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POPULATION
POPULATION
An Introduction to Concepts and Issues
Thirteenth Edition

John R. Weeks
San Diego State University

Australia ● Brazil ● Mexico ● Singapore ● United Kingdom ● United States

Population: An Introduction to
Concepts and Issues, Thirteenth Edition
John R. Weeks
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To Deanna
BRIEF TABLE OF
CONTENTS

PART ONE A DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Demography 3
CHAPTER 2 Demographic Data and Applied Demography 43
CHAPTER 3 Demographic Perspectives and Theories 91

PART TWO POPULATION PROCESSES

CHAPTER 4 The Health and Mortality Transition 139
CHAPTER 5 The Fertility Transition 187
CHAPTER 6 The Migration Transition 241
CHAPTER 7 The Urban Transition 287

PART THREE USING THE DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

CHAPTER 8 The Age Transition and the Life Course 329
CHAPTER 9 Family Demography and Life Chances 367
CHAPTER 10 Population, the Environment, and Global Sustainability 414

GLOSSARY 456
BIBLIOGRAPHY 467
GEOGRAPHIC INDEX 496
SUBJECT INDEX 505

vii
DETAILED TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Preface xix

Part One
A Demographic Perspective

CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Demography 3
What Is Demography? 5
How Does Demography Connect the Dots? 5
The Relationship of Population to Resources 7
The Relationship of Population to Social and Political Dynamics 8
The Relationship of Population to the Rights of Women 10
World Population Growth  11
A Brief History 11
How Fast Is the World’s Population Growing Now? 14
The Power of Doubling—How Fast Can Populations Grow? 16
Why Was Early Growth So Slow? 17
Why Are More Recent Increases So Rapid? 18
How Many People Have Ever Lived? 18
Redistribution of the World’s Population Through Migration 19
Geographic Distribution of the World’s Population  21
Global Variation in Population Size and Growth  23
North America 24
Mexico and Central America 27
South America 28
Europe 29

ix
x Detailed Table of Contents

North Africa and Western Asia 30

Sub-Saharan Africa 31
ESSAY: Connecting the Demographic Dots in the Middle East 32
South and Southeast Asia 35
East Asia 37
Oceania 39
Summary and Conclusion  40
Main Points  41
Questions for Review  42

CHAPTER 2
Demographic Data and Applied Demography 43
Population Censuses  44
The Census of the United States 48
ESSAY: Demographics of Politics: Why the Census Matters 52
The Census of Canada 63
The Census of Mexico 64
IPUMS—Warehouse of Global Census Data 66
Registration of Vital Events  66
Combining the Census and Vital Statistics  71
Administrative Data  71
Sample Surveys  72
Demographic Surveys in the United States 72
Canadian Surveys 73
Mexican Surveys 73
European Surveys 74
Demographic and Health Surveys 74
Demographic Surveillance Systems 75
Historical Sources  75
Spatial Demography  76
Mapping Demographic Data 78
GIS and the Census 80
Applied Demography  81
Political Planning 81
Social Planning 82
Business Planning/Marketing 83
Should You Pursue a Career in Demographics? 87
Summary and Conclusion  88
 Detailed Table of Contents xi

Main Points  89
Questions for Review  90

CHAPTER 3
Demographic Perspectives and Theories 91
Premodern Population Doctrines  95
The Prelude to Malthus  100
The Malthusian Perspective  101
Causes of Population Growth 102
Consequences of Population Growth 103
Avoiding the Consequences 104
Critique of Malthus 105
Neo-Malthusians 107
The Marxian Perspective  107
ESSAY: Who Are the Neo-Malthusians and Why Do We Care? 108
Causes of Population Growth 110
Consequences of Population Growth 110
Critique of Marx 111
The Prelude to the Demographic Transition Theory  112
Mill 113
Dumont 114
Durkheim 115
The Theory of the Demographic Transition  115
Critique of the Demographic Transition Theory 119
Reformulation of the Demographic Transition Theory 119
The Theory of Demographic Change and Response 122
Cohort Size Effects 124
The Theory of the Second Demographic Transition  125
The Demographic Transition Is Really a Set of Transitions  126
The Health and Mortality Transition 126
The Fertility Transition 127
The Age Transition 129
The Migration Transition 130
The Urban Transition 130
The Family and Household Transition 131
Impact on Local and Global Society 132
Summary and Conclusion  133
Main Points  134
Questions for Review  135
xii Detailed Table of Contents

Part TWO
Population Processes

CHAPTER 4
The Health and Mortality Transition 139
Defining the Health and Mortality Transition  140
Health and Mortality Changes Over Time  141
The Roman Empire to the Industrial Revolution 142
Industrial Revolution to the Twentieth Century 143
World War II as a Modern Turning Point 146
Postponing Death by Preventing and Curing Disease 147
The Nutrition Transition 149
Life Span and Longevity  150
Life Span 150
Longevity 151
Disease and Death Over the Life Cycle  152
Age Differentials in Mortality 152
Infant Mortality 153
Mortality at Older Ages 155
Sex and Gender Differentials in Mortality 157
Causes of Poor Health and Death  159
Communicable Diseases 159
Emerging Infectious Diseases 161
Maternal Mortality 162
Noncommunicable Diseases 163
ESSAY: Mortality Control and the Environment 164
Injuries 166
The “Real” Causes of Death 167
Measuring Mortality  169
Crude Death Rate 169
Age/Sex-Specific Death Rates 170
Age-Adjusted Death Rates 170
Life Tables 171
Life Table Calculations 176
Disability-Adjusted Life Years 178
Health and Mortality Inequalities  179
Educational and Socioeconomic Differentials in Mortality 179
Inequalities by Race and Ethnicity 180
Marital Status and Mortality 182
Urban and Rural Differentials 182
Neighborhood Differences in Mortality 183
 Detailed Table of Contents xiii

Summary and Conclusion  184

Main Points  185
Questions for Review  186

CHAPTER 5
The Fertility Transition 187
What Is the Fertility Transition? 188
How High Could Fertility Levels Be? 189
The Biological Component 189
The Social Component 191
Why Was Fertility High for Most of Human History? 193
Need to Replenish Society 194
Children as Security and Labor 195
The Preconditions for a Decline in Fertility  196
Ideational Changes That Must Take Place  197
Motivations for Lower Fertility Levels  198
The Supply-Demand Framework 198
ESSAY: Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Health, and the
Fertility Transition 200
The Innovation-Diffusion and “Cultural” Perspective 205
How Can Fertility Be Controlled? 207
Proximate Determinants of Fertility 207
Proportion Married—Limiting Exposure to Intercourse 209
Use of Contraceptives 209
Induced Abortion 213
Involuntary Infecundity from Breastfeeding 213
The Relative Importance of the Proximate Determinants 214
How Do We Measure Changes in Fertility? 215
Period Measures of Fertility 216
Cohort Measures of Fertility 221
Fertility Intentions 222
How Is The Fertility Transition Accomplished? 223
Geographic Variability in the Fertility Transition  224
Case Studies in the Fertility Transition  225
United Kingdom and Other European Nations 226
China 229
The United States 232
xiv Detailed Table of Contents

