Indian population in the United States and Alaska. 1910 - RootsWeb

Information was collected by the Census Bureau in
1910 ia regard to the number of children borne by
every married woman. The results of the tabulation
of this material for the Indian women are presented in
the following discussion. Only those women were
included in the tabxilation who were between 15 and
44 years of age, who had been married for at least
one year, and who were neither widowed nor divorced
nor married a second or subsequent time. As a
result of these restrictions all the women included
in this tabulation answered the following description:
(1) They were of child-bearing age; (2) had
been married long enough to have children; and (3)
were Uving in the married state at the time of the
enumeration.
The last limitation makes possible the presentation
of information about the husband and, since all
second and subsequent marriages are excluded, the
children are in each case the offspring of the couple as
shown on the schedule. In this manner most elements
of uncertainty have been excluded, so that the
data lend themselves to trustworthy interpretation.
In the tables of this section the degrees of mixture
are given in the order of the increasing proportion of
non-Indian blood, beginning with marriages between
full-blood Indians and ending with marriages between
mixed-bloods and whites. The tables do not include
all the possible combinations, but only those actually
given on the schedules. Polygamous marriages, in
which husband and wives are probably full-blood
Indians, are given separately at the end of the table.
Sterility.— ^Table 53 presents the data on sterility.
Table 53
All classes.
DEOBEE OF MZXTUKE.
—
Marriages among full-bloods
Husband and wife belonging to same tribe
Husband and wife belonging to different tribes.
Mixed marriages ;
Marriages of full-bloods with mrxed-bloods
Wfle full blood, husband white and Indian.
Husband full blood, wifewhite and Indian.
Marriages of full-bloods with whites
Wfie full blood, husband white
Husband full blood, wife white
Marriages among mixed-bloods
Wfle white and Indian, husband white
and Indian
--
Wife Negro and Indian, husband Negro
and Indian
;-••;
Wife white, Negro, and Indian, husband
white, Negro, and Indian
Marriages of mixed-bloods with.whites
WMe white, husband white and Indian
Husband white, wife white and Indian
Polygamous marriages (husband and wives probably
full-blood Indians)
FECUNDITY AND VITALITY.
WOMEN 15 TO 44 YEABS OF
AQE, MABBIED ONE YEAR
OB mobe: 1910.
Total
number
tabulated.
21,S32
10,379
9,820
559
10,752
1,508
914
208
'3,' 970
3,675
101
194
6,066
2,336
2,730
401
Bearing no
children.
Number. Per cent
1,853
1,111
1,018
93
717
133
77
56
16
16
276
254
10
12
292
174
118
25
8.6
10.7
10.4
16.6
6.7
8.8
8.4
9.4
7.7
7.7
7.0
6.9
9.9
6.2
6.8
7.4
4.3
6.2
The most significant fact brought out by Table 53
is that, while for aU classes of marriages the proportion
resulting in no issue was 8.6 per cent and for marriages
between full-bloods the proportion was 10.7 per
cent, for mixed marriages it was only 6.7 per cent.
Thus sterility is considerably less common in cases of
miscegenation than in cases of marriage between fullbloods.
Furthermore, the proportion of issueless marriages
decreases directly as the amount of white blood
in the married couple increases. For the marriages of
iull-bloods with mixed-bloods, where less than one-half
of the blood was white, the percentage of sterility was
8.8 ; for the marriages of full-bloods with whites, where
one-half of the blood was white, the proportion of sterility
was 7.7 per cent; for the marriages between
mixed-bloods, where the proportion of white blood
may have varied considerably but was probably one-
half or more, sterility was shown in 7 per cent of the
cases; and finally, for marriages of mixed-bloods with
whites, where more than one-half and often threefourths
or more of the blood was white, the percentage
of sterility was only 5.8. Thus an inverse relation
between the amount of white blood in the married
couple and the proportion of childless unions seems to
be established by the table.
In the case of polygamous marriages no separation
by blood was made, but, as pointed out previously,
these are almost without exception marriages between
full-blood women and fuU-blood men, as such mar-
riages were made, as a rule, a good many years ago.
As a group, then, by blood these cases of plural wives
may be compared with the fuU-blood groups already
considered. It is apparent on comparison that
women living in polygamy show a considerably
smaller percentage of steriHty than those in monogamous
unions.
Fecundity.—Table 54 deals only with women who
have been married from 10 to 20 years, inclusive, and
distinguishes those who have borne no more than two
children (including those who have borne no children)
from those who have borne from three to five children,
and six or more children, as shown by the returns for
1910.
A comparison of the figures for marriages between
full-bloods with mixed marriages shows the greater
fertility of the latter; a smaller proportion resulted in
two children or less and in from three to five children
than in the case of the pure marriages and a much
higher proportion in six or more children.
A further analysis of mixed marriages shows, however,
that as far as the number of children is concerned
the proportion of white blood does not materially
influence the offspring. In fact, the marriages between
fuU-blood Indians and whites are more prolific
(157)