262 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



The character of relations as well as certain factors of role have 

 important bearing on the social accessibility of the contact institution 

 to Navahos. Wherever relations are instrumental, accessibility is 

 low as a corollary. The schoolteachers are readily accessible only 

 to the parents of schoolchildren ; the hospital is concerned only with 

 health problems, and so on. Furthermore, the duties of the various 

 Government officials involved do not include time for anything like 

 prolonged discussion or debate even within the field of instrumental 

 relations. An interview between parents and schoolteachers, for 

 example, must be specially arranged and must take place during 

 time specially set aside. 



The social accessibility of the missionary and the tribal councilman 

 is diminished by the fact that their physical accessibility is some- 

 times low. Also, in the case of the missionary, it is affected by the 

 difficulty of commmiication in many cases. The trader, because of 

 the nature of his work and his ultimate dependence on the goodwill 

 of the community, is accessible at all times. 



The willingness of Navahos to communicate with any contact 

 institution, or to receive communications from or through it, may be 

 affected in some cases by the privacy in which such communication 

 can be made. An example is the fact that many Navahos wish to 

 conceal from certain of their relatives the fact that they have re- 

 ceived money, so that there will be no pressure on them to share it. 

 Although to a degree wealth is a source of pride, some of Shonto's 

 well-to-do men consistently belittle their wealth before Wliites and 

 even before each other, possibly for fear of any suspicion of witch- 

 craft (cf. Hobson, 1954, pp. 7-9, 17-20). In any such concealment 

 the collusion of the trader is likely to be required. 



For most of Shonto's adults there can be little or no privacy in 

 any relationship in which an interpreter is required ; i.e., in any sit- 

 uation where only English is spoken. In the case of Government 

 agencies the possibility of privacy is further precluded by the instru- 

 mental character of relations. In effect, only the trading post and 

 the tribal councilman are left as potentially private cross-cultural 

 contacts. The facility of private communication is normally afforded 

 to any trading-post customer who has a legitimate reason for request- 

 ing it. Trader and customer retire to the living room of the trader's 

 residence in such circumstances. 



Finally, the language of communication plays an obvious part in 

 relation to cross-cultural influences. It may be recalled that less 

 than one-third of Shonto's adult Navahos have sufficient control of 

 English to use it for practical communication (cf. table 13, p. 92). 

 Yet the trading post and the various functionaries of the Navaho tribe 

 are the only contact institutions capable of communicating in the 

 Navaho language. The "Navaho" spoken by the trader is more prop- 



