Adams] SHONTO: ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 271 



Stores in this area advertise prominently their willingness to buy 

 mature sheep and other Navaho productive assets for up to 50 percent 

 cash. "We'll buy anything they got" the trader at Ganado informed 

 the writer. 



There is, of course, no significant profit to be made from the resale 

 of sheep, saddles, rifles, and other Navaho assets bought by Gallup 

 traders. The basis of these transactions is the 60 percent merchandise 

 stipulation, which in other regards figures also in the system of com- 

 modity exchange at Shonto Tradmg Post (see "Direct Exchange," 

 pp. 199-201). Gallup traders take advantage of the common Navaho 

 desire for liquor, and need for money to buy it, by affording them 

 a ready opportunity to convert their assets into cash — at the cost of 

 having to receive half its value in merchandise at very high markups. 

 The impact of several years of such trading operations in the Gallup 

 area is readily observable: livestock holdmgs have been declming 

 steadily and markedly, at the same time that they have been greatly 

 on the increase at Shonto and throughout the northwestern Navaho 

 country (cf. Young, 1955, pp. 191-192.) 



Another feature of trading for short-term profits, as found in the 

 Gallup area, is the deliberate promotion of great quantities of dead 

 pawn through a policy of allowing cash loans against any piece of 

 jewelry from any applicant, whether or not known to the trader. 

 Dealers in Indian arts and crafts can readily confirm the fact that 

 the great majority of dead Navaho pawn comes not from the reser- 

 vation but from a handful of off-reservation traders, particularly 

 in the east. Invariable symptoms of the quick-profit trader are pawn 

 racks filled largely with Pendleton blankets and saddles. These are 

 the last remaining pawnable assets of many Navahos in the Gallup 

 area, who have already lost most or all of their jewelry in the form 

 of unredeemed pawn. 



The majority of modern trading posts, however, and partic- 

 ularly those which still enjoy significant territorial monopoly, are 

 geared to long-tenn operation for sustained though moderate profits. 

 This is particularly true of Shonto and other stores in the more 

 remote portions of the reservation. These enterprises are continually 

 concerned not only with sustaining sales, but also with sustaining 

 and increasing the buying power of their clientele by the preser- 

 vation and increase of Navaho productive resources (cf. Collier and 

 Collier, 1953, pp. 219-220; Sanders, et al., 1953, p. 233). Trademarks 

 of the sustained-profit trading post are conservative pawn policy, 

 aimed at maximum redemption ; minimum cash loans ; refusal to buy 

 mature sheep, ewe lambs, jewelry, and other productive resources; and 

 a complex of activities designed to assist the community to a higher 

 income level (see "Charter Functions," pp. 216-220). Above all, the 

 sustained-profit operation strives to keep the resources of the 



