Bartering Pahos with the President

• Published in: Ethnohistory Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 359 - 414
• Main Author: Whiteley, Peter M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Durham, NC Duke University Press 01.04.2004; Duke University Press, NC & IL
• Subjects: America; Anthropology; Barter; Culture; Diplomacy; Diplomatic & consular services; Diplomatic relations; Economics; Ethnohistory; Ethnology; Exchange (Economics); Exchange circuits, markets, money; Fillmore, Millard; Fillmore, Millard (1800-74); Gift; Gift giving; Heads of state; History; Hopi; Hopis; Latin American History; Morphological source materials; Native and Indigenous Studies; North America; Politics; Presidents; Religion; Social action; Social anthropology; Society; Sources and methods; Specific concepts; U.S.A; Uto-Aztecan languages; Century 19; North America; United States of America; Amerindian; Gift; Mauss (M.); Hopi; Barter; Theory; Anthropology; Offering
• ISSN: 0014-1801; 1527-5477
• DOI: 10.1215/00141801-51-2-359

In 1852, before they had received any visits from U.S. officials, the Hopi sent a diplomatic gift, composed of prayer-sticks, to President Millard Fillmore in Washington, . This article addresses both the cultural content and the social intent of this "gift," focusing on historical circumstances and ethnographic import. In seeking to transact with the president, the Hopi intent discloses a formal nexus among diplomacy,barter, and religious offerings. Anthropology's tendency to separate social action into discrete fields-economics, politics, and religion-obscures a congruence that this transaction illuminates. The"spirit of the barter" suggests a new resonance for Marcel Mauss's important observations on gift-exchange.