Pawn and Dead Pawn: How Trading-Post Pawn Worked
Pawn was the trading post's credit system. A Navajo or Zuni family left jewelry with the licensed trader as collateral for goods or a loan and redeemed it when the wool, lambs or piñon nuts came in; if the loan went unpaid, the piece became “dead pawn” and the trader could sell it. [2][7][8] Most pawn went home: the Turnbaughs (2007) found that only 5% to 7% of pawned jewelry went dead in a given year. [8]
KEY POINTS
- The pawn system was in effect on the Navajo reservation at least as early as 1881. [2]
- By 1910, Navajo buyers preferred very heavy jewelry partly because it could be pawned until the next harvest. [7]
- The Bureau of Indian Affairs regulated pawn: how long it was held, the owner's consent to a sale, and the price, usually the debt on the pawn ticket plus 10 percent. [2]
- “Dead pawn” is pawned jewelry whose loan was not repaid in time. [8]
- By 1995, pawn had “left the trading posts and moved into the nearby towns.” [5]
How pawn worked at the post
The licensed trader on the reservation was grocer, dry- and ranch-goods dealer and sometimes undertaker, and most trade ran on barter: wool, blankets and rugs, sheep, piñon nuts. Pawn grew up around that seasonal economy. A family left jewelry with the trader and redeemed it when the next crop came in. [7] Bedinger dates the system to at least 1881. It covered the whole reservation and carried families through the lean months between the spring wool clip and the autumn sale of lambs and piñon nuts, and the amount of pawn rose and fell inversely with how well people were doing. [2]
Silver and turquoise suited the job. Holbrook, writing in Frank, called Southwest jewelry “an asset with a known value that could be held by a trader to secure credit.” [4] By 1910 that was part of why Navajo buyers wanted very heavy pieces, weight that could be pawned until the next harvest. [7] If the loan went unpaid, the trader in effect foreclosed and the pawn became “dead.” [8] Bruce McGee, whose family traded at Piñon and Keams Canyon, put the whole system in one line: “Pawn was the credit card of the early days.” [5]
The rules: holding, notice, redemption
The Bureau of Indian Affairs made regulations for how long an article had to be held, for the owner's consent to a sale, and for the price, which usually could be no more than the debt on the pawn ticket plus 10 percent. Customers did the rest of the enforcing: Bedinger notes that a trader who was unscrupulous about pawn soon lost them. [2]
Here is one trader's practice, as of 1997. Bruce Burnham of R. B. Burnham & Co. in Sanders, Arizona, waited six months. Then he sent a notice asking for the piece to be picked up within a month, and a certified letter two weeks later. Only then did the 2% monthly interest stop and the piece become dead pawn. [1] Even after the deadline he would let an owner redeem a piece if he still had it, and he would hold an heirloom for as long as fifteen years. About 90% of what was pawned with him was jewelry. [1]
Dead pawn was the exception. In an average year, the Turnbaughs reported, only 5% to 7% of pawned jewelry went dead, and the rest was reclaimed by its owners. A piece that did go dead was held four months more before it could be sold to dealers or the public. [8]
The post as a deposit box
Not all pawn was need. Frank, describing a saddle blanket from a Four Corners post hung with jewelry, wrote that “a trading post often became a deposit box for Indian jewelry that was pawned and ended up at the post,” and that “the trader kept on adding jewelry pieces to the blanket as he obtained them.” [4] The Turnbaughs record the same habit at a Gallup trading company with a pegboard pawn vault. Some owners would pawn several thousand dollars' worth of jewelry for a $10 loan, just so the trader would keep it safe. [8]
Pawn leaves the post
Pawn reached town early. In the early twentieth century Albuquerque's Crown Loan and Jewelry, and many other gift shops and pawnshops around the Southwest, stood near the train stations, and unredeemed pawn could be sold there. [6] In 1995 Joe Tanner of Tanner's Indian Arts in Gallup said the pawn system was still very much in effect: “It's just that it has left the trading posts and moved into the nearby towns.” [5]
For one Gallup pawnbroker's own story, see Meet Bud Adcock of Ted's Pawn. For pawn's longer history, well beyond the Southwest, see The History of Pawn. For the posts themselves, see Shops, Trading Posts & Guilds of Southwest Jewelry.