Summary and Conclusion  238

Main Points  239
Questions for Review  240

CHAPTER 6
The Migration Transition 241
What Is the Migration Transition? 242
Defining Migration  243
Internal Migrants 245
International Migrants 245
Stocks Versus Flows 246
Measuring Migration  250
Why Do People Migrate? 253
Migration Selectivity 253
The Push-Pull Theory 255
A Conceptual Model of Migration Decision Making 255
Explaining International Migration 258
Migration Within the United States  262
Global Patterns of Migration  265
The Current Situation 265
How Did We Get to This Point? 268
America’s Immigration Trends  295
Historical Background of Migration and Immigration Laws 270
ESSAY: Is Migration a Crime? Illegal Immigration in Global Context 274
Current Immigration Trends 278
Canada’s Immigration Trends  279
Forced Migration  279
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 279
Slavery 280
Impact of Migration on Society  281
Summary and Conclusion  284
Main Points  285
Questions for Review  286

CHAPTER 7
The Urban Transition 287
What Is the Urban Transition? 288
 Detailed Table of Contents xv

Defining Urban Places  289

The Historical Pattern of the Urban Transition  291
The Proximate Determinants of the Urban Transition  296
Internal Rural-to-Urban Migration 296
Natural Increase 297
Mortality 297
Fertility 299
International Urbanward Migration 301
Reclassification 301
An Illustration from Mexico 302
An Illustration from China 303
The Urban Hierarchy  304
Defining the Metropolis 304
City Systems 308
ESSAY: Cities as Sustainable Environments 310
The Urban Evolution That Accompanies the
Urban Transition  312
Urban Crowding 313
Slums 316
Suburbanization 318
Residential Segregation 320
Urban Sprawl 322
Gentrification 324
Summary and Conclusion  324
Main Points  325
Questions for Review  326

PART THREE
USING THE DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

CHAPTER 8
The Age Transition and the Life Course 329
What Is the Age Transition? 330
The Concepts of Age and Sex  330
Age Stratification 331
Age Cohorts and Cohort Flow 333
Gender and Sex Ratios 335
The Feminization of Old Age 336
Demographic Drivers of the Age Transition  338
The Impact of Declining Mortality 340
xvi Detailed Table of Contents

The Impact of Declining Fertility 342

Where Does Migration Fit In? 344
Demographic Dividends—Age Transitions at Work 345
Measuring the Age Structure 345
The Progression from a Young to an Old Age Structure 346
Youth Bulge—Dead End or Dividend? 346
China’s Demographic Dividend 347
What Happened to India’s Demographic Dividend? 349
Demographic Dividends in the United States and Mexico 350
The Life Course and Population Aging  351
What Is Old? 352
The Third Age (Young-Old) and Fourth Age (Old-Old) 353
ESSAY: The Age Transition Force Is with Us 354
Centenarians—The Oldest of the Old-Old 358
Reading the Future from the Age Structure  358
Population Projections 358
Backward or Inverse Projection 363
Population Momentum 363
Summary and Conclusion  364
Main Points  365
Questions for Review  366

CHAPTER 9
Family Demography and Life Chances 367
Defining Family Demography and Life Chances  368
The Growing Diversity in Family Structure and Household Composition 371
Gender Equity and the Empowerment of Women 374
Proximate Determinants of Family and Household
Changes 375
Delayed Marriage Accompanied by Leaving the Parental Nest 376
Cohabitation 379
Nonmarital Childbearing 379
Childlessness 381
Divorce 382
Widowhood 383
The Combination of These Determinants 383
Changing Life Chances  383
Education 384
Labor Force Participation 388
 Detailed Table of Contents xvii

Occupation 390
Income 392
Poverty 396
Wealth 398
Race and Ethnicity 401
ESSAY: Show Me the Money! 402
Religion 408
Summary and Conclusion  410
Main Points  412
Questions for Review  413

CHAPTER 10
Population, the Environment, and Global Sustainability 414
The Use and Abuse of the Earth’s Resources  416
Economic Growth and Development 417
Measuring GNI and Purchasing Power Parity 417
How Is Population Related to Economic Development? 419
Is Population Growth a Stimulus to Economic Development? 420
Does Demographic Overhead Explain the Relationship? 422
Are Demographic Dividends the Key to Economic Development? 423
Can Billions More Be Fed, Given Our Environmental
Issues? 424
The History of Economic Development and Food 425
We Are at the Limit of Land to Be Used for Growing Food 427
Moving to a More Plant-Based Diet 428
Our History of Getting More Food from the Land 429
The Demand for Food Is Growing Faster Than the
Population 431
The Environmental Constraints to Growing More Food  433
Water Supply Issues 433
Polluting the Ground 435
ESSAY: How Big Is Your Ecological Footprint? 436
Air Pollution and Climate Change 440
Human Dimensions of Environmental Change  443
Assessing the Damage Attributable to Population Growth 443
Environmental Disasters Lead to Death and Dispersion 444
Sustainable Development—Possibility or Oxymoron? 447
xviii Detailed Table of Contents

Policies Aimed at Slowing Population Growth  451

Summary and Conclusion  453
Main Points  454
Questions for Review  455

Glossary 456
Bibliography 467
Geographic Index 496
Subject Index 505
PREFACE

I wrote this book with a wide audience in mind because I find that students in my
classes come from a wide range of academic disciplines and bring with them an
incredible variety of viewpoints and backgrounds. No matter who you are, demo-
graphic events are influencing your life, and the more you know about them, the
better able you will be to navigate through life.
When I think about population growth in the world, I conjure up an image of a
bus hurtling down the highway toward what appears to be a cliff. The bus is semi-
automatic and has no driver in charge of its progress. Some of the passengers on the
bus are ignorant of what seems to lie ahead and are more worried about whether
the air conditioning is turned up high enough or wondering how many snacks they
have left for the journey. Other, more alert, passengers are looking down the road,
but some of them think that what seems like a cliff is really just an optical illusion
and is nothing to worry about; some think it may just be a dip, not really a cliff.
Those who think it is a cliff are trying to figure out how to apply the brakes, know-
ing that a big bus takes a long time to slow down even after the brakes are put on.
Are we headed toward a disastrous scenario? We don’t really know for sure, but
we simply can’t afford the luxury of hoping for the best. The population bus is caus-
ing damage and creating vortexes of social, economic, political, and environmental
change as it charges down the highway, whether or not we are heading for the cliff.
The better we understand its speed and direction, the better we will be at steering
it and managing it successfully. No matter how many stories you have heard about
the rate of population growth coming down or about the end of the population
explosion, the world is projected by demographers at the United Nations and other
organizations to add two or three billion more to the current count of almost eight
billion before it stops growing. Huge implications for the future lie in that growth
in numbers.
The world’s population is growing because death rates have declined over the
past several decades at a much faster pace than birth rates have, and as we go from
the historical pattern of high birth and death rates to the increasingly common pat-
tern of low (or even very low) birth and death rates, we pass through the demo-
graphic transition. This is actually a whole set of transitions relating to changes in
health and mortality, fertility, migration, age structure, urbanization, and family and
household structure. Each of these separate, but interrelated, changes has serious
xix
xx Preface

