Navajo Administrative History

The gift and craft shop authorized under the Memorandum of Agreement involved a different kind of relationship. Again the shop was independent of the park, although it was physically attached to the Visitor Center. The gift and craft shop was designed to expose visitors to Navajo crafts, increasing their visibility and showing Navajo craft work to the public. The Navajo Guild initially operated the shop, opening for business in April 1966 under its first manager, Ben Gilmore. When the travel season ended in October, the shop had grossed more than $13,000. Generally the shop was open for visitors, although closures usually happened on the weekends, when traffic was at a peak. The guild had a brief tenure at the monument. As a result of an administrative problem with the Tribal Council in Window Rock, the guild folded, and the shop became a private enterprise. Throughout the 1970s, Fannie Etcitty managed the shop, which by all accounts functioned well. In 1978, Superintendent Hastings complimented Etcitty on her operation, remarking that the "shop is always clean, your sales people do an excellent job, and the merchandise is of the best quality." Under Etcitty's management, the shop had become an asset for Navajos, park visitors, and the Park Service. It seemed a model of successful cooperation. [35]

A locally inspired powerplay forced a change in management. In 1980, Elsie Salt, a woman from the Shonto vicinity, acquired a lease from the Navajo Arts and Crafts Association to run the shop. Fannie Etcitty also had an agreement. Art White, by then general superintendent of the Navajo Lands Group, needed to know who was authorized to operate the store. On May 14, 1980, the Advisory Council of the Navajo Tribal Council granted Elsie Salt permission to run the store. She had been selected over Etcitty because she was from the Shonto area. Feeling wronged, Etcitty had to be threatened with eviction by the Tribal Council before she would leave her store. [36]

Under Salt, relations were sometimes strained between the park and the craft shop. NPS officials were less than impressed with her operation. One management team that reviewed the park regarded the entire craft shop operation as "highly unusual." Intermittent tension ensued, sometimes involving personality conflicts. [37]

More troublesome was a pattern of irresponsibility of which superintendents took notice. The store functioned on its own schedule, opening erratically and frequently closing after an hour or two. In 1988, Salt lacked a valid lease, the necessary insurance, and an adequate plan of operation to secure a permit from the Kayenta Regional Business Office for Accelerated Navajo Development. In the summer of 1988, the Tribal Council was not anxious to renew her lease. Salt was enrolled in the Kayenta Chapter, but technically the shop was in the domain of the Shonto Chapter. She needed approval of the Shonto Chapter to run the shop, but a number of its members wanted their chance at the operation. The Park Service also felt the need for greater control over the shop. Clarence Gorman believed that the circumstances were far too favorable toward Salt. "With Elsie having no lease, not paying rent, and operating out of a space in the Visitor Center," he told Regional Director John Cook on September 9, 1988, "I would say she has it made." [38]

While the Park Service sought to determine a strategy to resolve the problems with the gift shop, tragedy struck. In a one-car accident on May 31, 1990, Elsie Salt died. For the 1991 season, her sister, Sally Martinez was selected to manage the store. After renaming the shop "Ledge House Ruin Crafts," Martinez prepared to open for the 1991 season.

Like the horse trips, the gift shop had a cultural meaning that far exceeded the obvious. The direct interaction with Indians appealed to the traveling public in an overwhelming way. The gift shop allowed visitors to participate in the past in a way that purchasing books and other educational materials from the SPMA display in the visitor center did not.

The activities of the Austin family highlighted the differences between the two different kinds of economic relationships Navajos had with the park. The Austins had strictly economic motives, but nearly complete control over their interaction with the Park Service. Those who worked for the Park Service were mostly bound to its rules, regulations, and expectations. One group had greater autonomy; the other, greater security. Despite the potential for envy and conflict between the two groups, no evidence of rivalry appeared.

Relations with the pack trip operation and the gift shop revealed the give-and-take relationship between the park and the Navajo Nation following the Memorandum of Agreement. The agreement gave the Navajo a new hold on the park. The lease of the land through a semi-permanent interim agreement afforded Navajos a greater measure of control over their activities within the park than was previously available. What resulted was a series of compromises that eroded the measure of control that the Park Service previously enjoyed, but conversely was absolutely necessary to conduct the affairs of the monument. The greater the participation and sense of entitlement and belonging of the Navajo people, the harder it became to run Navajo National Monument like the rest of the system. The monument had always been unique, and the Memorandum of Agreement reinforced that perception. The agreement gave the Navajo certain rights and privileges that were not always within the bounds of ordinary NPS policy. The interdependence of the area further affirmed the need for a compromise-oriented agency posture.