252 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



ISTavahos and outside institutions or even, in some cases, other contact 

 institutions (see "Intracultural Relations at the Contact Level," pp. 

 253-256). The intracultural orientations of any contact institution, 

 therefore, are determined largely by first its "charter," second its 

 effectiveness as a channel of communication, and third its organiza- 

 tional matrix. 



Among Shonto's contact institutions the trading post is especially 

 favored in the first two regards. By comparison to governmental in- 

 stitutions its external relations are not nearly so restricted by fiat and 

 protocol, thus making it accessible to a wide variety of contacts with 

 both Navahos and White institutions. Purely as a business operation 

 the highly diversified nature of the trading post necessitates a con- 

 siderable diversification of interest and relationships with the outside 

 world (see "Trading Post Economics," pp. 167-184). The same con- 

 sideration of accessibility to Wliites, as well as its frequency of 

 contact with Navahos (see "Cross-Cultural Relations," pp. 256-263) 

 affords the store a paramount position as a secondary channel of 

 communication. 



As indicated in chart J, the extent and diversity of Shonto Trad- 

 ing Post's institutional contacts within its own sociocultural system 

 considerably exceeds that of any other contact institution. Virtually 

 all cultural impulses related in any way to commerce, economics and 

 material culture, and many others as well, are transmitted by and 

 through the store. By contrast, as a result of constitutional limita- 

 tions, the extension of the school's relations beyond their chartered 

 limits is confined to other government agencies. The tribal council- 

 man is an agent of Anglo-American culture insofar as he is an active 

 member of an organization patterned directly after White, rather than 

 Navaho, models. He is not, on the other hand, a member of the Anglo- 

 American sociocultural system, and has no significant institutional 

 relationships within it. 



As suggested in charts J and K, the missionary is the most narrowly 

 restricted of all Shonto's contact institutions in his intracultural orien- 

 tations. His position in this regard results from what might be called 

 the incompleteness of his organizational matrix. The particular area 

 of interest in which he is active is neither integrated nor organized at 

 regional or local levels. Like many missionaries, particularly in this 

 part of the reservation, he comes from outside the Southwest, and is 

 under the special disadvantage of being unfamiliar not only with the 

 institutions of Navaho culture, but also to some extent with the local 

 aspects and agencies of Wliite culture, and with the nature of the ad- 

 justment between the two. As a result there is almost no "lateral 

 communication" between him and liis superiors and any other insti- 

 tutions affecting or affected by Navaho culture and society (cf. 

 chart J) . 



