132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BaU. 188 



"claim affidavits" are the responsibility of the trader in his function 

 as claims agent for the Railroad Retirement Board. The mechanics 

 of unemployment compensation at Shonto are generally as follows: 



Some time between mid-summer and late fall the Winslow R.R.B. 

 office notifies the trader that general eligibility for benefits will begin 

 on a given date. The trader immediately passes the word on to the 

 community. On the basis of records kept by him he informs each rail- 

 road worker if and when he will become eligible. 



A given day of the week (always Thursday in recent years) is 

 designated as railroad sign-up day. Each Thursday during the period 

 of eligibility, every railroad worker must come to the store and sign 

 his claim affidavit. In practice it is always filled out in advance by the 

 trader and is merely thumbprinted by the claimant, since few of 

 Shonto's railroad workers can read or write. The trader is required by 

 law to ask each claimant if he is ready and willing to go to work and 

 if he has had opportunities to work every time an affidavit is signed. A 

 negative answer to the first question or a positive one to the second 

 automatically disqualifies the claim, but few traders take the trouble 

 to ask in practice. 



The standard affidavit covers a 2-week period, so that each one must 

 be signed twice. When completed, they are mailed to the Winslow 

 office. Checks in comj)ensation for the period claimed in each affidavit 

 are mailed to the claimants every 2 weeks by the R.R.B. regional 

 office in Dallas. Shonto residents in 1955 drew biweekly checks rang- 

 ing from $42.00 to $78.00, depending upon their daily base-rate as 

 determined from earnings in the previous year. 



Throughout the winter the trader keeps track of men returning from 

 railroad jobs, checking as soon as they return to see if and when they 

 will become eligible for benefits, and informing them accordingly. 

 Constant reminders to sign up are issued. 



The annual cycle of railroad work and unemployment compensation 

 is outlined in Charts A and B. Although work calls are occasionally 

 received during the winter, in general they do not begin until about 

 April. The store usually receives one order for 15 men in each of 

 April and May. These early orders, conflicting with agricultural 

 and livestock activities (Chart A), are always difficult to fill; usually 

 over half the men called simply refuse work and forfeit their remam- 

 ing compensation. Benefits are likely to be terminated for all claim- 

 ants in May or June, as manpower demand becomes general. 

 Throughout June, July, and August, Shonto may get calls for 15 men 

 as often as every two or three weeks. Refusals at this time of year 

 are rare. Many quotas are overfilled, as men who are not called by 

 seniority will choose to ride into Winslow with the crew in the hope 

 of being taken on anyway. By the first of September nearly all the 



