Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-12

w
wv ~ in this country how
ever a considerable
body of people who have succeeded in es-
tablishing the parity of coin and buttons.
and more. in maintaining it.
Not many years ago the only money cur
rent on the Navajo reservation was silver.
Paper money and gold were occasionally
round In the traders stores, but the Indians
would have none of it; with them it was
silver or no trade. They would readily &C
cept an individual paper from some one
Known to them and such orders were fire.
quently issued by arrangement stores
fifty or even 100 miles away, but they were
always paid in silver on presentation.
AT the present time some of these Indians
understand paper money and will accept it
IN payment. or rather they understand that
u green paper" is a general order all
the stores and will be redeemed in silver on
presentation to any of them. 1t has the
same standing as the "red paper dis
bursting agents check, sometimes issued to
them in payment for work. But the bulk
OF the tribe still demand silver, and all look
with suspicion on gold. which is regarded
as thS storekeeper's money. Silver is known
as pesh-iakai,' the white metal. and Is
highly esteemed, not only as a Circulating
medium, but also for ornaments and tew-
elry.
NUM- ray In specie.
The principal wealth Of the Navajos, and
tEey are wealthy tribe has always been
and still is in sheep and goats and horses.
originally stolen from other Indian tribes
and from the Mexicans. The bulk of their
business with the traders is in the sale of
wool and pelts The wool clip is consider
ably over 10000 pounds per annum ana
as they are not an agricultural pcoy,l.
put lve principally on the flesh of sh.ap
aisi soats' there Is large trade in pelts.
large supply OF silver coin is necessary
icr the conduct Of this business especially
since competition among the traders has
Drousnt about the custom of paying for all
WOOL ana pelts tn cash, instead of by :;
paper slip or menaora ndurn to he afterwa ri
TRACED out In the store. In other words,
me nat money Of the traders has been en-
ure!y replaced by specie payments
IHls resumption Or establishment IF
sI'ecie payments-.was ACCOMPLISHED onIv
some seven or eight years ago and was
s.ro'feiv opposed ny 1.-The traders The con-
uooe % business s more difficult for them
no" than formerly, and during the wool
season. In the spriag, when more than 90
per cent OF the crop Is mark eted. the mos
aehuous EFFORTS. are necessary to pre-
vent scarcity of currency The trade,
curse the day when one or tbe;r -
lnausnfated the, practice of ma VIM o,t
SILVER coin in trade, but it Is not now nos
eioie 70 go back to the old conditions.
Turned Them Into Button..
ohtli lew years ago nearly all the sill
yer com that came into the countr, re
NAMED there. Being paid out by the trad
ers or acquired i'll various ways, It did not
return 10 the stores as coin, but was
promptly turned over to the silversmiths
ana oy them manufactured into buttons
and ornaments of various kinds G,beso
buttons passed current in the stcr., 20
thelf weight in coin, and formed an effect
I'VE medium OF exchange among the Indians
tneiiiseNes. as their value was constant
Inc button really formed a better circ,
iatiaG medium than coin. 70 a people Who
nave no pockets in their clothing they are
iar H.ore convenient to handle being al
equipment. anu
Inc Navajos, like most primitive neonIe
ahu some not so primitive, are much ad
alcteo 10 gambling. and it is not unccmmon
10 see a dozen or more of them scuat,inv
on the ground around a blanket sore,d o,..
ior cioth, all intensely Interested in rho
game II run of III luck exhansts III
Sapitai OF player he has but to cut
button on his moccasin or his le-v;n.
player has been known to carry on a g,
Tor thfrty-siX hours continuously wiz tn
buttons which formed part of his clo,htne
o "msn ne commented On the ground of
convenience, there is every thing to he SAID
Tor the button, and but little for the co6n
from the Navajo standpoint. '
buttons Were Demonctixed.
1t Is hardly surprising, therefore. that Of
the tf6 usands of dollars that went into tho
reservation In silver coin but little came
out. The parity of coin and buttons was
maintained by the law of supply and de-
mand. but finally the supply of buttons he
came SO great that the traders organized
against the Indians, and by a secret agree
ment among themselves not to accent sill
yer al its regularly established and usual
value, except In the form of coin buttons
were demcnetized The industry has never
recovered from the blow it then received.
Time was, and that not long ago when
the average Navajo carried from twenty
to fifty dollars worth of silver ornaments
on his person, and as the tribe numbers
over 1000. considerable quantity of sill
yer coin was absorbed by it. OF the many
hundreds of pounds of silver which have
been worked into buttons and other orna-
ments, it is doubtful whether a single
pound has reached the tribe in any shape
other than coin. and all but minute per
centage in American COIN At the
present time the clothing and personal or
naments of the average Navajo, exclusive
of buttons, would hardly be appraised at
fifty cents. What has become Of all this
silver is problem; prot ably a large pro-
portion Of it, in .tha2 form of silver riding
brides, etc. is in thS hands of the traders
The Na,ajos ifa-essuffered cruelty from
the hard times yThE removal of the duty
on wool practieb lly{s destroyed half their
wealth at one fowS A sack of wool for
brings them cnH sly and they have prac-
tically nothing but kool to sell They are
bearing up well. However. and although
they have always been warriors and rob-
bers and since the American occupat ton of
the country have, nTed by their flocks and
herds. they are row making an earnest eff
fort to become farmers.
One Result of the Times,
One result of tie ha rd times has been the
rehabilitation Of the silver button. The
traders have been compelled to accept but
tons at their cohf eight or go out of bust
ness This wass' not accomplished all at
once, but gradually and through stress of
necessity. Other silver ornaments have
shrunk in value. but why they should the
Indian cannot understand.
On button values the Navajo stands firm:
he insists that the parity of coin and hut
tons shall be maintained. 1t is inconceiv-