Trade Token - Navajo – Howard Wilson Trader - 25 cents

Description

This is a 25-cent Navajo trade token.
Howard Wilson was a well-known Indian Trader from Gallup, NM for 54 years.  He was respected by Navajos and Anglos alike.  Born in Gallup, he spent his entire life in the area.  He had several trading posts including Wildcat Trading north of Gallup and Indian Village Store in Churchrock, eight miles east of Gallup.  He also served as president of the United Indian Traders Association and served on the Intertribal Indian Ceremonial Association for nearly 30 years.  Simultaneously with his trading, he worked for the Railroad Retirement Board and recruited Navajo workers for the Santa Fe Railroad and processed benefits for the workers.  The office was in Gallup.  For years, Howard was a key figure in recruiting Navajo actors and extras for the film industry.  He was always a champion for the Navajos.   He was also a two-term sheriff and then succeeded by his brother Bobcat.   When I was in high school in the 50s, I delivered Coca-Cola to his store in Churchrock.   He and my dad were good friends and I always enjoyed their stories and banters about the trading business.  Both were excellent and popular traders.
Navajo trade tokens were a form of historically significant currency created for the Navajo by traders.
Until traders settled in the late 1800s, there was no credit among the Navajo because they had no money or access to commercial activity such as stores.
Barter was the sole means of economic exchange.
Generally, little attention was given to business in Navajo country because the area was remote with a relatively sparse population.
The Navajos lived in family units, not villages, so there were no concentrations of population.
The Navajos had no central governing structure and therefore did not represent a significant voting bloc to wield any constituent leverage
They were wards of the federal government.
Traders were allowed to extend credit in anticipation of seasonal business such as lambs and wool in the spring, a rug on the loom or other potential business activity, usually with livestock.
Traders were the first to recognize Navajos as a potential commercial market.
They had to be licensed by the government, initially through the agency at Ft. Defiance.
Ironically, the traders chose to move their families to the remote areas of the vast Navajo reservation (size of West Virginia) and live among people that spoke no English and had no money.
By early 1900 there were fewer than twenty trading posts for the Navajos.
By 1950 the number grew to two hundred fifty and the population from ~90,000 to ~300,000.
Logically, traders did not abuse the situation because they needed to co-exist with the Navajos for their survival.
Everyone, Navajos, and traders alike, was interdependent.
The traders bartered for livestock, wool, hides, jewelry, and rugs.
In turn the traders then bartered those goods with their wholesale supply houses for essential trade goods such as groceries, hardware, soft goods, etc.
Often time’s people came to a trading post to trade and did not fully consummate a trade.
Traders maintained separate counter pads for each family and recorded all transactions with ongoing balances.
Not understanding credit, the people were leery of credit slips or ledger entries, if for no other reason than their inability to comprehend English; either spoken or written.
The Navajos had been introduced to trade tokens while in exile following their tragic trek to the Bosque Redondo in New Mexico.
The government provided tokens as currency for the commissary. Traders had to devise a means of acknowledging transactions, especially if a credit balance was involved.
They came up with trade tokens, which were already commonplace in American commerce and familiar to the Navajo people. If a credit balance existed at the end of a transaction, traders would issue trade tokens which could be redeemed the same as money.
A transaction could be recorded upon issuance of a token or redemption of a token.
Policies varied throughout the reservation.
The tokens were the same denomination as coins; however, they were made from tin or pot metal rather than silver.
The tokens could be redeemed at the trading post for merchandise at any time.
For the customer, the token represented physical proof of value.
For the trader, it was a means of securing customer confidence and loyalty.
Tokens were specific to a trading post.
There was no “Navajo” economy; rather trading post economy.
Each trading post had a micro economy of its own. If a trader had several posts, tokens could be provided with the trader’s name rather than specific trading post and thus interchangeable.
When a token was redeemed, the traders had various methods of invalidating the token, usually by punching a hole or stamping it.
Most common denominations were 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, and .
In early days, most transactions did not exceed or .
Trade tokens were in greatest circulation from the 1920s to the 1950s before being forbidden by the government.
The justification for the ban was economic imprisonment of Navajo people to specific trading posts that might restrict opportunities to do business elsewhere.
What was acceptable for business between the Navajos and the government in 1863 was no longer tolerable between the Navajos and traders
Trade tokens were the initial assault by the government to restrict credit transactions for the Navajos.
By the late 50s, tokens were no longer in circulation after having a significant role in the Navajo economy.
Some traders then formed regional groups to address the token issue.
These groups generally included families or close friends with approximate store locations.
The Burnhams had three stores: Chief Trading in Farmington (uncle), Bisti Trading (grandfather), and Burnham Trading (father of Bruce Burnham).
The Blair brothers (Elijah and Brad) had several stores including Kayenta Trading and Dinnehotso Trading. Russell Foutz reportedly did the same with his stores in Shiprock and Teec Nos Pos.
The Kennedy brothers (Earl – Luchachukai Trading, Troy – Red Rock Trading, and Walter at Dennehotso Trading were a group.
It is likely that the Babbitt stores coalesced as well because they had more stores than any group or family.
The groups initiated the use of trade coupons to replace the banned tokens.
The coupons were color coded to indicate amount: red and green and could be redeemed at any of the group stores.
The coupons were lasted for a short time because the government closed in as they had done with tokens.
Pawn and trading would soon come under similar assault and elimination.
Eventually, by the 1970s, off-reservation transactions had no standing on the reservation.
That meant if an auto dealer in Gallup financed a truck for a Navajo family on the reservation, the DNA forced to government to forbid any debt collection or repossession on the reservation.
The Navajo reservation economy became a cash economy and Navajos had severely restricted access to credit both on and off their reservation.
The economic reversal assisted in eliminating trading posts.
After one hundred years, there are again approximately twenty trading posts on the Navajo reservation.
Most have been replaced with cash-and-carry convenience store operations.
By the 50s, trade tokens were no longer in circulation to any great extent.
A few stores continued to honor them despite the ban, but by the end of the decade there were no more.