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The American Community—American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2004

Report Number ACS-07

Introduction

This report presents a portrait of the American Indian and Alaska Native population in the United States.1 It is part of the American Community Survey (ACS) report series. Information on demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics in the tables and figures is based on data from the 2004 ACS Selected Population Profiles and Detailed Tables.2 The data for the American Indian and Alaska Native population are based on responses to the 2004 ACS question on race, which asked all respondents to report one or more races.3

The 2004 ACS estimated the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives to be about 4 million, or 1.4 percent of the U.S. household population (Table 1).4 The number of individuals who reported American Indian and Alaska Native as their only race was about 2.2 million, or 0.8 percent of the population. About another 1.9 million reported their race as American Indian and Alaska Native and one or more other races, including about 1.4 million people who reported their race as American Indian and Alaska Native and White.5 The American Indian and Alaska Native-alone-or-in-combination population included about 561,000 Hispanics, and the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone population included about 299,000 Hispanics.6

Data are reported for both the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone and the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone-or-in-combination populations. In this report, respondents who reported American Indian and Alaska Native and no other race are included in the single-race or American Indian and Alaska Native-alone population (i.e., including those who reported their race as one or more American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and no other race). Respondents who reported American Indian and Alaska Native either alone or with one or more other race categories are included in the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone-or-in-combination population. The report also includes data for the non-Hispanic segments of these populations.

Data on individuals who reported that they were American Indian and Alaska Native and White, a part of the in-combination population, are shown separately in this report in the American Indian and Alaska Native and White category.

The term “American Indian and Alaska Native” is used to refer to the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone population and the term “non-Hispanic White” is used to refer to the White-alone, not Hispanic population. In the report graphics, the acronym “AIAN” is used to refer to the American Indian and Alaska Native population.

The American Indian and Alaska Native population includes people who reported American Indian and Alaska Native or wrote in their principal or enrolled tribe or tribes on the ACS question on race.

Among American Indians, Cherokee was the largest tribal grouping, with a population of 331,000 or 15 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone population (Table 2).7 Navajo was the second-largest tribal grouping, with a population of 230,000 or 11 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone population. Other tribal groupings with populations of about 50,000 or more included Apache, Chippewa, Choctaw, Iroquois, Lumbee, Pueblo, and Sioux. These tribal groupings accounted for nearly one-half of the American Indian and Alaska Native-alone population. Among Alaska Natives, Eskimo and Tlingit-Haida tribal groupings both had populations of 15,000 or more people. In the future, as the ACS goes to full implementation and multiple-year estimates are produced, more information about additional tribal groupings may be available.

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1 In the federal government, the category “American Indian or Alaska Native” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.
2 The 2004 ACS datasets, including Selected Population Profiles and Detailed Tables, are available online in the American FactFinder at <factfinder.census.gov>.
3 For further information on the content and format of the questionnaire, see <www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/methodology/questionnaire-archive.2003-2004.html>.
4 This report discusses data for the United States, including the 50 states and the District of Columbia; it does not include data for Puerto Rico.
5 The race-in-combination categories use the conjunction and in bold and italicized print to link the race groups that compose the combination.
6 The estimates in this report are based on responses from a sample of households. Estimates may vary from the actual values because of sampling error and other factors. All comparative statements have undergone statistical testing and are significant at the 90-percent confidence level unless otherwise noted.
7 Tribal grouping refers to the combining of individual American Indian tribes into a general tribal grouping, such as Fort Sill Apache, Jicarilla Apache, and Mescalero Apache, into the general Apache tribe, or combining individual Alaska Native tribes, such as American Eskimo, Eskimo, and Greenland Eskimo, into the general Eskimo tribe.

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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