Field Notes by Mateo James
The books measure dead pawn in different ways. The Turnbaughs give a yearly average of 5% to 7% going dead, held four months before sale. Bruce Burnham told Bassman (1997) that about 10% of what he took went dead, and only after six months, a notice and a certified letter. One figure is an average; the other is one trader's practice.
Three books use the same picture for pawn kept for safekeeping. Frank (1990) calls the post “a deposit box”; the Turnbaughs (2007) describe trading posts serving as safe-deposit vaults; and Bedinger (1973, p. 113) calls the pawn rack “the Indians' safety deposit box, where they kept their heavier, less frequently worn ornaments.”
From the Library
What 8 reference books say about pawn at the trading posts, grouped by topic. Every passage names its book and page; full references are under Sources.
These are outside observers' records of the trade; the Navajo (Diné), Zuni and other nations are the authority on their own history.
How pawn worked at the post6 passages · 5 books
Jewelry as collateral, and the seasonal economy that pawn grew up around.
Holbrook, writing in Frank (1990), explained why jewelry worked as credit at the post:
“To the Southwest Indians, silver and turquoise jewelry was the finest form of personal adornment, but it also represented an asset with a known value that could be held by a trader to secure credit for dry goods, exchanged for religious and medical services, or traded for livestock.”
Frank (1990), p. 22 AS OF 1990 [4]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 45), the government-licensed traders served as grocer, dry- and ranch-goods provider and sometimes undertaker; commerce ran on barter in wool, blankets and rugs, sheep and piñon nuts, and pawn developed around those seasonal goods, with the trader holding jewelry as collateral until the next crop redeemed it. [7]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 106), by 1910 Navajo and Zuni jewelry served both as adornment and a sign of wealth and as a way to build credit with the trader, which is why Navajo buyers preferred very heavy pieces that could be pawned until the next harvest. [7]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) explain where pawn comes from:
“If someone defaulted on the loan, the trader kept the items as payment, also known as pawn.”
Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 179 AS OF 2021 [3]
According to Turnbaugh (2007, p. 37), pawned items were goods a trader held as collateral for a cash loan. If the owner did not repay within the allotted time, the trader in effect foreclosed and the pawn became "dead"; the trader then held dead pawn for four months before it could be sold to dealers or the public. [8]
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 113), citing Bourke, the pawn system was in effect at least as early as 1881. It covered the whole reservation and carried families through the lean months between the spring wool clip and the autumn sale of lambs and piñon nuts; the amount of pawn rose and fell inversely with how well people were doing. [2]
The rules: hold periods, notices, redemption4 passages · 3 books
What the Bureau of Indian Affairs required, and how one trader ran it in 1997.
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 114), the Bureau of Indian Affairs regulated pawn: how long an article had to be held, the owner's consent to a sale, and the price, which usually could be no more than the debt on the pawn ticket plus 10 percent. She added that a trader who was unscrupulous about pawn soon lost his customers. [2]
As of 1997, trader Bruce Burnham of R. B. Burnham & Co. in Sanders, Arizona, told Bassman (1997, p. 7) that after six months he sent a notice asking for a pawned piece to be picked up within a month, then a certified letter two weeks later; only then did the 2% monthly interest stop and the piece become "dead pawn" that could be sold. [1]
Bassman (1997, p. 7) recorded that Burnham would still let an owner redeem a piece after the deadline if he had it, would hold an heirloom for as long as fifteen years, and that about 90% of what was pawned with him was jewelry, of which about 10% became dead pawn. [1]
The Turnbaughs (2007) reported that most pawn went home again:
“On the average during a given year, only 5% to 7% of all pawned jewelry goes "dead"; the rest is reclaimed by its owners.”
