Johnston] NAVAHO POPULATION 15 



Indian agencies for that year, together with further estimates of the 

 Indian population residing outside the several jurisdictions. 



In the case of the Navajo Agency, population estimates are com- 

 monly derived from the "census office roll" which is maintained at the 

 headquarters of the Navajo Agency at Window Rock, Ariz.^^ The 

 basic roll in current use was compiled by means of a special enumera- 

 tion conducted by agency officials in 1928-29. At the time, separate 

 rolls were prepared by each subagency. Since 1929, individual Nava- 

 hos have been registered on this roll by means of two main procedures. 

 First, if the birth of an infant is registered at any hospital or other 

 facility on or off the reservation, and its parents are identified as 

 Navahos, a copy of the birth certificate is sent to the Navajo Agency 

 at Window Rock, where it is duly recorded on its roll.^^ Secondly, 

 individual Navahos can voluntarily register themselves at the census 

 office and establish the necessary identification.^* Considerable effort 

 has been expended in recent years to inform all Navahoes of the im- 

 portance of this register, but it remains an open question as to how 

 many of the more isolated Navaho families have not yet appeared 

 thereon, despite the publicity and the special enumerations that have 

 been carried out in the past to bring existing rolls up to date.^^ 



As presently constituted, therefore, the Navajo Agency census office 

 roll is a listing of all persons who have ever been recorded as Navahos 

 since the roll was established in 1928-29, either through their certifica- 

 tion of birth, voluntary registration at the census office, or through 

 periodic limited surveys conducted on the reservation since 1929, minus 

 persons whose deaths have been reported since their original 

 enrollment. 



The population data obtained from this roll are subject to five major 

 limitations: First, the registration of births and deaths, while sub- 

 stantially improved in recent years, is by no means complete. Second, 

 some of the most isolated or least "acculturated" Navahos may still be 



"Keferences to the Navajo Agency "census office" roll should not be confused with 

 references to the decennial censuses conducted by the Bureau of the Census. The former 

 is the designation given to the roll maintained by officials of the Navajo Agency and 

 tribe at Window Rock, Ariz. 



^ The same procedure obtains in the case of the death of a Navaho. 



^* Increasing numbers of Navahos are recognizing the importance of having themselves 

 and their children duly registered at the census office. During the summer months of 

 1957, I observed a continuous and heavy traffic of Navaho families through the census 

 office at Window Rock, most of whom were apparently registering themselves or their 

 children for the first time. 



'^ The present Navajo Agency census office roll was originally prepared in 1939 on the 

 basis of existing subagency rolls. These subagency rolls had been established originally 

 at the headquarters of the several Navajo Jurisdictions in 1928-29. At the time, ex- 

 tensive enumerations were carried out for the purpose of setting up these rolls. Sup- 

 plementary censuses were conducted in 1933, 1936, and 1939, bringing the rolls up to date 

 each time. Since 1939, no supplementary enumeration has been attempted. However, 

 the roll has been greatly improved in recent years through the efforts of the agency staff 

 and the general improvements in birth and death registration on the reservation. (From 

 discussion with Wilbur Morgan of the census office and the late J. Nixon Hadley, of the 

 Department of Health, Education and Welfare.) 



