Fascinating report about improvements and hurdles to get an accurate count. For example, those checking “American Indian or Alaska Native,” were asked to print the “name of enrolled or principal tribe(s).” Given the opportunity to provide specifics on race and ethnicity, people did.
The 2020 census had “350 million detailed write-ins that we collected and coded and are working to tabulate,” Jones said. “So that gives you a sense of the volume of what people are reporting.”
https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/us-census-explains-american-indian-alaska-native-numbers
US Census explains American Indian, Alaska Native numbers