Turnbaugh (2007), p. 37 AS OF 2007 [8]
The post as a deposit box: blankets and vaults3 passages · 2 books
Pawn kept for safekeeping, not for need.
Frank (1990, Fig. 149, p. 125), describing a saddle blanket from a Four Corners trading post with jewelry attached, explained how such a piece came about:
“A trading post often became a deposit box for Indian jewelry that was pawned and ended up at the post.”
Frank (1990), p. 125 AS OF 1990 [4]
Frank (1990, Fig. 149, p. 125) added:
“The trader kept on adding jewelry pieces to the blanket as he obtained them.”
Frank (1990), p. 125 AS OF 1990 [4]
Turnbaugh (2007, p. 39, caption) recorded that many trading posts, such as one Gallup trading company with its pegboard pawn vault, served as safe-deposit vaults: some owners would pawn several thousand dollars' worth of jewelry for a $10 loan just so the trader would keep it safe. [8]
Pawn leaves the post: town pawnshops3 passages · 2 books
From the train stations to the nearby towns.
According to Lowry (2010, p. 91), in the early twentieth century Albuquerque's Crown Loan and Jewelry and many other gift shops and pawnshops around the Southwest stood near train stations, and unredeemed pawn could be sold. [6]
Bruce McGee, whose family traded at Piñon and Keams Canyon, ended an old trader's story this way when he told it to Jacka in 1995:
“Pawn was the credit card of the early days.”
Jacka (1995), p. 31 AS OF 1995 [5]
As of 1995, Joe Tanner of Tanner's Indian Arts in Gallup told Jacka the pawn system was still very much in effect:
“It's just that it has left the trading posts and moved into the nearby towns.”
Jacka (1995), p. 31 AS OF 1995 [5]
Frequently asked questions
What is dead pawn?
Pawned jewelry whose loan was not repaid within the allotted time. The trader in effect foreclosed and the piece became “dead.” The Turnbaughs say the trader then held it four more months before it could be sold to dealers or the public.
How long did a trader hold pawn?
The Bureau of Indian Affairs set how long an article had to be held. One trader, Bruce Burnham, described his own practice in 1997: six months, then a notice, then a certified letter two weeks later before a piece went dead. He would hold an heirloom for as long as fifteen years.
How much pawn went unredeemed?
Little. The Turnbaughs (2007) put it at 5% to 7% of pawned jewelry in an average year. Burnham told Bassman in 1997 that about 10% of the jewelry pawned with him went dead.
When did the pawn system begin?
Bedinger dates it to at least 1881. It covered the whole Navajo reservation and carried families through the lean months between the spring wool clip and the autumn sale of lambs and piñon nuts.
Is pawn still practiced?
As of 1995, yes. Joe Tanner of Tanner's Indian Arts in Gallup told Jacka the pawn system was still very much in effect, but it had left the trading posts and moved into the nearby towns.
A note on accuracy. We strive for accuracy, and this page is continuously updated with new information from the artists, their families, and the community. Corrections welcome.
Sources
- Bassman, Theda. The Beauty of Navajo Jewelry. Photography by Gene Balzer. Walnut, California: Kiva Publishing, 1997. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1997.
- Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1973.
- Chambless, Philip, and Mike Ryan II. Turquoise in America, Part One: The Great American Turquoise Rush, 1890–1910. Revised first edition. Callais Press, 2021. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2021.
- Frank, Larry, with the assistance of Millard J. Holbrook II. Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1990. First published 1978 by New York Graphic Society. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1990.
- Jacka, Lois Essary. Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. Photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1995.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Turnbaugh, William A., and Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh. Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest. Foreword by Barry M. Goldwater. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007 (copyright 1996 and 2007; first published 1988). ISBN 0-7643-2577-9. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2007.