‘It can be frustrating when people won’t respond because they think the government is up to something...’ - Toni Minthorn, CTUIR Enrollment Office
U.S. Census aims to enumerate everybody By Wil Phinney of the CUJ MISSION – Toni Minthorn hopes everybody will respond online to the 2020 Census by the time the official count begins April 1 on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. That way maybe Census enumerators – counters – can avoid those untrusting Tribal members who answer their door with a gun in their hands. “Some people have zero trust in anyone showing up at their door and have threatened to shoot people if they don’t leave. There’s usually two or three during each count,” said Minthorn, manager of the Enrollment Program for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). The Enrollment Program takes the lead every 10 years for the official U.S. Census and attempts to count every man, woman and child – everyone, Indian and non-Indian – living on the Reservation. This will be Minthorn’s third Census. “We actually started preparing about two years ago and will have another year or so of follow up,” she said. The effort began in earnest Feb. 6 when the Tribal Complete Count Committee (TCCC) met for the first time to start planning its public awareness campaign. The CTUIR Board of Trustees on Jan. 15 authorized the formation of the TCCC as a formal ad hoc committee to advocate and educate the community and reservation residents about the Census. An approved resolution calls for bi-monthly meetings and event presentations. CTUIR member Shana Radford, a Tribal Partnership Specialist representing Oregon and Idaho for the U.S. Census Bureau, was scheduled to be here for the TCCC meeting and was also expected to make a presentation at the Tribes’ Feb. 20 General Council meeting. Radford will be on the road this spring “engaging tribes in education and empowering tribal communities to participate” in the Census to “make sure there is an accurate account of tribal people.” That wasn’t done 10 years ago. In fact, it is estimated that there was a 4.9 percent undercount of Native Americans in 2000, Radford said. It is important to have an accurate count because federal funding is based on population, as is the national election process that determines the number of Congressmen representing each state. When Tribal people aren’t counted, there are fewer dollars allocated to things like Indian education as well as federal housing, Indian block grants, school lunch programs, foster care, Head Start, and the Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA) in Portland, among other things. Those services not only go to reservations but to urban areas where it is estimated half of the country’s Native American population lives. Specifically on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Radford said, Census data is vital for calculating fed-
“... In every tribal community the people want to look after each other. They want to take care of the elders and the youth, and the Census is a tool to do that ... The Census is a way for our nations to survive.’ - Shana Radford, U. S. Census Bureau Tribal Partnership Specialist representing Oregon and Idaho
eral funding and grants for Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, many programs of the Department of Children and Family Services, even projects that require building infrastructure. “The Census paints a picture of the community, of who we are and who we want to be,” Radford said. Radford said the Census is a way for Tribes to be independent. “In every tribal community the people want to look after each other. They want to take care of the elders and the youth and the Census is a tool to do that. We want to act like nations and participate as modern governments. The Census, through the data it provides, is a way for our nations to survive,” Radford said. U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham counted the first person and household in the 2020 Census Jan. 21 in Toksook Bay, Alaska, one of approximately 220 remote Alaska villages. Following a four-day 2020 Census awareness trip in Anchorage and Bethel, Dillingham traveled to Toksook Bay where he met local census takers, village leaders and residents. He delivered the first 2020 Census questionnaire to the first household selected by village leaders. The questionnaire will be mailed out March 12 on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Census asks basic questions about renting or owning a home, plus the
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name and sex and age of residents. It also asks about the number of people living or staying in a home, including grandparents and babies, which can sometimes make people nervous, Radford said. “People might be afraid to be truthful if they are over occupancy in a HUD house,” Radford said, “but they need to know we don’t share information. It’s all aggregated and they should feel comfortable sharing the numbers.” Essentially, Radford said, there are lots of reasons why people are reluctant to participate. “People fear the government, confidentiality, apathy. ‘Why does it matter to me? Why are you asking me for information? I don’t see the money or I don’t receive the money so why should I care?’ There’s just a lot of distrust. People don’t understand why it’s important or what’s at stake. It’s my job to engage tribes to help people understand,” Radford said. The questionnaire will include instructions on how to participate. “We realize that not everyone has computer access,” Minthorn said. “That’s where the Complete Count Committee comes in. Through their efforts we hope to find people without computer access and either send someone with a laptop to assist them and/or let them know where there are computers that they can use.” Minthorn said the Census work can be gratifying, but it also can be exasperating. “It’s rewarding when I feel like all of our Tribal members, and other reservation residents have been included in the counts,” she said. “It can be frustrating when people won’t respond because they think the government is up to somethings because they want information.” All the information, though, is kept “extremely confidential” and only statistical information is released until 70 years have passed, Minthorn said. If residents on the reservation don’t respond online by May they will receive a reminder. If they don’t respond after that they will get a knock on the door. “We will go above and beyond,” Radford said. But it will “only be when people don’t respond electronically,” Minthorn said. And if someone gets a visit from a Census Bureau employee, they should have a laptop in their hands to assist with the response.
Census jobs available There are about 200 Census jobs available in Umatilla County, according to Minthorn. “It’s a great opportunity for people who are retired or going to school to earn extra money. The schedules are flexible and they get paid for going through the training,” she said. Minthorn made it clear the CTUIR does not hire people to work on the Reservation; the Census Bureau does. Apply online at 2020Census.gov.
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Confederated Umatilla Journal
February 2020