Adams] SHONTO I ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 207 



not cover their desired purchases. Traders constantly complain that 

 Navahos cannot be induced to part with their cash as long as their 

 credit is "open," and it has become common policy to deny credit to 

 persons known to have cash on hand. The Navaho attitude, however, 

 is based on the worldwide principle of "spending money you don't 

 have rather than money you do have" ; and it is further animated by 

 the need for cash in Flagstaff and in native commerce, where credit 

 is not allowed. 



Just as they follow a fixed order in their spending, most Navahos 

 follow a closely predictable sequence in their buying. At least 90 

 percent of shopping expeditions start at the grocery counter and 

 move in order through drugs, dry goods, and shoes to hardware, thus 

 more or less following the layout of the store itself (fig. 3, p. 162). 

 Fuel and feed, wliich are not kept in sight, are sure to be purchased 

 at the very last. 



Navaho buying follows the same essential logic as spending, and 

 for the same reason. Since the buyer cannot be sure in advance 

 how far his resources will go, it is simply a matter of first things 

 first. Purchases in each department begin with the most essential 

 items and work down to the most trivial. Hence those items which 

 constitute staples in the Navaho diet (table 28, pp. 177-180; see also 

 "Cooking and Housekeeping," pp. 81-82) head the list on nearly every 

 occasion. A random examination of 100 trade slips in 1955 revealed 

 that flour was the first entry in 91 cases, while, flour, baking powder, 

 coffee, sugar and salt appeared among the first 10 items in 83 cases. 



The practice of buying in descending order of importance is so well 

 developed that it results in "counter jumping" — a practice discour- 

 aged by traders as highly inconvenient. The "counter jumper" moves 

 from grocery to dry goods to shoe counter making his most important 

 purchases first, then returns to the various departments for less vital 

 items. The whole practice of Navaho buying is arranged as a pre- 

 caution in case funds and/or credit should become exhausted at any 

 time, insuring that in any such eventuality the most important pur- 

 chases will always have been consummated. 



The Navaho consumer generally takes such pains as he can to keep 

 track of his resources and credit position during the process of trad- 

 ing, either by counting his money or inquiring his credit standing from 

 the trader. All transactions involving direct commodity exchange 

 are recorded on "due bills" whereon the original amount due in trade 

 is entered at the top, and from which each successive purchase is sub- 

 tracted in turn (see Underhill, 1956, pp. 182-183). Negotiation 

 of a due bill is almost a matter of ritual, in which the amount remain- 

 ing to be traded out must be stated after each selection has been sub- 

 tracted. The customer will almost never make an additional purchase 

 until this information has been supplied. A due bill even for so small 



