270 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BnU. 188 



In the case of Shonto Trading Post, and probably in many other 

 cases as well, the factor which primarily serves to differentiate actual 

 from expected behavior is that of covert motivation. Every indi- 

 vidual and agency has recognized overt motivations which are part 

 of its status and help to determine its ideal role. It is also undoubt- 

 edly true that all, or nearly all, individuals and agencies have addi- 

 tional perceptions of self-interest which, possibly because of conflict 

 with the perceived self-interest of others, are not shared with society. 

 Being covert, such motivations do not figure in recognized status nor 

 in expected behavior, but they may, nevertheless, play an important 

 part in determining actual behavior. In a general sense, therefore, 

 covert motivation may be taken as the measure of divergence between 

 ideal and actual roles. 



It should be apparent that the actual cross-cultural role of Shonto 

 Trading Post cannot be ascertained or predicted from its status or 

 ideal role as seen by either Navahos or "Whites. It can be ascertained 

 only by identifying the overt and covert motivations of the trader 

 himself, and by studying his actual cross-cultural behavior with refer- 

 ence to those motivations. In other words it is necessary to consider 

 the ways in which the manifold functions of the trading post are made 

 to serve the interest, not of Navahos and other Wliites as outlined in 

 "Community Services," pp. 214-230, but of the trader. 



MOTIVATION 



In "Community Services," (see "Charter," p. 215) it was stated 

 that the fundamental motivation for the operation of Shonto Trading 

 Post is that of maximum sustained profit. The desire and need for 

 sustained profit serves to differentiate the average trading post of 

 today from that of the 19th century (see "Early Trading Posts," 

 pp. 150-154) and has been an inevitable byproduct of increasingly 

 stabilized social and economic conditions. Many of the first Navaho 

 traders, were out for quick riches in the commodity market (see, e.g.. 

 Underbill, 1956, p. 183) and were quite willing to impoverish their 

 Navaho clientele in the process. It was only as the opportunities for 

 lucrative commodity speculation were gradually eliminated that 

 traders were forced to settle for long-range profit. 



A few modern traders are still primarily concerned with immediate 

 profit ; particularly those who feel themselves to be losing out to town 

 competition. These operators are faced with the specter of declining 

 investment value of their properties, and, believing their days to be 

 numbered, are avowedly out to squeeze the last dollar out of the 

 Indian trade while they have the chance. Particularly in the vicinity 

 of Gallup, where supermarkets and other efficient and modern busi- 

 nesses have captured a great deal of the Navaho trade, and even the 

 credit trade, most traders are out to salvage what they can at any cost. 



