176 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



GENERAL MERCANTILE HOUSES 



Persistence of an essentially seasonal Navaho economy (see "The 

 Economic Cycle," pp. 141-145) makes inevitable a continued heavy de- 

 pendence on the general mercantilers who have traditionally domi- 

 nated the Navaho trade. Throughout the Navaho Reservation they 

 probably retain two-thirds of the total annual wholesale trade at the 

 present time. At Shonto their long credit terms are necessary to 

 underwrite not only the livestock trade, but much of the trade based 

 on railroad earnings as well. 



The general mercantilers remain the only wholesale enterprises 

 which make regular deliveries throughout the Navaho Eeservation, 

 employing their own vehicles. A salesman from each house calls on 

 every trading post in his territory once every 2 weeks. Delivery is 

 normally made in the following week. In a region where regular 

 freight service of any kind is nonexistent and where mail is unde- 

 pendable, this service alone guarantees a large share of the Navaho 

 market. Mail comes to the northwestern Navaho area only twice a 

 week, and must be picked up from a point 30 miles from Shonto store. 



Shonto Tradmg Post consistently does some 75 percent of its total 

 wholesale business with a single general mercantile house in Farm- 

 ington, N. Mex., some 200 miles to the east. Regular biweekly sales 

 calls and deliveries are made, as noted above. The store buys all of 

 its hardware, nearly all of its groceries, and the bulk of its other stock 

 from this single source, where a year-round rmming account is car- 

 ried. Occasional fill-in orders are given to the mercantile house in 

 Flagstaff, which also sells the Shonto territory. Like most traders, 

 however, Shonto's owner prefers to ally himself to a single wholesale 

 house as a means of assuring continued credit and financial backing. 

 This attitude is naturally encouraged by the wholesale house itself. 



OTHEB WHOLESALERS 



The volume of Shonto's trade with wholesalers other than the gen- 

 eral mercantile house is limited by the store's cash receipts, since such 

 trade is commonly on straight cash or, at most, 30-day terms. A few 

 items, nevertheless, have always been supplied by specialized whole- 

 salers. Flour is purchased exclusively from a small mill in Monticello, 

 Utah, which is devoted exclusively to the Indian trade. This enter- 

 prise, like the mercantilers, makes deliveries direct to trading posts, 

 and also offers long terms of account. Piiion nuts have sometimes 

 been accepted in lieu of cash in payment of account. 



Gasoline and other fuels and lubricants are supplied by a bulk 

 plant at Cameron, Ariz., some 75 miles southwest of Shonto. Rugs 

 are sometimes used in payment of account here, since the Cameron 



