AN ANALYSIS OF SOURCES OF INFORMATION 

 ON THE POPULATION OF THE NAVAHO ' 



By Denis Foster Johnston 



INTKODUCTION 



The Navaho ^ constitute the largest Indian tribe in the United 

 States today, numbering over 80,000 persons or roughly one-fifth of 

 the Indian population of the country. They occupy a reservation 

 area of about 24,000 square miles, extending over northeastern 

 Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and parts of southern Utah 

 (map 1). In addition, many Navahos are living on adjacent lands, 

 particularly lands to the east and south of the reservation boundaries. 



According to most indices of acculturation (such as measures of 

 literacy, degree of social involvement with Whites, etc.) the Navaho 

 have remained one of the least acculturated groups in the United 

 States until the recent past.^ In their adherence to traditional folk- 

 ways and modes of livelihood, they still manifest many of the values 

 common to preliterate, preindustrial peoples in other parts of the 

 world. One of the most significant manifestations of these traditional 

 values is a high rate of fertility. The fertility of the Navaho, com- 

 bined with reduced mortality, has caused them to experience a large 

 increase in numbers during the past 90 years. Despite the extensive 

 anthropological studies of the culture of the Navaho, the dynamics 

 of their population growth has remained a matter of speculation or 



1 Submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of The American University In partial 

 fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy in sociology, 



- In this study, the Anglicized spelling "Navaho" is used in preference to the Spanish 

 spelling, "Navajo," except where reference is made to titles of organizations, geographic 

 names, etc. vphich specifically use the Spanish spelling. Many authorities (including 

 Kluckhohn, Spencer, Reichard, and the Bureau of American Ethnology) have sought to 

 standardize the Anglicized spelling, while others (such as Underhill, Young, and the of- 

 ficials of the Window Rock administrative ofBces) appear to prefer the Spanish spelling. 

 The earliest authoritative source on this subject advocated usage of the Anglicized 

 spelling as more easily pronounced, while acknowledging the Spanish spelling as "the 

 older and more correct form" (Franciscan Fathers, 1910, p. 26). 



» Gilbert, 1953, tables v, vi, and vii, pp. 159 ff. In this study, the lack of acculturation 

 of a number of Indian tribes was estimated by means of the following indices : Proportion 

 of f uUblooded Indians In the tribe ; proportion of tribe unable to speak English ; propor- 

 tion unable to read and write English ; and proportion of those of school age not enrolled 

 in school. On the basis of these combined indices, the Navaho were found to be the least 

 acculturated Indian tribe both in 1910 and in 1930, and to be the most "resistant" to 

 acculturation In the intervening period. The reader should note that the first of these 

 indices reflects amalgamation rather than acculturation. 



