68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



lation and its general characteristics. The figures reported at this 

 time were perforce arrived at without benefit of any systematic cover- 

 age of or familiarity with the land area occupied by the Navaho. 



The second period covers the brief but significant interval of 

 Navaho captivity, 1865 to 1868. At this time, a probable majority 

 of the Navaho tribe was transferred under military escort to a re- 

 served area loiown as Bosque Kedondo or Fort Sumner, some 300 miles 

 from their homeland. At Fort Sumner, periodic and relatively ac- 

 curate enumerations of the Indians were carried out by the military 

 officials in charge. 



The third period, 1869 to 1885, encompasses the gradual resettle- 

 ment of the Navaho upon their former lands, and their recovery from 

 the dislocation engendered by their military defeat. An important 

 feature of this period is the gradual scattering of the Navaho over 

 their former land area. This meant that the population estimates of 

 this time, derived from enumerations carried out at the agency head- 

 quarters at Fort Defiance, are progressively inadequate as indicators 

 of the size of the Navaho population as a whole. 



The fourth period, 1886 to 1909, is marked by the development of 

 the first Navaho tribal rolls. These were designed to provide the 

 administrative officials with a listing of all Navahos whose usual 

 residence was in the area under their jurisdiction. In practice, how- 

 ever, the initial listings were neither complete nor accurate ; no satis- 

 factory definition of "usual residence" could be applied under the 

 conditions prevailing in Navaho country, and an increasing number 

 of Navahos did not fall under any of the jurisdictions of the reserva- 

 tion-proper. The resultant population estimates therefore varied 

 widely from the totals appearing on the several rolls. 



The fifth and final period, 1910 to the present, is characterized by 

 the development of improved procedures for collecting and recording 

 statistical data on the population of the Navaho, culminating in the 

 preparation of the most recent tribal rolls in 1928-29. The 1929 rolls, 

 revised continuously to incorporate reported births, deaths, and 

 changes in family composition, still constitute an important source 

 of information on the Navaho population and are used by the Navaho 

 administration at the present time. 



PERIOD 1. 1848-64 



Throughout the pre-Sumner period, the Navaho Nation was the 

 object of considerable interest and speculation on the part of the civil 

 and militaiy authorities of the newly incorporated Territory of New 

 Mexico." This interest was due partly to the growing impact of 



" This area was ceded to the United States by the Government of Mexico in 1848 and 

 was proclaimed the Territory of New Mexico on December 13, 1850. The boundaries of 

 this territory corresponded approximately with the present boundaries of the States of 

 Arizona and New Mexico. See Bureau of the Census, 1872, vol. 1, p. 578. 



