Johnston] 



NAVAHO POPULATION 13 



ules.^^ Thirdly, the above definition has been found to be inadequate 

 in the off-reservation areas, where the problem of identifying Indians 

 as such is most difficult and the judgment of the enumerator and/or 

 of the community is most likely to be in error. 



The latter limitation appears to have been overcome by means of 

 an important procedural innovation introduced for the first time in 

 the 1960 decennial census. Just prior to April 1, 1960, the Post Office 

 Department distributed a brief questionnaire called an Advance Cen- 

 sus Keport to all occupied housing units throughout the country. The 

 population items included in this questionnaire covered name, relation- 

 ship to head of household, age, sex, color or race, and marital status. 

 In consequence of this procedure, respondents were given an oppor- 

 tunity to classify themselves as to race, prior to the enumerator's visit. 

 When and if the respondent received and filled -out this form, he merely 

 gave it to the enumerator, who was then instructed to transcribe the 

 information from the Advance Census Report onto a FOSDIC 

 schedule which was designed for use with electronic data-processing 

 equipment (Bureau of the Census, 1963 c, p. 61) .^° 



The enumeration of Indians, especially in off-reservation areas, ap- 

 pears to have been substantially improved by this procedure. How- 

 ever, it is unlikely that the count of Indians on or near reservations 

 was materially affected. Among the Navaho in particular, where con- 

 ventional "addresses" are unknown and the local trading post remains 

 the major point of contact with the outside world, self -enumeration 

 procedures would appear to be highly impracticable.^^ 



Finally, it should be noted that the enumeration procedures em- 

 ployed by the Bureau of the Census cannot be expected to produce 



w Bureau of the Census, 1963 a, p. vi. Extensive information on Indians according to 

 their tribal affiliation was obtained only in the special enumerations of Indians con- 

 ducted by the Bureau in 1S90, 1910, and 1930. The data published for specific Indian 

 agencies from the enumerations of 1940 and 1950 are obtained from estimates of the 

 population of specific tribes. These estimates are based on the proportional distribution 

 of Indians from different tribes residing in the various counties reporting an Indian 

 population in 1930. These estimates also depend upon the figures of the Bureau of Indian 

 Affairs, giving the numbers of Indians enrolled in each tribe according to their county 

 of residence. 



'^ The basic procedure was quite straightforward. The enumerator i-ecorded the infor- 

 mation for each respondent onto the census schedule by filling in the appropriate blank 

 circles with an ordinary lead pencil. All of the basic census items (i.e., those asked of 

 the entire population) were recorded in this manner. Where the item in question could 

 not be coded by the enumerator (as, for example, country of birth), he wrote the appro- 

 priate responses on the schedule. These were then coded by hand at the central proc- 

 essing facility in Jeffersonville, Ind. After all items had been coded on the original 

 schedules (when all the information had been expressed by means of different combi- 

 nations of filled circles), the schedules were microfilmed. The microfilm was then shipped 

 to Washington for processing through a "FOSDIC" machine (Film Optical Sensing De- 

 vice for Input to Computers). By means of this instrument, the darkened circles appear- 

 ing on the microfilm were transcribed onto magnetic tape which could then be run through 

 the computers for tabulation. 



211 was privileged to serve briefly as a "participant-observer" of the 1960 enumeration 

 on the Navajo Reservation. I found no sign of the Advance Census Report in the localities 

 visited, and the several enumerators I accompanied did not attempt to collect such forms. 



