INADEQUATE AGRICULTURAL DATABASE FOR AMERICAN-INDIANS

Sources of American Indian agricultural data include the Census of Agr iculture, Census of Population, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Nat ural Resource Information System. The Census of Agriculture reports li mited information based on a mail survey of lndian agriculturalists. T he Census of Population reports employment in agriculture, forestry, a nd fishing. The BIA enumerates their personnel rather than Indians and only on reservations. They provide more information than other federa l agencies but only for 27 states containing reservations. With the ex ception of land area in farms, no association is found between Census and BIA data. The BIA recently estimated more than 34,000 Indian farme rs or ranchers and an additional 45,000 in subsistence agriculture. In contrast, the Census of Agriculture and Census of Population reported 7,100 and 18,000, respectively. Census data, for some states containi ng reservations, are obviously wrong. Our comparisons indicate that ex isting databases on American Indian agriculture are erroneous, inadequ ate, and inconsistent.