122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



a unit for recording income and other economic data permitted a more 

 realistic appraisal of the economic characteristics of the population : ^^ 



The consumption group is defined as one which constantly and habitually funds 

 and shares all forms of income, including products of agriculture, livestock and 

 livestock products, and goods purchased from the traders. The consumption 

 group is in the majority of instances identical with the biological family, but it 

 consists frequently of two or more related biological families, and occasionally 

 of unrelated biological families or individuals. 



The information that was collected in the Human Dependency Sur- 

 vey was recorded on a "family-economy group census card" which was 

 designed to supply the following information for each consumption 

 group : 



1. The names of all members of the consumption group, listed in the following 

 order : the economic head of the group, his spouse, their children, and other 

 members of the group. 



2. The relationship of each group member to the economic head of the group, 

 together with his marital status, sex, date of birth, and age. 



3. The clan afliliation of each group member, and the proportion of Indian 

 blood if the group member was not a full-blooded Indian. 



4. Occupational information including the individual's work experience and a 

 report of his physical impairments or disabilities, if any. 



5. Miscellaneous information including data on croj) production, livestock 

 holdings, and other means of livelihood, and on the location of group members 

 if temporarily absent from the group. 



6. Supplementary comments— remarks pertaining to the apparent stability of 

 the group, its growth or decline, and any peculiarities with respect to marriage 

 patterns or other customs. 



It is evident that the information called for on the above schedule 

 was similar to that required on the census schedules used in both the 

 special Indian censuses of 1930 and 1950, except that special attention 

 was devoted to the problem of matching individuals contacted on the 

 survey with existing records. How^ever, the conduct of the survey 

 was far different from the procedure employed in either the 1930 or 

 tlie 1950 censuses. 



Budgetary limitations did not permit the hiring of a large staff of 

 fieldw^orkers, so that the survey was conducted over a 2-year period, 

 from 1936 to late in 1938. This time factor has serious implications 

 for the reliability of the population figures obtained, since the chances 

 of duplicate counts or other inaccuracies are greatly enhanced. 



Secondly, the period during which this survey was conducted was 

 one of great stress for the inhabitants of the Navaho-Hopi area. At 



'2 Soil Conservation Service, 19.38, p. 1. The "consumption group" should not be con- 

 fused with the "outfit" as recognized by a number of anthropologists who have studied the 

 economic organization of the Navaho. Although the two groups may in some instances be 

 identical, the typical outfit is larger in size than the consumption group, and may contain 

 as many as 50 or 100 members. It is more nearly a "production group" than a "consump- 

 tion group." Furthermore, the members of the outfit may not live in close proximity and 

 their mutual cooperation is periodic rather than continuous. For an excellent description 

 of the outfit and its functions, see Kluckhohn and Leighton, 1951, pp. 62 f. 



