12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



inability to speak English. Other possible criteria might be partici- 

 pation in exclusively traditional activities, or primary dependence 

 upon traditional means of livelihood. As in the case of the "ad- 

 ministrative" population, several "cultural" populations might be 

 distinguished, reflecting different degrees of involvement with tradi- 

 tional Navaho culture. Estimates of this population would be use- 

 ful in providing some measure of the progress of acculturation among 

 the Navaho as a whole. 



To summarize, it is possible to distinguish three "theoretical" popu- 

 lations whose estimation would be useful for scientific or administra- 

 tive purposes. The largest of these is the de jure population, 

 comprising all persons who are legally classifiable as Navaho. The 

 second is the "administrative" population, comprising all persons 

 who are on record as utilizing specified Navaho administrative serv- 

 ices or otherwise participating in Navaho affairs as Navahos. Final- 

 ly, there is the "core" population of "cultural" Navahos, comprising 

 those persons who still manifest a primary involvement with tradi- 

 tional Navaho culture. 



The remaining problem to be considered in this chapter is the 

 correspondence between these three theoretical populations and the 

 three observed populations represented in the data obtained by the 

 Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.^'^ 



The Indian population which is enumerated in the decennial cen- 

 suses conducted by the Bureau of the Census can best be described 

 by quoting the Bureau's own definition of the category "American 

 Indian" : " 



American Indian. — In addition to fullblooded American Indians, persons of 

 mixed wliite and Indian blood are included in this category if they are enrolled 

 on an Indian tribal or agency roll or if they are regarded as Indians in their 

 community. A common requirement for such enrollment at present is that the 

 proportion of Indian blood should be at least one-fourth. 



The first point to be noted is that this definition combines the 

 biological and the cultural criteria of race. The basic criterion is 

 presumably biological (or, more precisely, genealogical), but "doubt- 

 ful" cases are referred to the judgment of the enumerator or to the 

 attitude prevailing in a given community. Secondly, it should be 

 observed that population figures for specific tribes can only be ap- 

 proximated from the data of the Bureau, since no question 

 on tribal affiliation is ordinarily included on the regular census sched- 



" The data from these and other sources are analyzed and compared on pp. 66-127. 



18 Bureau of the Census. 1903 c, p. x. In censuses prior to 1960, the above definition 

 was supplemented by the following important qualification : "The information on race is 

 ordinarily not based on a reply to questions aslied by the enumerator but rather is ob- 

 tained by observation." See, for example. Bureau of the Census, 1953 a, p. 4. 



