Johnston] NAVAHO POPULATION 35 



to about 120,000 head, which of course seriously reduced the amount of 

 grazing land available for the sheep."- 



Tlie first summary of economic conditions among the Navaho was 

 provided by Special Agent D. L. Shipley, pursuant to the provisions 

 of the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. This census 

 included the first special enumeration of Indians carried out in this 

 country. A total of 17,204 Navahos were enumerated at this time, of 

 whom 16,102 were reported by Agent Shipley to be residing under his 

 jurisdiction. The economic data shown in table 1 are selected from 

 Shipley's summary report (MS., 1891) and pertain to the popula- 

 tion under his jurisdiction only. 



Table 1. — Selected economic characteristics, Navaho tribe— 1S91 ^ 



Total agency population 16, 102 



Acres of land on reservation 8,000,000 



Acres fit only for grazing 4, 000, 000 



Acres of tillable land (with irrigation) 400,000 



Acres cultivated during the year (approximate) 5,000 



Total value of produce raised by the Indians $36, 336. 00 



Value of stock owned and used by the tribe : 



Horses (118,798) $1, 187, 980. 00 



Mules (500) $5, 000. 00 



Cattle (9,188) $151, 820. 00 



Sheep (1,583,754) $1, 979, 692. 00 



Total value of stock $3,324,492.00 



Per capita value of stock $206.46 



1 Shipley, MS. 



The annual reports for the succeeding years provide little additional 

 information on the economic status of the Navaho until 1910, when the 

 Bureau of the Census carried out its second special enumeration of 

 Indians in the United States. At this time, a total of 22,455 Navaho 

 were reported.^^ The enumerators also obtained information on the 

 occupational distribution of adult Indians, and their findings in regard 

 to the Navaho tribe are summarized in table 2. 



It is interesting to note that the Navaho ranked eighth among the 

 44 tribes for whom occupational data were obtained, in the proportion 

 of males aged 10 years and over engaged in gainful occupations. But 

 in the proportion of females so engaged, the Navahos ranked first, and 

 were the only tribe reporting over half of its female population aged 

 10 years and over as engaged in gainful occupations. The importance 



"2 Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1889, p. 522. This report estimated the number of horses 

 owned by the Navaho at about 250,000, but the more detailed report of 1891 suggests 

 that this was an overestimate. 



^ Both this figure and that of the 1890 census were later criticized as faulty. See 

 pp. 103 S. for further discussion of this point. 



