, 

 exactly such as are described throughout the study which follows. 

 This is not to imply that it is a study of my own behavior, but simply 

 that, had it been undertaken by anyone else, it could well be. 



The special advantages of the trader's status as an observation 

 point from which to gain a fresh and different view of Navaho life, 

 and particularly economic life, have already been dwelt upon at con- 

 siderable length. Some of its disadvantages must also be made clear. 

 To begin with, every trader is physically a prisoner of his store day 

 and night — the endless complex of activities connected not only with 

 operating the business but also with looking after the physical plant 

 at Shonto (see "The Trading Post Today," pp. 161-165) were such 

 that I had no opportunity to leave the store premises (see fig. 1, p. 157) 

 for weeks at a time. The close personal familiarity with other parts 

 of Shonto community upon which I have drawn in succeeding pages 

 was gained almost entirely during periods when I was not working at 

 the store, and particularly in the course of my archeological surveys. 

 During the entire period of my trading post employment, I never had 

 the opportunity to attend a Navaho ritual performance of any kind in 

 the community. For an anthropologist living on the Navaho Reserva- 

 tion, this must constitute some kind of a record. 



Behavior appropriate to the trader's role has inevitably been deter- 

 mined to a considerable extent by the various individuals who have 

 actually occupied it — my fellow traders and their predecessors. This 

 has placed some additional restrictions on the present study. Most 



