296 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



ties of modern life, and thereby stifles their initiative. "The Indian 

 should get out and sink or swim like the rest of us," as a Flagstaff 

 resident expressed it. 



Such critics either are not fully familiar with the reservation scene 

 or, as is equally probable, do not comprehend the real meaning of 

 "paternalism." In most respects Washington is no more "Great 

 White Father" to Navahos than to other citizens. Although the Fed- 

 eral Government must perform for Navahos nearly all of the func- 

 tions normally allocated to Federal, State, county, and local govern- 

 ments in White society (cf. Kluckholin and Leighton, 1946, p. 86), 

 the complex of such functions in education, health, welfare, and the 

 like is generally comparable to those performed by various govern- 

 ments for non-Navahos of low income levels. Concern with the 

 physical and material w^elfare of all citizens is one of the recognized 

 functions of modem government. 



Furthermore, Government dealings with Navahos as with other 

 citizens are on a strictly instrumental rather than a personal basis 

 (cf. chart L, p. 258). Under the rigid protocols of administration 

 Navahos are inevitably treated as cases rather than as individuals. 

 What they may receive from the Government in any case is deter- 

 mined by formally established criteria of eligibility which niay or 

 may not have anything to do with personally defined need. 



In all these respects the contrast between the role of the Indian 

 Bureau and that of the trader is profound. It is the trader, not 

 the Government, whose relations with Navahos are personal, colored 

 by personal value judgments, and not confined to instrumental con- 

 texts. It is the trader who tries to obtain jobs or relief for indi- 

 viduals, not because they are formally qualified but because in his 

 opinion they need them, and it is he who does favors and performs 

 services for his clientele not because he gets paid for it but for 

 more indirect benefits and in the interest of personal friendship and 

 community goodwill. Above all it is the trader who attempts, in 

 his own interest, to soften the impact of culture contact; to pro- 

 tect his Navaho neighbors from the disruptive influences of the Wliite 

 world (cf. Kluckhohn and Leighton, 1946, p. 79) with which, in 

 his opinion, they are not strong enough to deal; and who protects 

 them even from Government agencies. Finally, it is the trader who 

 literally treats the Navahos like children (see "Interpersonal Re- 

 lations," pp. 287-290) , even to the extent of talking a sort of baby-talk 

 to them (cf . "Communication," pp. 212-214) . 



In short, it is the trader, not the Indian Bureau, whose role repre- 

 sents the epitome of paternalism in Navaho- White relations. He, 

 if anyone, deserves the epithet of "White Father," 