consequences for the way societies and economies work, and for that reason they
have big implications for you personally. Over time, these transitions have evolved
in ways that vary from one part of the world to another, so their path and progress
are less predictable than we once thought, but we have good analytical tools for
keeping track of them and potentially influencing them. My goal in this book is to
provide you with those tools so that you have a better understanding of how the
world works.
The growth in numbers (the bus hurtling toward what we hope is not a cliff)
and the transitions and evolutions created in the process (the vortex created by the
passing bus) have to be dealt with simultaneously, and our success as a human civi-
lization depends on how well we do in this project. A lot is at stake here, so another
of my aims is to provide you with as much insight as possible into the ways in
which these demographic trends of growth, transition, and evolution affect your life
in large and small ways.
Over the years, I have found that most people are either blissfully unaware
of the enormous impact of population growth and change on their lives, or they
are nearly overwhelmed whenever they think of population growth because they
have heard so many horror stories about impending doom, or, increasingly,
they have heard that population growth is ending and thus assume that the story
has a happy ending. This latter belief is in many ways the scariest, because the
lethargy that develops from thinking that the impact of population growth is a
thing of the past is exactly what will lead us to doom. My purpose in this book
is to shake you out of your lethargy (if you are one of those types), without nec-
essarily scaring you in the process. I will introduce you to the basic concepts of
population studies and help you develop your own demographic perspective, ena-
bling you to understand some of the most important issues confronting the world.
My intention is to sharpen your perception of population growth and change, to
increase your awareness of what is happening and why, and to prepare you to
cope with (and help shape) a future that will be shared with billions more people
than there are today.

How Is the Book Organized?

In order to help you understand how the world works demographically in more
detail, the book is organized into three parts, each building on the previous one.
There is a story to tell here, and though each chapter can stand on its own, you’ll
understand its meaning much more if you’ve absorbed the previous chapters. The
first part of the book is called “A Demographic Perspective.” The first chapter is
designed to introduce you to the field of population studies and illustrate why this is
such an important topic. The term “demographics” is widely used, but most people
using the term have only a limited understanding of the scope and depth of demog-
raphy. This chapter reviews world population trends, so that you have a good idea
of what is happening in the world demographically, how we got to this point, and
where we seem to be heading. The second chapter provides you with a background
on the kinds of demographic data that we use in order to build our understanding
 Preface xxi

of the world. These data can also be applied to a variety of practical uses in politi-
cal, social, and business planning, and I show you how that is done. The third chap-
ter introduces you to the major perspectives and theories about population growth
and change, so that you have a clear idea of how to use demographic data to test
theories about what is happening in the world.
In Part Two, “Population Processes,” I discuss four of the basic demographic
processes whose transitions are transforming the world—the health and mor-
tality transition (Chapter 4), the fertility transition (Chapter 5), the migration
transition (Chapter 6), and the closely related urban transition (Chapter 7).
Knowledge of these population processes and transitions provides you with the
foundation you need to understand why changes occur and what might be done
about them.
Part Three, “Using the Demographic Perspective,” is devoted to studying the
interaction of the population processes and societal changes that occur as fertil-
ity, mortality, migration, and urbanization change the structure of society. All of
the transitions discussed in Part Two come together under what I call the “master
transition”—the age transition and its associated alterations in our life course
(Chapter 8). On an everyday basis, most of us encounter demographic change in
the context of what is going on in our families and our household, and Chapter 9
is devoted to family demography and life chances. The final chapter (Chapter 10)
explores the relationships between population, the environment, and sustainability.
Can economic growth and development be sustained in the face of continued popu-
lation growth? Can we avoid environmental catastrophe as we try to feed billions
more people? There are no simple answers to these questions, but we are facing a
future in which we will have to deal with the global and local consequences of a
larger and constantly changing population. I conclude with a review of the ways in
which the global community is trying to cope politically with these changes as they
alter the fabric of human society.

What Is New in This Thirteenth Edition

Populations are constantly changing and evolving, and each successive edition of
this book has aimed to keep up with demographic trends and the explanations
for them. Thus, every chapter of this current edition has been revised for recency,
relevancy, reliability, and readability. At the same time, the teaching and learning
environment has changed substantially over the years, and in this edition, I have
responded to calls from users of the book to reorganize material and reduce the
number of chapters so that everything of vital importance can be readily covered in
one academic term. This edition has only 10 chapters, rather than the 12 chapters in
the previous edition, but all of the really good stuff is still in here.

●● Chapter 1, “Introduction to Demography,” updates the way in which

demography connects the dots in the world, including a substantially revised
essay on “Connecting the Demographic Dots in the Middle East.” Most
important, I have moved the discussion of global population trends into this
xxii Preface

introductory chapter, and of course, I have used the latest numbers available
at the time.
●● Chapter 2, “Demographic Data and Applied Demography,” is now moved up
in the chapter order so that readers know early on the sources of information
informing the entire book. It brings you the latest information about censuses
and surveys throughout the world, with a special focus on the United States,
Canada, and Mexico. There is also an expanded section on applied demogra-
phy, including a discussion of spatial demography, along with a revised essay,
“Demographics of Politics: Why the Census Matters.”
●● Chapter 3, “Demographic Perspectives and Theories,” brings in the latest
thinking on demographic theories, while at the same time emphasizing that
the demographic transition is a whole suite of transitions, the discussion of
which is really what the book is all about. I have expanded the discussion
about the second demographic transition and revised the essay “Who Are the
Neo-Malthusians and Why Do We Care?”
●● Chapter 4, “The Health and Mortality Transition,” has all the latest numbers
on disease and mortality, as well as the latest thinking on the changing scope
of health as populations age. Also included in this chapter, of course, is a dis-
cussion about the various ways in which we measure mortality. The essay in
the chapter focuses on “Mortality Control and the Environment.”
●● Chapter 5, “The Fertility Transition,” discusses the latest data and theories
about fertility change over time and across regions, with a special emphasis
on how the roles and status of women in society influence fertility levels.
The chapter also includes updated discussions of how to measure fertility.
The essay is “Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Health, and the Fertility
Transition.”
●● Chapter 6, “The Migration Transition,” updates the trends throughout
the world in the movement of people between and within countries, with
renewed discussion of the ways in societies and migrants adapt to each
other. The essay updates the topic still bedeviling the United States and
other rich countries: “Is Migration a Crime? Illegal Immigration in Global
Context.”
●● Chapter 7, “The Urban Transition,” is now placed right after the chapter on
migration, since most modern migration is toward or between urban places. The
focus is on the history of urbanization, and then how urban places are evolving
into the diverse homes of a majority of humans. The essay looks at one of the
most pressing issues facing the future: “Cities as Sustainable Environments.”
●● Chapter 8, “The Age Transition and the Life Course,” reviews the latest lit-
erature on the drivers of changing age structures around the world, with a
special emphasis on demographic dividends as examples of how important
the age transition is. The latter part of the chapter looks at the more personal
part of aging as the human life course undergoes dramatic shifts. Methods of
projecting populations using age-specific death, fertility, and migration data
 Preface xxiii

