Adams] SHONTO : ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 67 



of the Navaho tribe lias not noticeably abated animosity toward 

 "Anglos" for setting limits on livestock holdings. 



Shonto elects a tribal councilman, representing the whole com- 

 munity, every 4 years. Tribal elections are seen as, and in fact 

 essentially are, competitions for well-paid "government" jobs. Both 

 Shonto candidates in the most recent election readily admitted to 

 overriding financial motivations. The councilman's function, as he 

 and the community see it, is not to represent Shonto at the seat of 

 government (he has never made a speech in the council assembly), but 

 to represent government at Shonto. He attends council meetings at 

 Window Rock four times a year, usually lasting from 1 to 2 weeks 

 each, and brings back information on recent Government activities 

 and programs which is disseminated through public meetings at 

 Shonto, held on an average of once a month. 



In addition to the tribal councilman, tribal government is repre- 

 sented in the community by the three members of the district grazing 

 committee. This body, like the tribal councilman, is elected every 

 4 years. It has jurisdiction over range management and livestock 

 capacities throughout District 2, including several other communities 

 besides Shonto. At the present time none of its members is a Shonto 

 resident. The district grazing committee acts as an independent f mic- 

 tionary of the Navaho tribe, responsible directly to its chairman and 

 Advisory (i.e., executive) Committee. It passes out information and 

 regulations through periodic public meetings which are normally held 

 in conjunction with those of the tribal councilman. 



Shonto's tribal councilman is one of the community's most aberrant 

 personalities. To the White outsider he appears as a typically con- 

 servative western Navaho, 63 years of age, long-haired, and unable to 

 speak English. His experience with the outside world and its ways 

 derives principally from a period of 18 months' servitude in the Fed- 

 eral penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kans. Wliatever his education in 

 prison may have been, he has a reputation far beyond the borders of 

 the community for his ingenuity and energy in devising ways of 

 acquiring money and goods. In addition to his tribal council activi- 

 ties, he has at the present time a concession from the National Park 

 Service to run pack-trips to the more remote cliff dwellings in Tsegi 

 Canyon and he is one of the community's largest manufacturers of 

 home-brew liquor ("tulapai"). He is said to have Shonto's greatest 

 accumulation of jewelry and other material goods, most of wliich has 

 been taken as security against cash loans. He has picked up addi- 

 tional income in recent years by marching in costume in the Gallup 

 Ceremonial parade, and by appearing as an extra in several movies 

 made in the vicinity. 



In spite of his wealth, the councilman occupies low status in the 

 community, and is a common object of ridicule. This is certainly 



