Last week, I attended the North Carolina Indian Affairs Commission Quarterly Meeting, where I met with tribal leaders to discuss our 2020 Census planning goals in Indian Country. Tribal input helps the U.S. Census Bureau increase the response rate for American Indian and Alaska Native populations. We listened to tribal leaders’ insights on a range of topics.

Specifically, we solicited comments on ensuring that everyone in the household – including extended family members – are counted, and on increasing the American Indian and Alaska Native response rate to the census. We also discussed topics like geography, recruitment activities, data collection operations, outreach and promotion, tribal enrollment and others. As we continue to plan for the 2020 Census, it’s crucial that we begin to identify the operations and communications strategies for those efforts now.

I want to thank Gregory Richardson, Executive Director of the North Carolina Indian Affairs Commission, for hosting this meeting and all of the tribal leaders for their input. I deeply appreciate their interest in and contributions to the 2020 Census. This fall, we’ll conduct eight more tribal consultations across Indian Country. I encourage tribal leaders and members to participate so that we can ensure a full and accurate count of the American Indian and Alaska Native population. These consultations have proven to benefit our government-to-government relationship ahead of the census, and I look forward to hearing tribal leaders’ perspectives and discussing possible areas for future collaboration.