are also covered. The goal of the essay is to capture the big issue: “The Age
Transition Force Is with Us.”
●● Chapter 9, “Family Demography and Life Chances,” explores the immense
changes taking place in family and household life as all of the other tran-
sitions have genuinely revolutionized human society. These changes affect
every individual’s life chances, and the chapter updates those perspectives
and data. The essay looks at what many people in the world are particularly
interested in: “Show Me the Money!”
●● Chapter 10, “Population, the Environment, and Global Sustainability,”
examines the global links between population growth and change, economic
growth and change, and the tremendous human impact on our environment.
We are at a critical point globally in our need to focus on what is required
to sustain the additional billions projected to be joining us over the course
of this century. There is also an updated version of the very popular essay:
“How Big Is Your Ecological Footprint?”

Special Features of the Book

To help increase your understanding of the basic concepts and issues of population
studies, the book contains the following special features.
Short Essays As noted above in the chapter descriptions, each chapter contains
a short essay on a particular population concept, designed to help you better under-
stand current demographic issues covered in that chapter. Each essay ends with two
discussion questions to encourage you to think about the topic in greater depth.
Main Points A list of 10 main points appears at the end of each chapter to help
you review chapter highlights.
Questions for Review A set of five questions are provided at the end of each
chapter, designed to stimulate thinking and class discussion on topics covered in the
text.
Glossary A glossary in the back of the book defines key population terms.
These terms are in boldface type when introduced in the text to signal that they also
appear in the glossary.
Complete Bibliography This is a fully referenced book, and all of the publica-
tions and data sources I have used are included in a bibliography at the end of the
book.
A Thorough Index To help you find what you need in the book, I have built as
complete an index as possible, divided into a Subject Index and a Geographic Index.

Digital Resources

New to this edition, the MindTap digital platform offers:

●● An interactive eBook, in which students can highlight key text, add notes,
and create custom flashcards
xxiv Preface

●● Video resources, practice activities, and application activities that empower

students toward authentic and thoughtful learning experiences
●● A capstone project for the course
●● A digital test bank, which includes multiple choice, true/false, and essay ques-
tions for each chapter
●● A fully mobile experience via the MindTap mobile app, so students can read
or listen to textbooks and study with the aid of instructor notifications and
flashcards

Ancillary Course Material

An Instructor’s Manual and other ancillary materials are available through the book’s
home page on the publisher’s website: https://www.cengage.com/c/population
-an-introduction-to-concepts-and-issues-13e-weeks/
I regularly update my blog, providing resources for instructors and students:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/.

Personal Acknowledgments

Like most authors, I have an intellectual lineage that I feel is worth tracing. In par-
ticular, I would like to acknowledge my principal mentor, Kingsley Davis, whose
standards as a teacher and scholar will always keep me reaching; Eduardo Arriaga;
Judith Blake; Thomas Burch; Carlo Cipolla; Murray Gendell; Nathan Keyfitz; and
Samuel Preston. Individually and collectively, they have guided me in my quest to
unravel the mysteries of how the world operates demographically. Thanks are due
also to Steve Rutter, formerly of Wadsworth Publishing Company, who first sug-
gested that I write this book, and to Kathy Sands-Boehmer at Cengage who very
skillfully and patiently managed the production of this thirteenth edition of the
book.
Special thanks go to John, Gregory, Jennifer, Amy, and Jim for teaching me the
costs and benefits of children and children-in-law. They have instructed me, in their
various ways, in the advantages of being first-born, the coziness of the middle child,
and the joys that immigration can bring to a family. They have also brought me
seven wonderful grandchildren: Andrew, Sophie, Benjamin, Julia, Elizabeth, Kayla,
and James. I have the best possible family demography!
However, the one person who is directly responsible for the fact that the first,
second, third, fourth, fifth, updated fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, elev-
enth, twelfth, and now the thirteen editions were written, and who deserves credit
for the book’s strengths, is my wife, Deanna. Her creativity, good judgment, and
hard work in reviewing and editing the manuscript benefited virtually every page,
and the book, like my life, is dedicated to her.
 Preface xxv

Other Acknowledgments

I would also like to thank the users of the earlier editions, including professors,
their students (many of whom are now professors), and my own students, for their
comments and suggestions. Many, many other people have helped since the first
edition came out more than 40 years ago, and I am naturally very grateful for all of
their assistance. Thanks also for the many useful reviews of the twelfth edition that
helped to inspire changes in this edition.
 Part One

A Demographic Perspective
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Demography

Population
Size
1–10
11–20
All others

Figure 1.1 Cartogram of Countries of the World by Population Size

Note: The map shows the size of each country of the world according to its population. Each square represents approximately
2 million persons.
Source: Prepared by John Weeks and Sean Taugher using data from the United Nations Population Division World Population
Prospects: The 2019 Revision; data refer to estimates for 2020.

What Is Demography? How Fast Is the World’s Population Growing

Now?
How Does Demography Connect the Dots?
The Power of Doubling—How Fast Can
The Relationship of Population to Resources
Populations Grow?
Food
Why Was Early Growth So Slow?
Water
Why Are More Recent Increases So Rapid?
Energy
How Many People Have Ever Lived?
Housing and Infrastructure
Redistribution of the World’s Population through
Environmental Degradation
Migration
The Relationship of Population to Social and
European Expansion
Political Dynamics
“South” to “North” Migration
Regional Conflict
The Urban Revolution
Globalization
Global Migration Geographic Distribution of the World’s
The Relationship of Population to the Rights Population
of Women
Global Variation in Population Size
World Population Growth and Growth
A Brief History North America

3
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 CROSSING THE DESERT BELOW CHIMNEY BUTTE

THE ORAIBI WASH IN FLOOD-TIME

Where quicksands are ready to engulf a stalled car

While the Desert appears as a level sward, one soon finds that there is no sward
to speak of, and that one million tangled hummocks fast follow the first million,
each bunch of sparse grass, each growth of greasewood or saltbush having its
own protecting hillock of sand. A good road in those days was one that a stout
wagon could get over without being wrecked.

It is quite an experience to travel for hours toward a given point marked by a

solitary pinnacle, a veritable mountain having sheer sides, and fail to reduce the
distance appreciably. The sun was nearly down when we crawled along a valley
between two of these monsters. One, named Chimney Butte, a huge truncated
cone resting on massive shoulders, was the highest in that country; and the
other, Castle Butte, looked like a ruined mediæval stronghold, having a
causeway flanked by towers, above which loomed dim embattlements and
casements. In the brilliant daylight the height of Chimney Butte is dwarfed by
desert distances; and Castle Butte is not always robed in fancy; but it was now
twilight, the time when the Desert is most sombre and fanciful, and it was my
entrance to that garden of the vanished gods. These two gigantic piles were as
the awesome portals of a ruined gateway, the pass to an unknown, mysterious
country; and the whole setting, fading into night, gloomy with the menace of
silence, held something of the strange unreality of a dream. And came on
suddenly the dark and cold.

