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Awareness day aims to define 'green'

Navajo Times - Indian Wells, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2011

Navajo Times Article
TahNibaa Naataanii, left, shows a local resident an automated wool spinner Nov. 18 during Green Awareness Day at Indian Wells Elementary School. (Times photo - Noel Lyn Smith)

Navajo Times

By Noel Lyn Smith

Dottie Wilson was trying her skill at hand carding Navajo Churro wool at the demonstration booth during Green Awareness Day, held Friday at Indian Wells Elementary School.
Wilson, of Indian Wells, came to the event to learn about sustainable living and green jobs.

"I heard the word 'green' but didn't realize all that can be considered green," Wilson said while glancing at the information booths that filled the gymnasium floor.

There were booths that focused on developing a green economy on the Navajo Nation and booths with information about changing lifestyles to include environmentally friendly ideas, like how to make compost from common household waste.

The Navajo-Churro Sheep

To the Navajo, “Sheep is life.” A primer on the Navajo-Churro breed tells you why.

COWBOYS & INDIANS / OCTOBER 2011 / THE NAVAJO-CHURRO SHEEP

Cowyboys and Indians Article

Cowboys and Indians

Perhaps no breed exemplifies the traditional Navajo belief that “Sheep is life” more than the Navajo-Churro. A hardy stock with wonderful fleece, the Churro is an important spiritual and economic asset to the Navajo, who use its glossy fiber for their famed woven blankets and rugs and its low-fat meat and abundant milk for food.

According to Diné bé Iiná (The Navajo Lifeway), “Navajo philosophy, spirituality, and sheep are intertwined like wool in the strongest weaving. Sheep symbolize the Good Life, living in harmony and balance on the land.” How the breed that was the woof and warp of this metaphoric weaving came to near-extinction is one of the little-told stories of the American West.

Environmentally friendly businesses could be option for returning Navajo

Gallup Independent Article

Gallup Independent Article
Tahnibaa Naataanii demonstrates an automated wool spinner during Green Awareness Day at lndian Wells Elementary School Friday. The event featured a variety of informative booths and speakers. (Gallup Independent photo - Brian Leddy)

Gallup Independent

INDIAN WELLS- When young Navajo men and women leave the Navajo Nation to pursue higher education, they are told "get an education and then come back home and help your people." But a college degree does not guarantee a job when they return.

That is why Claudia Jackson, ofNavajo Green Jobs,believes that by looking to the Navajo government for a job is not necessary. She thinks that instead of waiting for progress from the Navajo government, establishing a green job that would benefit the Navajo Nation as well as the individual would be a better solution.

That is why Navajo Green Jobs, along with many other organizations, held the Green Awareness Day event Friday at Indian Wells Elementary School to inform the community about the positive possibilities of going green.

Annual Sheep is Life event celebrates sheep and wool

Navajo Times Article
Bob Naegle, right of Bayfield, Colorado holds his yearling Churro ram at the sheep show during the Sheep is Life Celebration June 25, 2011 at Dine' College in Tsaile, Arizona and his ram won grand champion in the ram category (Navajo Times photo - Leigh T. Jimmie)

2011 Sheep is Life festival highlights culture, connection to sheep

Navajo Times

By Noel Lyn Smith
Navajo Times
Tsaile, Arizona, June 30, 2011

Sometimes judging a sheep show is a little like looking at an oil painting.

You stand at a distance then you move in for a closer inspection but when you move closer to a Navajo Churro sheep, there is no guarantee the critter won't baa or turn away.

On Saturday owners presented their sheep before a laid-back crowd of about 30 people during the annual Sheep is Life celebration at the Diné College rodeo arena. The competitors showed their animals to best advantage, cradling the chin up in one hand and steadying the head with the other hand, as judges looked them over.

A Connection to Sheep

Navajo Times Article
Children wash wool in a screen during the wet felting process on June 14 at the 14th Annual Sheep is Life Celebration. Left to right are Xavier Begay, 8, of Pinon, Ariz., sisters Hannah James, 6, and Bre' James, 3, of Fort Defiance, and Xandra Begay, 6, of Pinon. (Navajo Times photo - Althea John)

2010 Sheep is Life festival highlights culture, connection to sheep

Navajo Times

By Noel Lyn Smith, Navajo Times
TSAILE, Ariz., June 24, 2010

The popping sound that came from the drum carder that Jerry Lansing cranked caught the attention of the children.
As Lansing kept feeding wool into the machine, the group grew around him to watch the wool separate between the small and large spool.

The purpose for carding is to separate and straighten the wool fibers. The result is a "batt" or section of wool ready for further processing.

"I'm going to feed it a little bit at the time," Lansing said as he reached for more wool.

'Sheep Is Life' At Navajo Prep Draws Spinners, Weavers

Daily Times Article
Sara Natani of Table Mesa, NM, checks on spun wool class her class colored as a part of her vegetal dyeing class Tuesday for the weeklong Sheep Is Life celebration at Navajo Prepatory School. The event in its 13th year, is put on to honor the animal's significance. (Photo - Xavier Mascarenas, Farmington Daily Times)

Daily Times

by Alysa Landry - The (Farmington, NM) Daily Times

FARMINGTON, NM - The soft hum of a treadle spinning wheel set the soundtrack Tuesday at the annual "Sheep is Life" celebration at Navajo Preparatory School.

Feet firmly planted on the pedals of the spinning wheel, Sarah Natani let the silky strands of cashmere wool slip through her fingers while she joked with a small group of women.

"People ask how the wool gets to be orange," she said. "We tell them it comes from orange sheep. They ask where we get orange sheep, and we tell them you feed them lots of carrots. A lot of people believe us."

Natani, of Table Mesa, is teaching a vegetal dyeing class at the week-long event. The "Sheep is Life" celebration, in its 13th year, is a way to honor the animal's significance.

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