198 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



criterion of acceptability in pawn is therefore not what it is worth 

 to the trader or any outside market, but what it is worth to the pawner 

 himself. Shonto will not accept in pawn any item which the owner 

 would probably not wish to redeem, even though its resale value were 

 considerably greater than the amount allowed against it. One or 

 two families are actually blacklisted from pawning for any amount 

 because they have taken so long to redeem in the past. 



Because it must be of known value to the owner, Shonto's pawn 

 is limited almost exclusively to the traditional silver and turquoise 

 jewelry (cf. table 33). The only other items accepted with any 

 frequency, and only then under special circumstances, are saddles. On 

 one occasion a wagon has been pawned at Shonto, and on one occasion 

 a truck. Blankets, rifles, and other items of doubtful worth, such as 

 are seen in great quantities in the Gallup area, are never accepted 

 at Shonto. 



As in the case of book accounts, it is largely left up to the trader 

 to manage pawn credit properly. If it "goes dead" he may be blamed 

 vociferously for allowing too much credit. Hence dead pawn is to 

 be avoided above all else as a source of customer ill will (cf. Coolidge 

 and Coolidge, 1930, p. 68; Collier and Collier, 1953, p. 220). 



Pawn credit like book credit requires intimate knowledge of the 

 individual involved, and his past record. Any reasonable piece of 

 native jewelry may be pawned against its face value for 5 or 10 dollars, 

 since such small sums can always be earned in one way or another. 

 Pawning for any larger sum, however, "depends on what the man is 

 worth and not what the piece is worth," as traders say. This policy 

 consistently restricts the credit value of pawned articles to a fraction 

 of their face value, but it insures their redemption by so doing. Silver 

 belts valued at $150.00 have in some cases been held to credit limits 

 of $20.00. 



Despite the legal 6 months' limitation on pawn accounts, pawn is 

 never under any circumstances sold until its owners have had a legiti- 

 mate chance to redeem it. If expected earnings do not materialize 

 or are genuinely needed for some other purpose the trader will 

 hold the piece to give the pawner a chance to raise the sum required 

 later on (cf. Collier and Collier, 1953, p. 220). Men going off to 

 work on the railroad often pawn their belts or beads before they leave, 

 sometimes for nominal sums, as a means of safekeeping. They may 

 be absent for periods of months or even years, but the piece is always 

 held mitil its owner returns. In this way two belts have been un- 

 claimed in Shonto's pawn vault since 1952, and several have been in 

 between 1 and 2 years. An interest of 10 percent per annum is 

 charged on all such accounts after the first year. 



Regardless of age pawned articles are never actually sold off unless 

 and until their owners have refused to redeem them, or have given 



