Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 71 



attended by large numbers of Shonto people. All such occasions 

 aroused excitement throughout the community ; they were commonly 

 the sole subject of conversation m the trading post for 3 or 4 days in 

 advance. More than 30 Shonto residents attended one Enemy Way at 

 Kaibito (41 miles away) , and two truckloads went to one at Denne- 

 hotso (64 miles). 



Minor rituals involving more limited participation are far more 

 frequent than the "public" ceremonies. From the standpoint of the 

 trading post the best index of their frequency is the sale of baskets 

 and printed cotton cloth — indispensable paraphernalia which are al- 

 ways presented to the singer in part payment for his services. Sales 

 of these items suggest that minor ritual performances take place as 

 often as twice a week in the winter and summer, and once a week in 

 the spring and fall. Blessing Way (see Kluckholin and Leighton, 

 1946, pp. 149-150) is undoubtedly the most frequent of all lesser 

 rituals; the more so since it is commonly performed before the de- 

 parture and upon the return of school children and railroad workers. 



Shonto's population includes at least five regular ritual practitioners, 

 and two apprentices. In all probability the community "nat'ani" is 

 the only full-fledged singer, as distinguished from curer (cf. Leighton 

 and Leighton, 1944, p. 28), in the group. He is far and away the 

 most popular practitioner, and is probably active on an average of 

 2 or 3 days out of every week — about the same as the most active 

 singers at Eamah (cf . Kluckholin, 1938, p. 362) . At least three very 

 old men were formerly respected singers, but with approaching 

 senility, they have retired from practice. The community's two ap- 

 prentices are both sons of singers, and normally work only in collabo- 

 ration with their fathers. 



Currently active ritual practitioners other than the "nat'ani" oc- 

 cupy, without exception, distinctly low status at Shonto. For this 

 reason it is assumed that they are curers (a distinction originally 

 noted by Morgan, 1936) rather than singers. None of these indi- 

 viduals approach the frequency of practice enjoyed by the "nat'ani," 

 nor do they conduct major ceremonies. Two of them are forced to 

 supplement their income by annual railroad work, another is sup- 

 ported by his wife's weaving, and all derive additional support from 

 the manufacture and sale of home-brew liquor, commonly known as 

 tulapai (though not the same as the Apache article — see "Tulapai 

 Making," p. 126). The curers are common objects of ridicule both 

 because of their poverty and because of their heavy drinking and dis- 

 orderly behavior. 



It is not known when or why the making of tulapai became as- 

 sociated with the ritual practitioner's profession, but the pattern is 

 constant throughout most of the northwestern Navaho countiy. 



