108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



this matter. Ploffman (1929, p. 655) reports that the 1890 census 

 reported 11,042 Navahos on the Arizona portions of the Navajo 

 Reservation. Even if this figure inchided some Hopis or Paiutes (as 

 Hoffman implied), the fact that only 11,001 Navahos were enumerated 

 in this area 20 years later suggests that the latter figure was derived 

 from a deficient coverage. This view was also expressed by Father 

 Anselm Weber, who participated in the 1910 enumeration and was 

 generally acknowledged to be one of the outstanding authorities on 

 Navaho population.^^ 



It is apparent, therefore, that although the 1910 Indian census did 

 provide a wealth of information on the characteristics of the Navaho 

 population, it did not adequately solve the problem of coverage which 

 had limited the census of 1890. 



The third special census of tlie Indian population of the United 

 States was carried out in connection with the 1930 decennial census. 

 In its general organization and operation, this Indian enumeration 

 appears to have overcome some of the difficulties which attended the 

 two earlier eiforts of the Bureau of the Census. In the first place, the 

 1930 Indian enumeration was more fully integrated with the general 

 population census conducted at this time. The same schedule that was 

 designed for the regular enumeration of the population was used in 

 enumerating Indians, except that when an enumerator encountered 

 an Indian, he was instructed to ask that person's tribal affiliation and 

 degree of Indian blood. This information was recorded on the regular 

 schedule in the spaces allotted for recording the birthplace of each 

 respondent's father and mother. "^ 



Of greater significance by far, however, was the fact that the major 

 burden of the actual enumeration was shifted from the regular em- 

 ployees of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the much larger staff of 

 special enumerators employed by the Bureau of the Census. As a 

 result of this change in organizational procedure, the personnel of the 

 former Bureau were utilized largely in the preparatory phases of the 

 census, and in supervising the actual enumeration, while the actual 

 census was carried out, for the most part, by enumerators who were 

 especially recruited and trained for the purpose. 



The instructions to the enumerators who conducted the 1930 Indian 

 census included a special precaution in regard to the problem of 

 properly identifying Indians in the Southwestern States. The per- 

 tinent instructions were as follows: 



5» Weber, 1914, p. 3. Father Weber's statement in this regard is brief and blunt : 

 ". . . According to the census of 1910 the Navajo tribe numbers 22,455 people. To my 

 own personal knowledge a large number of Navajos were not enumerated in that census." 



8" From the flies of Dr. Henry D. Sheldon, chief, Demographic Statistics Branch, Popula- 

 tion Division, Bureau of the Census. Memorandum dated Aug. 22, 1949. 