How did Smith manage to follow the road? I could no longer see it, and had
more than enough to do to cling to the pitching seat of the wagon. We headed
straight [59]into the blackness. What yawning precipices might be awaiting us! I
became chilled and cramped, and was thankful for that greatcoat, though it did
not pad me against the rude shocks of the going.

“How much farther is it to this Agency?” I asked.

“Oh! over in the hills a bit—‘bout three miles furder to go yit. It ain’t an agency,
yeh know—nothin’ but a missionary and a log hut.”

And we plunged into another of the dark defiles. Then out of the black, on a bit
of cold wind, came a desert welcome that one never forgets, a promise of rare
comfort when one is hungry and cramped with cold, the pungent incense of
burning cedar. Now from the deep shadow of a hillside arose a thin column of
sparks, glinting, flying jewels of the night.

“There’s it,” he announced, as if somewhat relieved, himself.

It was a little house, built of boards, having but two rooms, one large enough for
a bed and dresser, the other containing a cookstove, table, and two chairs. Its
outside dimensions could not have been more than twelve by twenty feet. And
when the stove was filled with dry cedar one was tempted, after a complete
toasting on one side, to dispense with the table. But there was no complaint to
make of this on our arrival. The fire had the cheering crackle of Yuletide, and
soon coffee and bacon added their aroma. The hospitality of the good
missionary and his wife was like all those welcomes extended in the solitary
places, when the visitor is not touring with a notebook and a nose. The meal
ended, and all news exchanged, we said good night and opened the door.

“’Ere’s a go!” one might have exclaimed, without hurting the feelings of a
preacher. It was snowing! And [60]even a preacher would have remarked further,
probably with adjectives, on seeing that Government house in which we were to
spend the night. It was a log hut in truth, built corral-fashion, the poles set on
end, the chinks originally plastered with adobe. There was but one room,
containing a single bunk made of boards, an old cookstove, and a collection of
broken tools and empty canned-goods cases. The floor was of packed earth.
Without exaggeration, I may say that the roof and the floor were intact; but
practically all the caulking had escaped from the log walls, and the wind felt its
way inside with long icy fingers. The mechanic dropped into the bunk and was
asleep almost instantly; and, after building a rushing fire in the stove, I rolled
myself in Government blankets, and rolled again, this time under the stove, to
pass the night.

But I did not rest in the poetry of the wild. The refulgent moon did not come up to
spill its splendor through the open door, nor even through the extensive
openings of the wall; the perfume of the growing pines did not soothe with
healing balsam, the cry of the loon did not sound from across the lake, and so
forth. The floor, however, was under that stove; and the floor had not been
constructed along those scientific lines followed in the building of Ostermoor
mattresses. Plastic as is my figure, it refused to conform.

And to add to my distress, someone in all that vast and lonely country owned an
old gray horse. I know he was old, and I know he was gray, for he acted just like
a silly old gray horse. And he was hobbled, and he was out in the snow, and he
had a bell tied to his neck.

Clankety-clank-clank, clang, claaangngng—clankety, clang, clank! [61]

Around and around and around the house he voyaged all that night, proceeding
by hops and plunges as a hobbled horse must, his gait just enough hampered
by the lashings of his two front feet to impart a syncopated tempo to the discords
and jangles of that flat metallic bell. At times he would pause, as if for breath,
and there would be quiet—deep silence—just sufficient for a doze; then—
clankety, clang, clang, clank! he would break out again.

I have listened to jazz orchestras of various colors and degrees of crime, and
other peace-destroying nuisances meriting death; but I have never heard
anything equal to the nocturnal pilgrimage of that old gray horse. I would drop off
to sleep, and suddenly wake as if feeling his hobbled feet squarely in the centre
of my contracted chest; but he would be ten yards off, miserably clanking his
way to another sector of the snow-covered terrain. And confused, I would lift my
head to listen, knocking it of course against the bottom of the stove, when a long
icicle would stab through a wall chink and take me fairly in the ear. Perhaps it
was a pleasant night for Smith, who faithfully and harmoniously snored away the
hours.

With the dawn I struggled up. No! I did not bound out joyously to gambol in the
pure air of the stunted cedar-forest. It was a cold gray dawn with a foot of snow,
and there was a dank rheumatic caress in it. With all speed I began smashing a
packing case for kindling. Crash! down came the axe, and splinters flew wide,
when Smith stirred in his bunk, awakening to duty and the dangers thereof. He
blinked his eyes and spluttered:—

“Watch out for that dynamite.”

“Dynamite?”

“Yes; it’s right under my bunk. Chop your wood furder off.” [62]

I followed these directions to the letter. In fact, I gently carried all the wood
outside and chopped it.

The getting of breakfast, a complete demonstration of my culinary ignorance,

occupied me fully in the half-dark. I walked to and fro gingerly, fearing to wake
the dynamite; and I wondered how that stupid fellow could have slept and have
snored as he did, superimposed above a quiescent earthquake. Dynamite is a
great friend to man in the rocky gorges of the West, but it should not be
permitted to join the family circle.
When next I opened the door, what a transformation! I had come to this place in
the cold grim darkness, heartened only by the perfume of burning cedar.
Occupied with the wood and the wet-handled axe, I was dimly aware of a
drowsy landscape in the clammy mist of dawn. But now the sun had lifted, and
the scene was a snowy fairyland. The gnarled cedars of the foreground were
laden with dripping snow, their branches picked out with gems. And where the
snow lay in unbroken sheets, pure white, glistening, the shadows of the dwarfed
trees formed rare patterns. Behind the house were cliffs, and each gaunt angle
held its draping of snow. The time-worn bastions of those lava ledges stood as
gaping at the winter’s cheery Good-morning. It was a stage scene under the
great amber light.

A long valley stretched away to the Bidahoche Plains and the Bad Lands with
their honeycombed hills. Its dim recesses were now painted by the first plashes
of sunshine. To left and right, overhanging the snowy meadows, reared great
buttresses and crags of lava, and all down the valley ancient promontories
loomed amid the fading veils of mist. Prehistoric ages had seen these as the
shelving inner walls of some vast crater, when they had seared [63]and glazed
and baked and colored to form Nature’s pottery. Now, broken and rent apart,
they stood as fantastic separate monuments, lining that sunlit corridor to the
outer plains.

Dominating the foreground was Squash Blossom Butte, an inverted bloom that
the storms of æons had carved and a million rare sunsets tinted. The Indians
reverence the squash blossom as a symbol of fruition, and perhaps—who knows
—in its delicate bell-shaped flower they see more than the mere promise of a
harvest. It is found in Navajo silver-work, strung into those massive necklaces of
which they are so proud; and when one goes into Hopi land he finds it imitated
in the dressing of their maidens’ hair. So they named this altar.

