Tribe To Boot Up For Own Census Data

Coeur d’Alene Tribe officials don’t know how many Coeur d’Alenes are living on the reservation. They just know there’s been an influx.

Nor do they know how many tribal members are working, only that the number is up.

“Right now, we’re just guessing,” administrative director John Abraham said of the numbers. “The only way we’ve ever tracked employment in the past is to rely on figures developed by the Department of Interior. And those are usually way outdated.”

Hard numbers should soon start to replace the guesswork. The tribe is setting up a computer system that will act as a mini-Census Bureau.

“With any type of luck, we should have that running in three months,” Abraham said recently.

Getting good information is crucial to economic and social planning, he said.

The tribe knows the number of enrolled members has grown from 1,000 to about 1,500 since the Coeur d’Alenes opened a casino three years ago.

Members qualify for a small annual share in gambling proceeds, and for subsidized housing if their incomes are low. To be enrolled, a person must be at least one-quarter American Indian and prove Coeur d’Alene ancestry.

About 900 Coeur d’Alenes live on the reservation. Some of them have family members who are Indian, but not tribal members. Others are married to non-Indians.

“Back in the ‘50s there was a big move to the cities, where the jobs were,” Abraham said. “Now, there’s been a big surge in the number of people moving back.”

Knowing how many newcomers there are, and how many members are of marrying age, will help the tribe determine how much housing is needed.

“Do we have an adequate water supply system? Where do we place our businesses and roads?” Abraham asked.

Demographic information is also important when applying for federal grants.

“What are your population, income and education levels? How many people do we have who haven’t gone on to higher education? How many don’t have a high school education? How many want vocational training?”

The tribe will ask members not only what they do for a living, but what they’d like to do.

The computer program that will track all of that information is being used by many other tribes, Abraham said, but none of them are in the Inland Northwest.

, DataTimes