Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 95 



resources. As a consequence, the activities upon wliicli Shonto's in- 

 habitants depend for their livelihood must be recognized as falling 

 into two distinct classes ; those which are controlled within the com- 

 munity, and those which are not subject to Navaho control. 



UNCONTEOLLED EESOUECES 



Ojff-reservation sources of income, whether wages or unearned bene- 

 fits, are structural features of the modern American economy rather 

 than the native Navaho economy, and they are governed by modem 

 American economic concepts. Access to jobs is determined by im- 

 personal standards of qualification, either physical or educational. 

 Eligibility for welfare assistance is established by a combination of 

 physical and economic conditions, again entirely impartial. Since 

 these criteria of productive potential apply impartially to all Navahos 

 regardless of kmship status and group membersliip, they are beyond 

 the control of Navahos themselves. In particular, railroad wages, 

 railroad unemployment compensation, and relief, which in combina- 

 tion contribute 60 percent of community income, are resources upon 

 which Shonto depends for its livelihood but which it does not control. 



CONTBOLLED EESOUECES 



Control of economic resources is exerted through institutions of 

 property or proprietary right. All resources within Shonto com- 

 munity, including jobs, come under such control in one way or another 

 (see "Control of Kesources," below). Consequently, controlled re- 

 sources are synonymous with local resources in Shonto's economy. 



Property concepts under Navaho common law show interesting 

 parallels with and at the same time a marked divergence from Anglo- 

 Saxon common law. The latter, a product of the feudal age, is based 

 on the concept of land as the fundamental economic resource of hu- 

 man society (cf. Powell, 1949, p. 364). Anglo-Saxon law thus made, 

 and makes, a fundamental distinction between land, or real estate, and 

 all other categories of property, which are classed as personal estate 

 (see Black, 1951, p. 1430; also Powell, 1949, pp. 363-364). 



Keal estate is set apart from personal estate in being subject to a 

 complex series of special restrictions upon the right of exploitation 

 and alienation which, in sum, recognize the vested interest of larger 

 social units in the basic resource upon which all depend, regardless of 

 ownership. The result is a variety of categories of ownership or con- 

 trol (fees) which apply only to real estate (cf. Black, 1951, p. 1383). 



Personal estate, comprising property other than land and thus not 

 considered essential to the common welfare, is always owned in the 

 equivalent of fee simple. In nearly all cases it is subject to free 

 individual rights of exploitation and alienation (Black, 1951, p. 1382) . 