It was commanding in the morning light; it was the last thing seen down the
valley, a scarlet head thrust into a sober sky, as that second night came on. The
sunset lavished all its rainbow shades on it. Richest gold and lavender above,
purple tones and lava-green below; bands of saffron melting into slatey shades;
emerald and crimson deepening into jetty blacks when the afterglow had
vanished. An aged throne of the gods. And clearly sweet, as desert music, came
the half-hushed sound of sheep moving among the cedars; and a young Navajo
girl paused at the edge of a thicket to gaze shyly at our cabin, then to hurry
away, the tiny bells at her belt tinkling, having all the romance of the gypsies.
There is no finer landscape in the Southwest than this seldom-visited country of
the Moqui Buttes where, according to the Hopi, the one-time giants had their
dwelling places. The wondrous piles and pinnacles of the Grand Cañon present
a chaotic struggle that has ceased in all its awesome disorder and aged
grandeur. It makes man [64]gasp and wonder, but it does not invite the smile of
reverie. This scene about the sunset throne had that serenity born of isolation. It
was small enough to invite intimacy. Like the kingdom of a fairy tale, the tranquil
valley encompassed its own world, dreaming, smiling in its sleep.

Many times since have I crossed the Butte country, seeing it frozen in winter and
again broiling under a summer sun that scorched from the cedars their sweetest
aromas. I have always found it a haven, full of peace.

Next day we returned to the Agency, an uneventful retreat, save for a jouncing
box of dynamite that leaped like a thing fiendishly alive whenever the wheels
slammed into a rut. My nerves were not in the best shape. I had been smoking
powdered alfalfa in a pipe. And I would look back from the high seat, half fearing
each time to catch that dynamite in the very act of going off. But luck was with
us; we herded it safely into the Agency storehouse; and I rushed to the post for
a can of real tobacco. [65]
[Contents]
VII
 THE FIRST BALL OF THE SEASON
Of Harrison’s barn, with its muster
Of flags festooned over the wall,
Of the candles that shed their soft lustre
And tallow on headdress and shawl;
Of the steps that we took to one fiddle,
Of the dress of my queer vis-à-vis,
And how I once went down the middle
With the man who shot Sandy McGee.

Bret Harte: “Her Letter”

Among employees of the Desert Indian Service, the Marylander is a rarity. Back
in Maryland the Indian Service is unknown, all readers of the Sun-paper
believing that Indians were originally designed by Buffalo Bill.

So when a lad seated himself on my porch one night, and announced: “Why,
Ah’m from Maheland too; yes, indeed!” it rather struck me where I ought to have
lived. I was eating at the mess then.

He was out with an irrigation crew, surveying levels, and in a few months had
become obsessed by all things Southwest Indian. He wore moccasins and a
bracelet studded with turquoise, and he could chant like a cold Navajo on his
way home from a Yabachai.

“Ah’m goin’ to get me a gourd-drum, an’ go in for ‘singing,’ ” he told me, when we
had become better acquainted, and he demonstrated the eerie half-croon-half-
yodel of the Medicine Man. “Say, Nultsose! have yo’ heard them?—Medicine
‘sings’?” [66]

This was my first intimation that a title attached to my position.

“Nultsose—”

He explained it as Navajo for paper or writing, hence; one who writes on or

issues papers pertaining to the mysteries of white men’s wholly unnecessary
accounting. Nearly all clerks wear spectacles, as I did, and one would think that
the Indian, naming his own so often because of infirmities, would have seized on
this defect for a name. But not so; the check, order, issue-script, permit, or
warrant, the paper, the “nultsose,” is the important thing to him. It means money
in hard dollars, authority perhaps, demand for goods, leave to go on a journey
with recommendation or safe-conduct; or, if fortune has waned, summons to the
Chief.

“And if yo’ go to a ‘sing,’ Nultsose, remember to take change, an’ don’t give the
squaws more’n two bits at a time. Yo’ll have to dance with ’em, yeh know, an’
instead of thankin’ ’em, yo’ pay ’em. Hand out a dollar, an’ Good-night—they
keep the change. Now old Beck-a-shay Thlani is inviting to one sometime soon.
It’ll be a reg’lar hoe-down, an’ we’ll go.”

The doctor was present, and he grinned uncomfortably. The Nahtahni, stretched
in his hammock, rubbed his wig and grunted.

“Ah! yo’-all come too,” urged Roberts; “It’ll be fun. They all know me, and I’ll do
the interpreting. Every old shemah with a dotter has her eye cast my way,
anyhow. They pick out the handsome boys for the weddings at ‘sings.’ I’ll have
to get me a Piute wedding-basket, though, next pay-day. There’s a trader over at
Red Lake who’s got my order for it.”

The doctor cautioned me later not to be too hasty in [67]this matter, and I
perceived that he had reason for timidity.

“They’ll get you,” he declared. “They never fail to land a fellow; and then he has
to prance like a fool before five thousand Indians. That’s all right for Roberts,
’cause he’ll wind up a squaw man; but I’m advising you.”

And one twilight, when we were again arranged on deck after supper, a half-
dozen little Navajo boys from the school sidled up to the Chief, daring and timid
by turns, their eyes snapping with the fire of hope. They hung around until he
asked:—

“Ah-tish-ah?”

“Dence!” they exclaimed, breathlessly.

“Noki yisconga, epten,” the Nahtahni severely decided. “Doe-yah-shaunta! She-

no-be-hosen. E-yah-tay.”

The Old Man was proud of his linguistic ability, and this was the complete extent
of his Navajo on any topic. The last sentence but one he had made up,
somehow, all by himself. It bore no semblance to anything any Navajo had ever
enunciated; but he knew what it meant. A free—a very free—translation would
run something like this: “Two days from now, nothing doing. Don’t you dare to do
it. It’s bad for you. I know nothing about it. Yes; all right!”

The last was all the kids wanted. The scrub crackled as they disappeared into
and through it, going as frightened rabbits.

Roberts spoke next.

“That’s old Beck-a-shay Thlani’s ‘sing.’ Say, boss, the Doc and young Nultsose
here are both pinin’ for to shake a toe in that soiree. Let us have a team, will
yeh?”

The Nahtahni grunted.

“You know the horses have worked hard to-day—” [68]

“Yes; let us have a team,” said his stepdaughter, who afterward married the
doctor; and that settled it, and also bound the medico to the adventures of the
evening. There are a few things no different in the Desert. The Navajo woman of
the hogan, the Hopi dowager of the household on the height, the Pueblo wife of
the lower vineyards, all settle these questions in much the same manner. Man
proposes and begins to make a noise with words, and immediately thereafter
attends strictly to the holding of his peace. Roberts knew this, and without
further parley disappeared in the direction of the barn. Shortly came a farm
wagon, drawn by two solid animals, and a dozen of us piled into it, the doctor
noticeably lagging.

“Don’t forget your change, Nultsose,” called Roberts.

