260 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 188 



Inasmucli as they are chartered deliberately to deal with Navahos 

 in one way or another, it might be said that all contact institutions on 

 the Navaho Reservation depend on the Navahos for their very exist- 

 ence. This, however, is not a legitimate measure of functional de- 

 pendence. Of all contact institutions on the Navaho Reservation it 

 is only the trading post which has to pay its own way in cross-cultural 

 relations. Therefore Shonto Trading Post and Shonto community 

 stand in a relation of interdependence which is almost total (cf. 

 "Navaho Economics," pp. 94r-148; and "Retail Trade," pp. 184r-214), 

 and which is in profound contrast to the situation of every other con- 

 tact institution. The trader's continued operation is contingent not 

 merely on his performing his assigned function, but on his performing 

 it effectively and successfully. 



Among the factors of role must be counted the extent to which any 

 contact institution and its operation have become integrated into the 

 overall life of the community. Such integration may result from 

 dependence on the institution in its overt role, or in some secondary 

 or even unintentional role. For example, most Shonto men depend 

 on the tribal councilman as a source of information on new govern- 

 ment policies and programs that may ajffect them, and his activities 

 are integrated into the life of the community to that extent. On the 

 other hand he is not generally accepted as a representative of the 

 community at the seat of government and thus as an instrument of 

 its will, although that is his theoretical function (see "Social and 

 Political Authority," pp. 65-68). Extent of integration, in addition, 

 must be measured in terms of the number or percentage of people who 

 depend on the contact institution as well as on the extent of their de- 

 pendence. It is highest in the case of the trading post, upon which 

 every household in the commmiity is heavily dependent. 



Coercive power plays an important and obvious part in the role of 

 any contact institution (cf. Redfield, Linton, and Herskovits, 1936, 

 p. 150). Insofar as their operation is legally ordained, all govern- 

 mental institutions have a certain amount of direct coercive power. 

 The hospital can threaten prosecution for refusal to submit infectious 

 conditions to treatment, and the school for refusal to send children 

 to school. Both, moreover, can threaten welfare recipients with loss 

 of their benefits for either cause. 



Since he is not officially responsible for the enforcement of the 

 directives of the Navaho Tribal Council, the councilman has no 

 constitutional coercive power. He can, however, implement the ac- 

 tivities of the tribe within the community by threatening prosecution 

 to those who resist them. 



The trading post, although not legally ordained, has an enormous 

 indirect coercive power as a result of the community's economic de- 

 pendence. Its sources and the ways in which it can be exerted are 



