The Coconino sun., 1925-10-09
Primitive ParUnbrokng, in Nauojo Land
BY ROGER WILLIAMS BIRDSEYE of Flagstaff the New York
Sunday Herald Tribune


es the most extraordinary system of
pawnbrol1ings to be found in the coun-
try.
Fundamentally this phase of the
trading business is little different
from the cold-blooded transactions OF
the calculating city shylocks, but the
similarity, happily, ends right there
The traders themselves, their environ
ment and their Indian customers have
nothing in common with that other
furtive. anxious side of city life. The
transactions are open, picturesque and
primitive The business, unofficial
and practically unregulated, is gov
erned only by the rough frontier code
born of time and practice. The book
keeping, if sany, is elemental. Little
cash changes hands, no pawn tickets
or receipts are asked or given; no
precise interest is charged, and it may
be weeks, months or a year before the
trader himself can figure out of which
end of the horn he is coming.
To lay the prevalence of the system
to the traders desire~to keep the Ma
Ivaios in debt to- them is unjust. The
uncertainty and patience involved are
prodigious, the tying-up of capital
serious matter. Many trader would
be glad never to see a Navajo pawn
The answer lies with the Indians
themselves.
The Navajos, as race, hold them
selves proudly aloof. They are self
supporting and little affected by con-
tact with the white man. They know
nothing of his banking, check books
and interest charges. To many, 50 in
honest, bitable silver is still prefer
able to strange piece Of paper called
"a $40 bill Their main wealth lies in
innumerable sheep and horses, goats
and a few cattle. Consequently they
live like desert nomads. Time and dis
tance mean nothing to them. They
come and go with the black marie of
the desert Indian. They turn to the
trader as a market for their wool,
hides, lambs and blankets, and take
from him those necessities and little
luxuries that under existing conditions
he alone can supply. Cash burns their
fingers until spent, and even the
wealthy are seldom burdened with it.
Herein lies the crux of the whole
situation. The Navajo may lounge for
two silent hours making up his mind,
but once it is made up he distinctly
wants what he wants when he wants
it. If he has cash or commodities to
trade, we'll and good; if he has
neither, he expects to be served just
the same. The trader can't afford to
trust him outright or, because his good
will is all important, to turn him
away. The only alternative is to fig
ure the bill, add few cents to the
total for the interest charge that life
is too short to explain, and then let his
Navajo client pawn some piece of per-
sonal property for the whole, to be
redeemed at some later and more con-
venient date. 1t is hit or miss at
best, for not once in so times can the
trader tell exactly when he will get
his money back. 1t may be tomorrow
or year from tomorrow.
What are these quaint Indian
pledges? Since the days Of the Span
ish padres the Navajos have been ex-
pert silyersmiths. Vast quantities of
raw silver and Mexican and Aneri-
can coinage have been worked labor
iously into heavy belts of finely de-
signed plaques, bracelets, broad wrist
lets, necklaces, rings, buttons and or
naments for saddles and brides. Much
of this work is set with turquoise,
found in all stages of perfection in
southern Arizona and New Mexico.
In the past countless strings of fine
white she'll beads were brought down
from the far north or traded from the
coastal Indians, and these have passed
from hand to hand down the genera
tions, strung and restrung with tur-
quoise, coral and other stones.
The aggregate of all these charac-
teristic articles of intrinsic and senti-
mental value among the Navajo is be-
yond computation No Navajo who
possesses anything of the kind-and
not one in fifty, apparently, but is so
endowed-need suffer actual want He
can pawn it for his needs with prac
tically any trader within a hundred
miles-and does so time after time
with no more thought than we would
give signing a check How large and
accepted a part these things play in
the curious business of the Indian
trader can we'll be illustrated from an
inventory of the Navajo pawns in 4
single small trading post on the ex-
treme western fringe Of the Navajo
country.
Tucked under the counter at this
little sand-whipped post, hung on
nails and stacked in cluttered corner
were 81 Indian pledges. The adj
vances against them ranged from so.
cents, secured by two fluted, conical
silver buttons, to $65, covered by a
four-strand turquoise pendant of
splendid color. There were II neck
laces in all; the majority were of an
cient shell beads and turquoise, but
there was one of silver squash BIOS
SONS and three, one of eight strands,
of coral.
In the collection were rings, brace