Impact of Development on the Demographic and Social Structures of Residents of the Lake Powell Region

摘要

The report analyzes the impact of economic development on the demographic processes among Anglo-Americans, most of whom are Mormons, and Navajos living in south central and south eastern Utah, north central and north eastern Arizona, and north western New Mexico. Most characteristic of this area has been its economic non-development. With one exception, the Anglo-American communities investigated were settled under the direction or indirect influence of Mormon leaders. While these communities were expected to be self-sufficient and supporting, they were tied closely to and directed from the expanding metropolitan center in Salt Lake City. Once it became clear to the mormons that an independent commonwealth was impossible, they entered into the economic realm occupied by other Anglo-Americans. The situation faced by the Navajos was clearly different. Basically an agricultural people, they were forcibly placed on a reservation with no central tribal organization until the present century. A language barrier made interaction with their Anglo neighbors difficult and they had little knowledge of the workings of the dominant society. A comprehensive study of reservation and non-reservation residents is presented.