NOTE: The first part of the interview was conducted during an automobile and walking tour of a Navajo cemetery. Sections of the interview have no speech, some conversation is drowned out by ambient noise, and there is some incidental conversation. In addition to Maher and Moon, we hear the voice of Moon’s wife, Doris. During the trip to the cemetery, they talk about Navajo burial locations and practices; Maher mentions the Navajos tendency to be cruel to each other; they discuss the cars Goulding’s uses to take out tours; comment on the airport and runway as they drive past; and Maher explains that the Navajo cemetery is fairly new, they used to bury the Navajo right where they died, there some debate over whether it was started by Harry or the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Once they arrive at the cemetery, they walk around looking at the names and dates on headstones; talk about some of the families of people who are buried there; Maher tells a story about coming to bury a Navajo and discovering he was still alive; and tells a story about “the most sacred burial I ever went to.” On the drive back, they talk about Navajos asking for assistance with burials; Maher points out a few camps where locals live; and talk about an employee named Jack Cly who doesn’t want to take white people out on tours anymore.

After the drive, Moon asks for details/clarification about a story Maher told in earlier interview; Maher also talks about how the Navajos will abandon their houses or hogans if someone dies in them and their efforts to avoid that; tells a story about a hogan that was hit by lightning while he was giving a tour; talks about Navajo fear of lightning and other superstitions; discusses Navajo witchcraft and describes a doll that is sometimes used for witchcraft; talks about how witchcraft was used in the Navajo community; talks about the Navajo police force; discusses the problems that the Navajo have with alcohol; discusses the Navajo love of coffee; tells a story about Mike Goulding getting a cabinet by saving up Arbuckle coffee coupons; talks about Navajo shopping habits

He describes, in general terms, the trading posts he’s worked at over the years; talks about Navajo creating words for things introduced by the white man; talks about the kinds of goods the trading posts carried in the early days; and explains how the stores modernized when the new roads were built. Maher also talks about the Navajo and their relationship to the trading posts; discusses the modesty of Navajo women in everyday life, but less so during ceremonies, speaks about methods for trading with the Navajo, including credit and pawn; and describes a type of trader from the early days who traveled all around the valley traded with the Navajo and with the traders who had posts.

He talks about the stock business in the valley, particularly the Navajo cycle of trade with wool season, lamb season, and stock running; discusses cattle raising in the valley; recalls epidemics of sheep scab and the dipping process; and describes the improvements in the quality of the Navajo’s stock over time.

Maher discusses his relationships with the Navajo who came regularly into a store, saying that his biggest pleasure was getting to know his customers, learning about them and their families and their lives; he talks about Navajo manner of trading, and strategies they employ, describes family dynamics, particularly with regard to women retaining ownership of their property after marriage; talks about two Navajo boys, Sam and Roy, and how they reflect two different sides of Navajo life on the reservation; and comments on Navajo/white race relations.

Maher concludes the interview by relating how he got into the tour business: telling stories about how he came to have a 25 year tour permit from the Navajo tribe and stories about tours he’s given; and talks about guests staying at the lodges at Goulding’s, Wetherill’s, and Rainbow Lodge.