Johnston] 



NAVAHO POPULATION 



85 



In considering the series of population figures reported by the 

 Bureau of Indian Affairs during this period, it is helpful to bear in 

 mind the official population totals reported by the Bureau of the Census 

 on the basis of its special Indian enumerations of 1910 and 1930 

 (table 15). The figures reported by the separate Navaho agencies 

 during the period in question are shown for selected years in table 16. 

 In addition to the reported population totals, these two tables include 

 the reported or estimated number and proportion of the population 

 of school ages. The specific age group which comprises the population 

 of school age was not indicated in the amiual reports of the Bureau 

 of Indian Affairs until 1927, when it was defined as the population 

 aged 6 to 18 years, inclusive. Unless otherwise specified, all estimates 

 of the school-age population that I have prepared pertain to the age- 

 group 6 to 18, inclusive. Comparisons of the figures reported for this 

 school-age population would seem to indicate that the age group 

 referred to is, in general, 6 to 18 years. 



In comparing the population estimates of the Navaho agents with. 

 the census figures for 1910 and 1930, we find that the total Navaho 

 population as estimated by tlie reporting agent in 1910 was 18.6 percent 

 above the official 1910 census figures. In 1930, by contrast, the estimate 

 of the Navajo Agency is only 4.6 percent above the census figure. 

 Although neither source can be regarded as completely accurate, the 

 evident convergence between the independent figures suggests some 

 improvement in the quality of the population data recorded for the 

 Navaho during this period. 



Table 1,5.- 



-Enumerated Navaho population, ty sex, with estimated num'ber and 

 percent of school age, censuses of 1910 and 1930 



> Bureau of the Census, 1915, tables 30, 51 , 83, and 92. 



2 Bureau of the Census, 1937. table 21. 



' Omitting 78 persons (41 males and 37 females) of unknown age reported in 1910. 



* The population aged 6-18 years, inclusive, was estimated by applying Sprague multipliers to the age 

 groups 5-9 and 15-19 for each sex. These multipliers provide estimates of the population by single years of 

 age. Subtracting the estimated number aged 5 and 19 from the sum of the three age groups 5-9, 10-14, 

 and 15-19 gives the desired figures for the population aged 6-18 years. The use of these multipliera Is dis- 

 cussed in Jafie, 1951, pp. 94 ff. 



The most salient features of the annual estimates of the reporting 

 agents following 1910 are the erratic fluctuations in the estimated pop- 

 ulation totals and the still greater fluctuations in the estimated number 

 of school-age children. With respect to variations in the total popula- 

 tion, the greatest increase occurs at the beginning of the period, when 



