Page 39 - IJPS-11-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Indian Census Rolls: Data for U.S. tribes

of uncertainty between 1900 and 1940 stems from changes Acknowledgments
in the number of births and deaths during this period.
Importantly, the tribal data showed that the increase of None.
the Hopi from 1900 to 1940 was not subject to the non- Funding
demographic (changes in reporting) factors identified
as leading to substantial growth in the American Indian None.
population after 1960 (Passel, 1996; Thornton, 1979; 1996). Conflict of interest

The data employed to develop our demographic portrait
of the Hopi tribal population are subject to inconsistencies David A. Swanson is an Editorial Board Member of this
and errors, and the changes shown between 1900 and journal but was not in any way involved in the editorial
1940 are much “smoother” than the actual changes were. and peer-review process conducted for this paper,
However, in the absence of evidence of any fluctuations, directly or indirectly. Separately, there are no potential
and given the “demographic inertia in play between 1900 conflicts or competing interests with any institutes,
and 1940, we believe the changes and the resulting age- organizations, or agencies that might influence the integrity
gender numbers for 1910, 1920, and 1930 are reasonable. of results or objective interpretation of their submitted works.

5. Conclusions Author contributions
Many of the 692 Indian Census Rolls that were produced Conceptualization: All authors
for the period 1885 – 1940 are available from the National Formal analysis: All authors
Archives (1967). As we noted at the outset, Indian Census Investigation: All authors
Rolls do not come in computerized form and must be Methodology: All authors
extracted from microfiche records. This is a tedious process Writing – original draft: All authors
requiring data input by hand and an iterative process to Writing – review & editing: All authors
verify the resulting data. To this end, we developed an Excel Ethics approval and consent to participate
template to aid in the transcription process. This template
not only lists individual records from the Indian Census Not applicable.
Rolls but also creates household-level variables, including
household population and households on and off the Consent for publication
reservations, and includes various tables and population Not applicable.
pyramids depicting the data.

We used the Lummi Tribe from Northwest Washington Availability of data
State as a case study to show how demographic and The Excel template, filled with 1937 data from the Lummi
housing characteristics in 1937 can be obtained from Tribe, is available from the corresponding author upon
a tribal census roll. We also discussed two demographic reasonable request.
applications that illustrate the efficacy of Indian Census
Roll information. The first application was as a launching References
point for a projection of the Hopi tribal population that Baker, J., Swanson, D.A., Tayman, J., & Tedrow, L. (2017). Cohort
includes a benchmark (subsequent tribal membership Change Ratios and their Applications. Dordrecht: Springer.
data) that can be used for testing the accuracy of the CCM https://doi.org/100.1007/978-3-319-53645-0
for producing long-term population projections. Such
projections are coming into focus as these data are now Bell, F., & Miller, M. (2005). Life Tables for the United States
Social Security Area, 1900-2100. Actuarial Study no. 120.
being used for Native American Tribes involved in disputes SSA Publication no. 11-11536. Office of the Chief Actuary,
over water rights (Swanson, 2019). The second application Social Security Administration. Washington, DC: U.S.
was the creation of historical information for the Hopi Social Security Administration.
tribe from 1900 to 1940 by age, gender, and decade. We
believe the Indian census rolls have been underutilized Brady, B., & Bahr, H. (2014). The influenza epidemic of 1918-
1920 among the Navajos: Marginality, mortality, and
as a source of historical American Indian demographic the implications of some neglected eyewitness accounts.
information, which offers not only a reasonable alternative American Indian Quarterly, 38(4):459-491.
to fill in historical gaps in the demography of Native
Americans but also serves as a source for determining their https://doi.org/10.5250/amerindiquar.38.4.0459
contemporaneous and future demographic characteristics. Britannica. (2023). Population Pyramid. Available from: https://

Volume 11 Issue 1 (2025) 33 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.3906