It was no great distance to the river, and soon we were splashing through
shallow waters. Mounting the high farther bank, the wagon began tossing and
rolling over an old desert road. Then the dark laid down its thick blanket, and the
stars burned through overhead. From the next rise we noticed a faint glow, away
off, and this grew larger as we blundered along. Now a whiff of pungent smoke
came on the thin desert wind. Now the deep shadows began to dissolve into a
golden gloom, and now gleamed the white-hot flare of burning cottonwood. Then
a furious challenge from the dogs, and we saw the camp. As feudal lords were
once accompanied by retainers and shock-headed varlets, so the nomadic lord
of the Desert is followed by a multitude of canines. It seemed that a thousand of
them started up to greet us, a fearsome, throaty bedlam.

Wagons loomed up, their canvas tops lending a touch of the pioneer days; and
in the spaces between the poles were the little cooking-fires, around which
women and [69]children huddled amid pots and pans, saddles and boxes and
water-kegs and tangled harness—all the clutter of a desert camp. Beyond the
huge central fire was a hogan, that queer house the Navajo builds of logs and
plasters with adobe, domed like a beehive, and from its roof wreathed a thin
column of smoke. There rested the sick man for whom all this preparation had
been made, the cost of which would likely break old Beck-a-shay Thlani, or at
least seriously strain his credit at the trading-posts.

Coarse Navajo rugs were spread close to the fire and, with grave salutations
from the older men and smiles from mothers who convoyed a bevy of Navajo
girls, we were invited to be seated in the place of honor. This would have
impressed any blank-record Easterner, going about making notes, as rude but
wholesome hospitality, and it was; but the courtesy also enabled the Navajo to
indulge himself—and particularly herself—in a bit of fun. The doctor slipped
away into the shadows; and I noticed that the young men of the Navajo, scores
of them, sat their ponies, a long line of horsemen behind us. They eased in their
saddles, reins hanging, their faces having the grave solemnity that marks a shy
and diffident people.

That is, shy of strangers, before whom they draw on the mask of gravity,
mistaken since the days of Fenimore Cooper for stoicism. But no one was shy of
Roberts; and especially had he friends among the ladies. Every old shemah
greeted him with a smile and exclamations of pleased surprise. He held the
confidence of these people; and well he might, considering the pains he had
been to in acquiring a working vocabulary of their language, which is probably
as difficult to master as Chinese. And I felt somewhat reassured in having him
for sponsor. We lolled [70]comfortably on the rugs, and the fire burned our faces
and lighted everything as at a play.
 NAVAJO ON THEIR WAY TO A DANCE

A NAVAJO HOGAN AND ITS BLANKET LOOM

“The doc’ has vamoosed,” he said, grinning; “but that won’t do him any good.
They’ll run him down in the scrub, and bring him in hog-tied. I’ve told a dozen old
women that he is stingy with his dancing. Self-defense—otherwise you an’ me’d
have to do it all.”

“Explain this dancing act,” I requested.

“Don’t worry,” Robert replied. “The squaws will attend to everything for yeh. Just
yield gracefully—an’ pay ’em. Don’t forget that.”

Now from the hogan came a band of solemn-featured men, led by an old
gentleman of the tribe who bore a strong resemblance to Rameses III, straight
out of glass case No. 12, as you go down the east corridor, save that he was
slightly animated. He bore a staff, to which a little gourd-drum was tied. The
group formed a wedge behind him. Silently they swayed together, shoulders
touching, for several seconds. Then the old one tapped the drum and intoned a
howl, and with one accord they were off, like a flock of coon dogs on a cold
night. In time with the curious rhythm they continued swaying, and occasionally
did a hop-step without moving forward. The fire beat upon them and, as they
warmed to the chanting, heads thrown back, mouths agape, and vocal chords
never missing a note, the sweat beaded on their foreheads.

“This,” said Roberts to me, in solemn appreciation, “this is some singing—I

never heard better.” And I agreed with him. It laid over anything I had ever
heard, including a Mott Street theatre choir.

It is impossible to describe the nuances of the Navajo chants. At the farthest

northern trading-post there lives a lady who can translate the Rain Song, the
Prayer before [71]Day, and other of their invocations; and I know a white man
who had a “medicine sing” held over him to comfort his Navajo wife; but until you
meet up with Roberts, properly chaperoned nowadays in the great Jedito Wash,
I pass giving any idea of that weird combination of sounds. A long sustained
note at times, now a crooning melody, now a sad, half-wild cry, filled with minor
effects that would be the delight and the despair of any jazz artist, it is indeed a
song of the Desert.

And the most astounding thing of all was the endurance of that aged vocalist,
the old Medicine Man. The pitch of his drum simply encouraged him in new
effects. There was an energy, a sustaining confidence in his efforts that must
have had a rare effect on the ailing one within the hogan. And for two mortal
hours the others of the singing band followed his lead without once rivaling him.
When one hesitated, as might be seen but not heard, the clamor of the pack
smothered all defects; and the faltering one would cough, spit straight upward
into the air, uncaring, and get a fresh start. But the old man was never headed;
not once did he waver, hesitate, or fail in the key. He had begun with that first flat
sounding of the drum, and he continued faithfully unto the end. He was an artist.
I admired him. And when Roberts told me that the old charlatan would receive at
least twenty sheep and five head of cows for his fee, I began to understand his
unflagging spirit. He had a reputation to sustain.

The Regulations of the Interior Department, issued to Nahtahnis, state that all
such interesting old comedians should be in jail for this offense against medical
ethics. But, mark you! the Interior Department does not encourage Nahtahni to
put him in jail. There are too many of him. The Navajo number between thirty
and forty thousand [72]souls on the six Navajo reserves, and about every
seventh man is a doctor of tribal medicine. While a lucrative calling, it is not
always a desirable one for the neophyte, since failure to exorcise successfully
the evil spirits enmeshed in the patient has been followed more than once by
swift demise, and the blundering physician did not heal himself later, nor did he
hear the singing.

Once to me came an Inspector from the Department, and he said:—

“Now you have been having trouble with these Indians, and I am surprised that
you have dismissed all your Navajo policemen as unworthy. You must have a
police force to keep the Navajo in line. We will call a council and select a new
outfit to sustain you in this important work.”

Which we did. There were flour and meat, coffee and sugar, together with the
all-necessary beck-a-shay nahto, cattle tobacco provided for distribution, and
the people came. As usual, the men were diffident and modest, and no one
offered himself for appointment as an officer of the realm. The nominations were
made by head-men, and discussion followed as to individual merits, influence,
bravery, and all those virtues that are supposed to animate the warrior. The
Inspector was finally satisfied with the selections.

An old-timer sat on the platform with us, acting as interpreter. Ed had skinned
mules across the Zuni Mountains in 1889, and he could take an old single-action
forty-five and keep a tin can moving as if it were alive. He could roll a saddle-
blanket cigarette with one hand, sing a puncher song, and play the guitar. He
was one of the post-traders, and perhaps the best Navajo interpreter alive. He
knew the Navajo Indian, having had the advantage [73]of a living dictionary in his
early days. But Ed knew when to keep his mouth shut, and aside from faithfully
interpreting from English into Navajo and from Navajo into English he said
nothing at the time. But later:—
“It wasn’t for me, a mere uneducated Indian trader, to give my advice to a wise
guy from the East who was pointing the trails out to a Nahtahni; but … every
damned one of them new police has ‘medicine turquoise’ in his ears.”

