102 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BnU. 188 



by the school's other employees. The teachers were well aware of 

 the situation, but had no power to control it. Their fourth choice 

 for the job was a member of the controlling lineage, who had been 

 recommended in the first instance by the school's other employees. 

 At the present time he has held the job successfully for over a year. 



All seasonal and temporary jobs at Navajo National Monument 

 have similarly been monopolized by the lineage upon whose territory 

 the monument is situated. Seasonal sheepherding and wool jobs at 

 Shonto Trading Post, as well as the one permanent helper's job there, 

 have been under the domination of a third lineage. The proprietary 

 interest which is overtly expressed in these circumstances suggests 

 strongly that jobs are classed among the productive resources in- 

 volved in land tenure, and subject to the same controls. 



Vested interest (cf. Black, 1951, p. 1735) is the ultimate category of 

 control to which Shonto's subsistence resources are subject. It does 

 not imply regular exploitative rights, but functions simply to set 

 limits upon alienation in the common interest. The exercise of vested 

 interest serves to define the highest levels of Shonto's economic organ- 

 ization. With regard to land and land resources (including jobs) 

 it rests in resident lineages; for all other restricted property it is 

 exerted by the residence group. 



Units of operation, in Shonto's subsistence economy, are nearly 

 always equivalent to units of exploitative control. Wliere control is 

 fundamentally a matter of use-right rather than ownership, it is 

 often in the long run simply established ad hoc. The close correspond- 

 ence between units of operation and units of control through use-right 

 is indicated in table 14. 



Table 14. — Navaho ownership and control of economic resources 



Ind.=lndlvldual 



HH= Household 



RG= Residence group 



RL= Resident lineage 

 (PD) =Publlc domain 



1 By tribal law. 



* Including resources thereon. 



• Singing, weaving, tulapal making, etc. 



(l)=Permit holder 

 (2)= Assignee 

 (3)= Employer 



