Oh no...oh no...

This isn’t an early April Fools’ joke, although for many Pretendians it just might be!

It’s just a friendly reminder from Pretendian Country Today that the National Archives and Records Administration is releasing the 1950 Census ThIS FriDaY!!!!!

“On April 1, 2022, the 1950 Census will be released, and users will be able to access it for free through a dedicated website,” a post from the National Archives reads.

You can bet the Pretendians in media, arts, politics and the academy are already strategizing with ways to explain why their immediate ancestors aren’t American Indian or Alaska Native.

List of Common Pretendian Excuses

1. Government documents are colonial

2. My gramma hid her Indian

3. We’re “Indigenous”

4. The Census is lateral violence

5. I never said I was enrolled!

Now for those readers with ACTUAL ties to their tribal nations, here’s a brief description of the information that can be found in the 1950 Census:

Many Native Americans who lived on reservations were enumerated both on the regular population schedule, Form P1, 1950 Census of Population and Housing, as well as on Form P8, Indian Reservation Schedule, shown below. Employees of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) served as census enumerators on Indian Reservations.

Native Americans who did not live on reservations were enumerated only on the regular population schedule, Form P1, 1950 Census of Population and Housing.  In addition, Native Americans who lived on reservations in Alaska, Oklahoma, and possibly other locations were only on the regular population schedule, Form P1, 1950 Census of Population and Housing.

And here’s a March 14, 2022, webinar from the U.S. Census Bureau:

Here’s to the best April Fools’ Day ever.