40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



if the level of living of this reservation population is to be maintained, 

 it must either send an increasing proportion of its people to permanent 

 off-reservation residences, or it must derive an increasing proportion 

 of its income from nontraditional means of livelihood (Boyce, 

 1942, Preface). 



A second noteworthy feature in table 5 is the evident reversal of the 

 trend toward reduced livestock holdings. In the original Soil Conser- 

 vation Survey, the carrying capacity of all the grazing lands on the 

 ]-eservation was estimated at 512,922 mature sheep units.*'^ Assuming 

 that this capacity remains constant for the period in question, we find 

 that the livestock holdings of the Navaho declined from about 137 

 percent of capacity in 1936 to about 90 percent of capacity in 1950. 

 These holdings increased until 1955 when they stood at 97 percent of 

 the carrying capacity of the reservation lands.'" It is evident that 

 further increases in these holdings would have a deleterious effect on 

 the quality of the stock. 



The third point to be noted in table 5 relates also to livestock hold- 

 ings — the evident unwillingness of the Navaho to seriously reduce 

 their herds of horses, despite the obvious economic disutility of these 

 animals. The proportion of grazing land devoted to horses has, in 

 fact, increased slightly between 1940 and 1955 ; from about 25 percent 

 to about 27 percent.'^^ Thus, the horses of the Navaho continue to 

 exert an important drain on their livestock economy at the present 

 time. 



One final observation should be made regarding the data in table 5. 

 Inspection of the figures on gross and commercial income reveals a 

 significant increase in the proportion of income derived from wages 

 and other nonagricultural activities since 1936. In that year wages 

 and other nonagricultural pursuits accounted for 48 percent of the 

 gross income of the Navaho. In 1950, the corresponding proportion 

 had risen to at least 67 percent.''^ -phe tentative income estimates for 

 1955 suggest a further increase in this proportion, to about 85 percent. 

 This clearly indicates that the efforts to reduce the dependence of 

 Navahos on their traditional herding and farming occupations have 

 attained a measure of success since World War II. 



Since the end of the Second World War, a second program of 

 economic rehabilitation has been undertaken on the Hopi and Navajo 



«» Young, 1955, p. 191. The original estimate of the carrying capacity of the respective 

 land management units is given in Soil Conservation Service, 1936, table 1. 



'" Young, 1955, p. 192. Although some Navahos are renting off-reservation grazing lands 

 for their sheep and cattle, this probably does not add greatly to the total carrying 

 capacity of lands available to the Navahos. 



" This is calculated on the basis of the customary assumption that one horse consumes 

 five times as much forage as one sheep. 



" This shift in economic activities may account in part for the rise in the number of 

 horses among the Navaho, since it permits Navahos to enjoy the possession of horses 

 while earning a livelihood in nonagricultural pursuits. 



