80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



Hats, along with hair style (see below), are considered an infallible 

 index of acculturation among Shonto men. Long-haired and un- 

 educated men wear the so-called "Indian hat," with unformed crown 

 and brim (resulting from the fact that all hats formerly came from the 

 factory unblocked, and Indians did not know that they were supposed 

 to be shaped by the purchaser) . Younger men wear the "bat- wing" 

 hat with wide, curling brim, and shaped crown, often found in lurid 

 colors. The bat- wing hat is thought of by both traders and older 

 Navahos as the trademark of the idle younger generation ; hence the 

 common expression "bat- wing bums." 



Basic female wardrobe remains extremely conservative, showing 

 modem American influence only in the footgear. It consists only of 

 shoes, socks, full skirts, blouses, and Pendleton blanket. The wearing 

 of undergarments of any kind is practically unknown. Four adult 

 women (three of them employed at the school) regularly wear ready- 

 made American dresses, except on ceremonial occasions. All other 

 women wear homemade Na,vaho costume at all times. 



Footgear is to women what hats and hair styles are to men. Older 

 and uneducated women wear high-top "squaw" shoes and long cotton 

 hose ; younger and educated women wear saddle shoes and bobby sox. 

 Women normally have only one pair of shoes and stockings. Nearly 

 all women, however, have at least two and more often three or more 

 skirts and blouses, of which the newest are reserved for dress occa- 

 sions. Skirts are made of from 8 to 12 yards of sateen, sometimes 

 moderately decorated with rickrack or bias tape. A few wealthy 

 women have dress skirts of satin or taffeta. 



Blouses are made from a 2i^-yard piece of plush or, occasionally, 

 velvet. Initially they are heavily adorned with rickrack, bias tape, 

 silver ornaments, and coins. When new, both blouses and skirts are 

 worn only on dress occasions, such as sings and trips to Flagstaff. 

 Later, when new outfits are made, the older garments are used for 

 everyday wear. At such times the ornamentation is usually ripped 

 off to be used on the new outfit; consequently little or no ornamen- 

 tation is seen on Navaho women in everyday dress. Most Navaho 

 women make new outfits about twice a year, with the income from wool 

 and lamb sales. However, additional new outfits are often made in an- 

 ticipation of major ceremonies, and it is not uncommon for some well- 

 to-do women to have new clothes as often as four times a year. The 

 recognized way for any man to appease an angry wife is to buy her the 

 material for a new blouse and skirt. A study of credit books over sev- 

 eral months' time indicates that Shonto women regularly spend over 

 twice as much on their clothes as do their menfolk, and that in some 

 households the bill for women's clothing runs as high as 30 percent of 

 total income. It is certain that sewing has taken the place of weaving 

 as the principal avocational activity of many Shonto women. 



