Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 97 



siderable economic significance (see "Native Commercial and Profes- 

 sional Enterprise," below) . 



Esoteric professional and craft skills are the principal resources 

 of a few households, and contribute to a lesser extent to the livelihood 

 of many others. Included are singing and curing skills, the knowl- 

 edge of tulapai making, and all commercial craft practices — weaving, 

 pottery and basketry making, and the like. (See "Crafts" and "Na- 

 tive Commercial and Professional Enterprise," below). 



Silver jewelry, of which nearly every Shonto adult has at least one 

 or two pieces, plays a special part in the community's economy. To 

 a very large extent, it is Shonto's only liquid capital. It can be 

 pawned (for merchandise only in most cases) at the trading post at 

 any time, and can serve to some extent as a basis for credit in default 

 of all other resources. Because of the extreme seasonal fluctuation 

 and general uncertainty of Shonto's productive economy (see "The 

 Economic Cycle," below), capitalization is essential to the commun- 

 ity's livelihood ; many households find it necessary to "dip into their 

 capital" (by pawning their jewelry) for parts of every year. 



Although holdings in jewelry may serve as collective capital for 

 liouseholds and even residence groups, all pieces remain distinctly 

 personal property — owned, controlled, and potentially exploitable in- 

 dividually and for the benefit of individuals only. Shonto's capital 

 organization thus does not entirely correspond to its productive 

 organization. Status of jewelry and other personal estate under 

 Navaho common law is shown in table 14. 



Inheritance of personal estate differs sharply from that of restricted 

 estate. In the first place it is more or less freely disposable by the 

 owner without reference to household and residence group. Tradi- 

 tional inheritance, however, is within the owner's clan, again without 

 reference to territorial social units (see Eeichard, 1928, p. 94) . Prob- 

 ably for this reason all native professional and craft activities in 

 Shonto community appear to be strongly concentrated in certain clans 

 rather than in geographical areas. Particularly interesting is the case 

 of pottery and basketry making, both of which are practiced only by 

 the members of the Lok'adine clan (see "Clans," pp. 61-62). 



In sum, Shonto's economic resources are basically productive rather 

 than capital resources. Holdings in the latter category are confined 

 to limited amounts of jewelry. In this sense the community's econ- 

 omy remains a subsistence economy. 



ECONOMIO STRUCTUEE AND FUNCTION 



Modern Shonto community depends upon the outside world for 

 nearly 80 percent of its total annual income (see table 21). Sources 

 of liveliliood upon which the community relies today are not much 

 different from those of White settlements in the same region. The 



