BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bull. 197 



Map 1. — The Navajo Reservation in relation to surrounding States. (After 



Underbill, 1956, p. 148.) 



crude approximation. Thus, the Navaho may be said to typify the 

 populations of the underdeveloped regions of the world, both in their 

 persistently high fertility and in the limited nature of the information 

 pertaining thereto. 



THE RESEARCH PROBLEM 



The present study is a comparative investigation of two major 

 sources of information on the population of the Navaho : notably, the 

 records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the enumerations of the 

 Bureau of the Census. In this analysis, selected demographic data 

 on the Navaho from a number of additional sources are also con- 

 sidered for the light they throw upon the primary sources under in- 

 vestigation. The major purpose of this inquiry is to describe the 

 pertinent records of these two major sources and the procedures 

 whereby their data are obtained, so as to evaluate their reliability and 

 indicate some of the limitations contained therein. 



