82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



All of these items may be expected at every meal when a family is in 

 affluent circumstances. A variety of canned and prepared foods may 

 be added less frequently. In harder times, canned meats, especially 

 corned mutton, take the place of fresh mutton, and soda crackers 

 sometimes replace fry-bread. Other items, except coffee, may be 

 omitted entirely in dire circumstances. 



Shonto's dietary ideal would probably be attained if each family 

 could butcher every 2 weeks. In practice, most families average about 

 once a month. Nevertheless, judged by hide sales at Shonto Trading 

 Post, the community's dietary standard of living is one of the highest 

 on the Navaho Reservation. Shonto store is said to handle a heavier 

 volume of hides than its three nearest competitors combined, amount- 

 ing to an average of 2,000 a year. 



Mutton is usually boiled in a stew with potatoes and com; only 

 the ribs, head, and feet are roasted, always immediately after butcher- 

 ing. Potatoes are frequently fried, along with onions, in deep short- 

 ening (animal fat is not saved). Fry -bread (recipe in Bailey, 1940, 

 p. 282) resembles the Mexican sopapilla, and is made from coarse 

 bleached flour, baking powder and salt. 



A peculiarity of the Shonto diet is the fact that it is virtually salt- 

 free. No salt whatever is normally used in the preparation of meat 

 and potatoes, and only a minimal quantity in fry -bread. Navaho salt 

 consumption is nearly all for hide curing. 



Native industry contributes mutton to the basic diet at all times of 

 the year, as well as considerable quantities of com in the summer and 

 fall. Small numbers of squash and melons and a few peaches are 

 also grown. For other food items Shonto's inhabitants rely on the 

 trading post. 



Common housekeeping equipment includes brooms, dishpans, and 

 wash tubs. Most hogans are kept pretty well swept out. Homemade 

 brushes of stiff grass are used for sweeping up ashes. Dishes are 

 washed in a pan of hot water with commercial soap or detergent 

 powder, and are dried with a rag without rinsing. Skillets are usually 

 scrubbed out with ashes. Clothes are washed in a tub of hot water 

 with commercial soap, but are not normally scrubbed, as washboards 

 are few. Yucca-root suds are used only in washing hair. 



ARTS AND CRAFTS 



Native craft enterprise continues to be important to Shonto's women. 

 Craftwork has some economic value (see pp. 124-125), since with the 

 partial exception of baskets and saddle blankets all products are 

 made for sale to the trading post. The number and variety of items 

 produced, however, is out of all proportion to their economic signifi- 

 cance. It is apparent that craft practice among women retains a high 

 degree of prestige value as well as furnishing avocational interest. 



