Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 203 



Table 36. — Clientele volume ty days, Shonto Trading Post, April 1956 



1 See "Railroad Work " pp. 129-133. 



' Regular monthly visit announced in advance. 



' Held by Tribal Councilman; announced in advance. 



< For emergency repairs to power plant. 



from a high of 87 to a low of 22 within the space of 4 days (table 36) . 

 The average daily clientele for the month was 48. 



As table 36 indicates, trading is closely affected by other activities 

 in and around the community. Those which take place in the vicinity 

 of the store bring a heavy increase in volume of trade, while activities 

 elsewhere have the opposite effect (e.g., the dance at Kaibito) . The 

 four railroad signup days (Thursdays) and one meeting day (Monday 

 the 16th) in April, 1956, provided Shonto Trading Post with an aggre- 

 gate of 367 customers — almost exactly one-third of the total clientele 

 for the month. A similar heavy concentration of trade on railroad 

 days is shown in table 31. During the heavy snows of midwinter, 

 when trade is at its slowest, the trading post may do as much as half 

 its total volume of business on railroad days. Thus, an additional set 

 of records kept during a 2-week period in January 1954, indicates that 



