Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 99 



consonant with traditional beliefs, and has not been a source of conflict 

 at Shonto. 



Like the Anglo-American law after which it is patterned, Navaho 

 tribal law classes as personal estate all resources other than land, 

 and recognizes no superordinate rights as devolving upon them (cf. 

 Black, 1951, p. 1382) . Disparity between this and traditional Navaho 

 practice has in recent years led to profound conflict in many Navaho 

 communities (see Reichard, 1928, pp. 92-95; Van Valkenburgh, 1937; 

 Kluckhohn and Leighton, 1946, pp. 60-61). Shonto, however, has 

 largely escaped this situation. The functional status of tribal law 

 in the community (see "Law and Order," pp. 68-70) is such that it 

 seldom governs property ownership, and conflicts of interest are, at 

 the present time, theoretical and potential rather than actual. Few 

 Shonto individuals have any real concept of their rights under tribal 

 law. 



Legal control^ under tribal law, is a function of legal ownership 

 unless contractually delegated. In practice the latter circumstance 

 is found only in connection with certain farmlands, which are a part 

 of Navaho public domain but are formally assigned to users (with- 

 out fee), the tribe retaining rights of ultimate adjudication but not 

 of eminent domain (cf . Black, 1951, p. 616) . 



The role of tribal law in sanctioning control of Shonto's farmlands 

 varies principally according to the land involved. A consistent dis- 

 tinction can be made between primary and supplementary farmlands 

 in the community. Primary farmlands are those around which the 

 community has been oriented since its beginnings, and which largely 

 determine its pattern of settlement today (see "Agriculture," p. 123). 

 These are the valuable, irrigated or irrigable lands located chiefly in 

 Shonto and Cow Springs Canyons. 



Supplementary farms are small, unirrigated clearings developed 

 subsequent to settlement and located on any convenient piece of 

 ground close to the group residence. These are always well within 

 the territory controlled by the group. As often as not, they are 

 squash and melon patches rather than cornfields, although plenty of 

 corn is also grown in them. 



Perhaps because they have always and traditionally been a source 

 of conflict under Navaho common law (cf. Reichard, 1928, p. 92; 

 Van Valkenburgh, 1937; Hill, 1938, pp. 22-23), modem Shonto com- 

 munity has turned readily to tribal law to sanction its control of pri- 

 mary agricultural land. Nearly all users of the bottom lands have 

 obtained legal assignments to their holdings. The practice has not put 

 an end to conflict, however, since in the absence of law enforcement any 

 Shonto resident can legitimately choose to ignore tribal law and 

 invoke custom sanctions instead. There was a fight over a cornfield 



