Johnston] NAVAHO POPULATION 187 



it lias been suggested that the registration of Indian births could be 

 greatly improved by the establishment of an administrative procedure 

 whereby a document certifying enrollment with a specified Indian 

 tribe could be issued upon receipt of a properly filled birth certificate 

 for a qualified individual.^^ 



A third source of demand for improved statistics on Indian popu- 

 lation is the Indian Claims Commission, whose legal decisions have 

 frequently necessitated the disbursement of funds among the members 

 of a specified Indian tribe. Such disbursement involves the prepara- 

 tion of a special disbursement roll on which are recorded the names 

 of all persons who are legally entitled to a share of the disbursement. 

 In most instances, therefore, the preparation of such a roll amounts, 

 in theory, to a listing of the entire de jure population of the specified 

 tribe.^* 



A word should be added, finally, on the role which might be played 

 by the Bureau of the Census in regard to the planning and initiation 

 of special surveys on selected Indian reservations and in regard to its 

 regular decennial enumerations of the nation as a whole. The Bureau 

 would be admirably suited to the task of developing appropriate area 

 samples in selected reservation areas, training survey personnel, and 

 providing technical assistance in every phase of the survey operations. 

 Furthermore, the utilization of the facilities of the Bureau for the 

 preparation of basic schedules and the processing of the data obtained 

 thereon would facilitate the development of a standardized schedule 

 and processing procedure, approved by the Bureau of the Budget, 

 which could then be utilized in all Indian agency areas. 



In its decennial enumerations, the Bureau of the Census will con- 

 tinue to provide an authoritative and independent body of information 

 on the size and characteristics of the Indian population, as long as 

 American Indians are separately identified as such on the census sched- 

 ules. However, the usefulness of these data is seriously limited by 

 the failure to indicate the tribal affiliation of the Indians that are 

 enumerated. In the absence of such identification, only those Indians 

 who remain in residence on or near the major reservations can be 

 identified in terms of tribal affiliation. In view of the rapid growth 



33 The general problem of the registration of vital events among American Indians is 

 excellently summarized in Hadley, 1950. The broader question of Indian population statis- 

 tics is similarly treated in De Lien and Hadley, 1952. 



»* Representatives of the Navaho tribe filed a petition before this Commission on Aug. 8, 

 1951 (Docket No. 229). A long series of hearings have been held on the petition, and the 

 outcome of these hearings is still pending. A finding in favor of the tribe, involving a 

 substantial financial award, might lead to a decision on the part of the members of the 

 tribe to distribute all or part of the award in the form of dividends to the tribal members. 

 In such an eventuality, the tribal authorities would face the necessity of preparing a 

 disbursement roll. The equity of the disbursement would obviously depend in large part 

 upon the development of accurate statistics on the number and characteristics of the 

 Navaho population. A brief description of the Navaho claim is provided in Newsweek, 

 vol. Lvii^ No. 18, May 1, 1961, p. 43. 



