Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
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TAHLEQUAH - A serious under count of Native American Indians who don’t fill out the census forms this coming year may seriously affect their area’s entire Indian population for the next decade.

Every 10 years the Census Bureau conducts an accounting of U. S. residents, and on Census Day, April 1, Native American Indians who don’t get counted may determine where and how billions of U.S. budget dollars will be distributed. This is the money congress allocates for various health and social programs.

Native American Indians suffered the most serious under count in the Census 1990. Only 65 percent of all forms distributed throughout the 14-county area of Northeastern Oklahoma were returned, which meant many Indian people were not considered when it came to funding consideration. An inaccurate count means 10 years of under-funded areas, Tahlequah Census Office Assistant Manager of Recruiting Titus Frenchman said.

"If you don’t have the population, you don’t have the funding," Frenchman said. "It’s just more available to communities with higher populations."

Tribal funding for roads, schools and community infrastructure that includes hospitals will be impacted by the power of numbers, he said. Information compiled produces numbers used for apportionment of funds, including those used by emergency agencies in the aftermath of a natural disaster. That information determines the number of people affected, what type and how much assistance may be needed.

Tribes nation wide got together with the Census Bureau to combat the low tally from the last census when there was a 12.5 percent under count of Native American Indians.

Frenchman, a full-blood Delaware, is one of the first Native American Indians to work the census offices in Oklahoma. He said the count will also affect government seats, so he wants the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to reap the benefits from an accurate tabulation.

"What we do here, in just this small span of time, will affect the next 10 years," Frenchman said. "And if one person in one county doesn’t turn in the information, it reduces their allocation of funding times 10."

The Census Bureau will mass mail March 1, distributing census forms to all households in the United States. Through March and May, census takers will visit housing units in rural and remote areas to drop off and pick up forms. Visits will continue through June, for those who do not return a form. The census will wrap up with apportionment counts by Dec. 31.

Glenda Ahhaitty, National American Indian 2000 Census Advisory Committee member in Los Angeles, said it is critical to educate Indian communities on how to fill out the census form.

"Indian communities stand to be the big losers after the 2000 Census is tabulated due to possible tabulation methdology," she said. "The main data set that is used for voter redistricting or reapportionment and major allocations of funds is all individuals of a single race, Hispanic origin and two or more races. Another factor that is critical is who fills out the form as head of household. If a Cherokee woman is married to a man of another race, she must fill out the form so we don’t lose the count of her and her children."

If a Cherokee is married to a non-Indian, or living in a household where the head of household is non-Indian, they will be tabulated as non-Indian. Ahhaitty said Indians need to remember three important things: fill out the form themselves, check no to the Hispanic/Latino question and don’t check more than one race if they want to be counted as Indian. Enrollment in the tribes is not required for the census.

Census 2000 will be the largest peacetime operation in the U.S. history, employing approximately 285,000 people across the United States. Approximately 6,000 workers will be divided among the six local census offices in Oklahoma, which include Tahlequah, Tulsa, Shawnee, Oklahoma City, Enid and Duncan.

The Tahlequah Census Office is located directly behind the Restaurant of the Cherokees and is responsible for the 14-county area of Cherokee Nation jurisdiction: Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Delaware, Mayes, Eastern McIntosh, Eastern Muskogee, Nowata, Ottawa, Rogers, Sequoyah, North Tulsa, Eastern Wagoner and Washington.