It was true. Every one of them should have been in jail!

The Navajo are lithe and lean, for the most part, and their dress is picturesque.
One could see all sorts of costume at this “sing.” There was the old fellow with
trousers compiled of flour sacks, the brand having been arranged as a bit of
decoration, and where “our best” would show to most advantage; and there
was that one satisfied with a pair of cast-off overalls. But the majority were in
rich-toned velveteen shirts, open at the neck, and with sleeves vented under the
armpits; and desert trousers, loose and flapping garments, Spanish-style, split
below the knee, made of highly colored and figured calico. One fellow’s legs
were a riot of gaudy parrots. The twisted silk handkerchiefs worn about the head
came from the Spanish too, no doubt. Their hair was drawn back from the
forehead and corded in a long knot, a Mongol touch. Their moccasins were of
red-stained buckskin, half-shoe, half-leggin, warm and noiseless. The young
men wore gay shirts and neckerchiefs, store-bought, and their ponies showed
more of decoration than themselves. Each had a good saddle, most necessary
to a desert Romeo, and the headdresses of the ponies were heavy with silver
bands and rosettes.

Now a middle-aged dandy would strut about, proud [74]of a crimson shirt, and the
firelight would paint him as a figure from old opera. He would shine whitely of
silver—a huge necklace, with turquoise pendants and many strands of shell and
coral; bracelets, and the khado that is still worn, though the wrist no longer
needs protection from the bowstring; silver rings and silver buttons, all studded
with turquoise chips. Not less than five hundred dollars in metal and
workmanship would adorn these old beaux, and an Indian valuation would be
enormous.

Silver and turquoise are the jeweled wealth of the Navajo, the white metal
contrasting with their sunburnt skins and the stone holding the color of their
matchless skies.

The women wore velveteen bodices and curiously full skirts. They too were
weighted with silver ornaments, one having the more of beads and bandeaux
being the favorite wife or daughter. Some of the smaller girls moved about
accompanied by the tinkling of little bells strung to their moccasins and belts.

All this in the brilliant flare of the cottonwood fire, above which fanned a mist of
sparks like another Milky Way; and there was the incense of the smoking logs;
and the star-pinned dome overhead; and all around the dark maw of the great
lonely Desert.

Suddenly came a halt in these “singing” proceedings. The choir withdrew

somewhere, and the centre of the stage was taken by another old man, who led
a little girl. Other and older girls began to hurry around the circle, darting here,
darting there, as if running something down. At first the little one seemed a trifle
confused and stood in wide-eyed hesitation; but with a bit of urging from the
elder master of the ceremonies, she made for Roberts. He would lead this
german. Grinning, he permitted her [75]to pull him into the ring, his partner
maintaining a solemnity that was comical.

“Get ready for the next set,” he called to me over his shoulder.

The social features were on, and the girls were hunting partners. Did the young
men of the ponies vie with each other? They did not. They sat their steeds as if
cut from granite. For it would seem that a young man would likely lose half his
finery, certainly all his change, if captured, and might find himself later up against
a breach-of-promise suit. On foot, he was at a disadvantage; mounted, it was
the more difficult to drag him down. I cannot say that I noticed any chivalry
among those young Navajo fellows.

But Roberts—there was a fine accommodating chap for you. One partner was
not enough for him; he now had two of the tiny ones.

The dance seemed simple enough. It consisted in one’s acting as a pivot,

around which the little squaw, or several of them, turned backward with rapid
scuffling steps. Her one hand tightly gripped the man’s belt, the other held as
tightly her blanket. Her expression was as sober as a Chinaman’s. But she
accomplished the purpose of the business. After a few moments of that turning,
the subject would be too dizzy to argue out of a donation. It kept up until Roberts
was weaving; but when they stopped he protested that he was a poverty-
stricken wretch—and promptly, without cracking a smile, they began again. He
must shell out at least a quarter to each, which he did finally, and they scuttled
back to their chaperons, who banked the money. And here he came unsteadily
to the blanket we shared, while I suspected several of the old women casting
menacing glances in my direction. There [76]sounded a scurry in the outer
darkness, and a crashing of the greasewood.

“The doc’ has beat it,” said Roberts, dropping down. I raised to look around; and
just then, from behind, I felt a very muscular hand grasping my belt. There was
nothing to do but yield in the best humor possible. A wild shout from the Indians,
men and women, even from the ungallant horsemen grouped in the rear, and I
was thrust and pulled forward. They had appointed two of the small girls to me,
and their hold on my belt was like grim death.

And now the shuffle began.

I endeavored to spin without entangling my feet, but there was something wrong
with my action. I was no such success as friend Roberts had been. Now the
master of ceremonies came forward, his wrinkled face having the benevolence
of a grandfather, and with expressive gestures he explained his sorrow because
of my inefficiency. He would give me a lesson. We used words that neither
understood, and made signs at each other until wholesale laughter retired the
teacher. But I was not retired. I was still in the ring.

The gold-and-orange flares of the fires dazzled one’s eyes, and then one began
to turn faster; the circle of bright figures in the full light lost outline, and then the
wagons and horses and hogan and Roberts on his blanket blurred into and
formed one jumbled merry-go-round of which I was the centre. A little more of
this, and I cried “Enough!” and very nearly staggered into the fire. Solemnly my
partners waited for and clutched at their two-bit pieces, and I weaved back to the
blanket.

The doctor was not captured that night. Perhaps he managed to hide until we
harnessed the team and started for home; perhaps he walked into the Agency,
as several [77]accused. But this was a “running dance,” meaning a moving one.
A second installment of it was held the next night at a point ten miles down the
river. The doctor was compelled to go, and there they ran him down and forced
his performance. His effort was not half bad, and I wondered if mine had been
as funny.

Affairs of this sort taught me that the desert Navajo are a good-natured and
interesting people, in many ways like our own country folk at quilting-bees and
huskings. They have their renegades and black sheep, with which the white race
is as fully endowed; and my ugly experiences of later days could not be charged
to the tribe.

When a Navajo is ailing, they manage to combine exorcism of the evil spirits
with the amusing dance, and whether or not old Beck-a-shay Thlani was
improved physically, the girls had a good time. It often helps them to find a
husband; and in this case, how were they to know that Roberts would desert
them for an Albuquerque girl, or that in a few months I would be interested only
in solemnizing the marriages of older sisters and the herding of the remainder
into schools?

But I have often wondered, when on those trails leading down into Beck-a-shay
Thlani’s district, and coming suddenly on a shy Navajo maiden chivvying a band
of sheep, if she were one I danced with that night on the Little Colorado River,
when I was simply “Nultsose,” and the worries and responsibilities of Nahtahni
had not been clamped to my shoulders. [78]
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