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Census Information Center

The NCAI Policy Research Center was designated a Census Information Center (CIC) in 2006.  Designation as a CIC will help facilitate the NCAI Policy Research Center provide tribal leaders across the United States the best available knowledge, specifically increasing access to Census information and data products to use for research, planning, and decision-making purposes.  CIC's are recognized as official sources of demographic, economic, and social statistics produced by the Census Bureau and provide training and technical assistance to interested data users.  If you have any questions, contact Amber Ebarb at 202-466-7767 or aebarb@ncai.org.

Census Data Request Form 

If you would like to request specific Census information from the NCAI Policy Research, the following form is available to assist us in meeting your data needs.

• Census Information Center Data Request Form  

NCAI Fact Sheets

• Demographic Profile of Indian Country, Revised 1/10/2007

Census Reports on American Indians and Alaska Natives

• American Community Survey: American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2004, Issued May 2007
• Census 2000 Report: The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000, Issued February 2002
• Special Report: We the People: American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, Issued February 2006
• The State of American Indian and Alaska Native Business, from the 2002 Survey of Business Owners

• 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO), American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms: 2002, link here

 Indian Country Census Resources

• Census AIAN Data Portal
• Tribal Census Information Centers
• US Census Bureau 2008 American Indian/Alaska Native Working Group Meetings website -- 

  "The U.S. Census Bureau will conduct a series of working meetings throughout the country. Working meetings are an enhanced form of communication that emphasize trust and respect. Working meetings allow an open and free exchange of information and opinion among parties and leads to mutual understanding and comprehension. Some of the expectations for this working meeting are as follows:

  • Provide a forum for communication between the U.S. Census Bureau, state-recognized tribal governments, rural and urban American Indian and Alaska (AIAN) centers and national AIAN organizations.
  • Facilitate open discussion and gain state-recognized tribal government input on effective implementation of tribal specific programmatic and operational activities as detailed in the background materials pamphlet and accompanying addendums.
  • Record and address outcomes, issues, and recommendations to ensure tribal participants receive a timely response.
  • Clarify Census Bureau programs and activities related to the 2010 Census.  "

Reports on the 2010 Census Preparations and Indian Country 

• On the Road to 2010: American Indian Focus Groups, Final Report, Denver, CO September 23 - 25, 2003 by NATEK, Inc.

NCAI Testimony

• NCAI Testimony on Census 2000 Implementation in Indian Country before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, May 4, 1999

Census Bureau Research Reports Related to Indian Country  

The following reports specific to American Indians and Alaska Natives are available from the Census Bureau's Statistical Research Division.

1.       Bonvilain, N. and Brownrigg, L. (1991). Social Context of the 1990 Decennial Census at the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation   http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ex91-15.pdf

2.       Bonvillain, N. and Brownrigg, L. (1989). Residence Patterns at the St. Regis Reservation http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ex89-05.pdf

3.       Bonvillain, N. and Brownrigg, L. (1989). The Census Process at St. Regis Reservation http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ex89-03.pdf

4.       Craver, A. (2000). Complex Inupiaq Eskimo Households and Relationships in Two Alaska Rural Communities. Complex Households and Relationships in the Decennial Census and in Ethnographic Studies Final Ethnographic Report. Available from the Center for Survey Methods Research, Statistical Research Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

5.       Fleisher, M. and Brownrigg, L. (1990). An Ethnographic Evaluation of Street-to-System cycling of black, Hispanic, and American Indian Males http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ex90-09.pdf

6.       Jojola, T. and Brownrigg, L. (1992). Ethnographic Research Project: Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ev92-23.pdf

7.       Lerch, P. and Brownrigg, L. (1992). Coverage Differences in the Census of a Rural Minority Population in North Carolina: the Little Branch Area of the Waccamaw Sioux Tribe http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ev92-23.pdf

8.       Lobo, S. and Brownrigg, L. (1990). Oakland’s American Indian Community: History, Social Organization, and Factors That Contribute to Census Undercount http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ex90-12.pdf

9.       Lobo, S. (1992). American Indians in the San Francisco Bay Area and the 1990 Census http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ex92-18.pdf

10.    Lobo, S. (2001). American Indian Urban Mobility in the San Francisco Bay Area. Final Report to the U.S. Census Bureau for the Comparative Ethnographic Research on Mobile Populations Project.

11.    Lujan, C. (1990). As Simple as One, Two, Three: Census Underenumeration Among the American Indians and Alaska Natives http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ev90-19.pdf

12.    Moore, John H., Brownrigg, Leslie A. (1992). Determine Extent of Census Undercounting Among Certain Rural Creek Indians of Oklahoma: Coverage Evaluation Report for the US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ev92-10.pdf

13.    Tongue, N. (2000). Navajo Complex Households: Final Report to the U.S. Census Bureau. Complex Households and Relationships in the Decennial Census and in Ethnographic Studies Final Ethnographic Report. Available from the Center for Survey Methods Research, Statistical Research Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

Learning about Census Data

• Introduction to Census 2000 Data Products - American Indian and Alaska Native: "Census 2000 showed that there were 4,119,301 persons in the United States who indicated their race, alone or in combination, as American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN). Information on American Indians and Alaska Natives will be available in a variety of formats and media, including the Internet, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and printed reports. This brochure provides a brief introduction to the information available from Census 2000, Census 2000 geography, maps, and data products. Visit our Web site at www.census.gov."

• Census 2000 Basics, Issued September 2002: 

  "Importance of the Census: What it is used for and why

   

  The U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2 mandates that an apportionment of representatives among the states, for the House of Representatives, be carried out every 10 years (decennially). Apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states. Congress decides the method to carry out the apportionment and, since 1940, has used the method of ‘equal proportions’ in accordance with Title 2, U.S. Code.

   

  Using equal portions, each state is assigned one congressional seat (as provided by the Constitution). The apportionment formula then allocates the remaining 385 seats one at a time among the 50 states until all 435 seats are assigned.  In addition to apportionment, the decennial census results are used to:

  · distribute almost $200 billion annually in federal, state, local, and tribal funds;

  · draw state legislative districts;

  · evaluate the success of programs or identify populations in need of services;

  · and many other purposes. The URL www.census.gov/dmd/www/content.htm has a comprehensive review of each of the questions and why it is asked.

   

  While the federal government uses census data for many purposes, businesses, students, and many others also use census data. Businesses may use the data to decide where to locate an outlet, or to select products for a specific area. Students research neighborhoods and cities for class projects and the local parent-teacher organization may use data to track trends in the local area. Historians, writers, and other researchers use census data to get a flavor of what the country looked like at a particular point in time."

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
1301 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 200, Washington D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 466-7767, Fax: (202) 466-7797
Email: ncai@ncai.org

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