272 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



community as much as possible in the community. All of these activi- 

 ties are characteristic of Shonto Trading Post. Perhaps the clearest 

 signification of the trader's intention, however, is that in 1956 he de- 

 clined an opportunity to sell the store at a 50 percent profit. 



The basic motivation of maximum sustained profit is translated 

 into a series of concrete operational objectives which go far to 

 determine the behavior, hence the role, of the trader. The more 

 overt objectives, underlying the charter functions of the store, were 

 identified in "Community Services" (cf. chart E) : minimum com- 

 petition, maximum sales, and maximum community income. These 

 objectives are generally recognized, especially by Navahos, as ap- 

 propriate to the store, and are part of its status and ideal role. 



There is, however, another and equally basic objective of Shonto 

 Trading Post which, although implicit in the concept of sustained 

 profit, is essentially covert. This is the objective of maximum and 

 contmuing Navaho dependence on the trading post (cf. Coolidge 

 and Coolidge, 1930, p. 68; Kluckholin and Leighton, 1946, p. 39). 

 It is, of course, furthered to some extent by all of the overt objectives 

 of the trader. Even more, however, it is served in a series of more 

 subtle ways through the behavior of the trader as a representative 

 of and spokesman for the Wliite world. 



The behavior and role of Shonto's trader, and of most other traders 

 in this remote region, can only be fully understood in terms of the 

 covert objective of perpetuating Navaho dependence, which in many 

 instances takes precedence over all others. In this respect the trader 

 has been and is unwilling to sell the future short for the sake of 

 immediate profit, and it is here that the essential difference between 

 his overt and covert roles lies. 



PERFORMANCE OF FUNCTIONS 



In "Retail Trade," pp. 184-214, and "Community Services," pp. 

 214-230, the cross-cultural functions and activities of Shonto's trader 

 were defined and classified according to Navaho expectations, as well 

 as the expectations of Whites other than the trader. The purpose of 

 the present discussion is to reexamine and reclassify the same series 

 of functions, and particularly the way in which they are performed, 

 as determined not by the expectation of others but by the objectives, 

 overt and covert, of the trader himself. 



MINIMUM COMPETITION 



The competitive position of Shonto Trading Post is based initially 

 on a significant territorial monopoly (cf. "Market Control," pp. 169- 

 170) . The store's nearest competitor is located some 8 miles away by 

 airline, and nearly 20 miles away by road (see "Trading," pp. 42-43 ; 

 also map 2) . With Navaho mobility increasing steadily through the 



