Adams] SHONTO I ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 197 



at its expiration, however, any unredeemed, item may be sold by the 

 trader for whatever it will bring. 



The pawn policy of Shonto and many other trading posts in actu- 

 ality bears little relationship to the legal restrictions governing pawn. 

 Bracelets and smaller items are supposed to, and usually do, turn 

 over considerably more frequently than is required by law. Belts and 

 other pieces of high value, on the other hand, are subject to the same 

 terms as book accounts. They are held as security against specific 

 earnings, and are supposed to be paid off whenever such earnings are 

 realized, whether the term be 30 days or 2 years (cf. Coolidge and 

 Coolidge, 1930, p. 68). From the trader's standpoint pawn is "dead" 

 not at the end of 6 months, but whenever the expected term has ex- 

 pired and the owner has given direct or indirect indication that he 

 does not intend to redeem it (see Kirk, 1953, p. 241) . 



As a matter of general policy, Shonto Trading Post tries to clean 

 the slate on pawn as on all other accounts receivable at the time of 

 wool and especially lamb sales (see "The Economic Cycle," pp. 141- 

 145). A large sign asserting that "all pawn must be taken out at 

 THE TIME or lamb SALES OR IT WILL BE SOLD ! !" is prominently displayed 

 in the store for a month or more before buying begins. The threat is 

 largely sheer bluff, since nothing can be sold until it has been in the 

 vault 6 months, but it is believed to scare the creditors into paying up, 

 and is part of the established ritual of trading. In actual fact, about 

 75 percent of Shonto's pawn does go out during lamb season ; much of 

 it, however, simply "turns over." It is paid off and immediately re- 

 pawned, never even leaving the store building in many cases. It is 

 then legally safe for another 6 months. The quick turnover in pawn 

 is clearly shown in table 33, where a comparison of entries for Septem- 

 ber and December 1955 indicates that of 267 items in pawn on the 

 former date, 186 or nearly 70 percent were back in the vault 3 months 

 later. Total indebtedness against pawn had climbed back to over 

 60 percent of its September peak. 



Many pieces of heavy jewelry, and particularly large silver belts, 

 are said to "live" in the trading post pawn vault. They are paid off 

 and pawned anew from time to time, but have not been outside the 

 store for many years. Contrary to popular accounts modern trading 

 posts never "loan out" pawn to its owners for special ritual occasions, 

 and no such loan has ever been requested in the writer's experience. 



It has been stated that traders will accept in pawn any item which 

 has resale value (Kluckhohn and Leighton, 1946, p. 38). The state- 

 ment is true of traders in the Gallup area and on the east side of the 

 reservation generally, but it is decidely not true at Shonto or any 

 neighboring trading post. Shonto's pawn policy is based on the belief 

 that dead pawn is bad business and reflects poor management. The 



635893—63 14 



