In the early 1600s, Navajo acquisition of “la raza churra” sheep from the Spanish colonists inspired a radical lifestyle change  to pastoralism and expanded mobility.  In the high deserts and wooded mountains of Diné Bikéyah (Navajo Land) Diné pastoralists developed the Navajo-Churro breed, which thrived under the spiritual and pastoral care of their new companions and assumed a central role in the People's psychology, creativity, and religious life. 

      With songs, prayers, and techniques taught to them by Spider Woman and looms first built by Spider Man, traditional Navajo weaving evolved to utilize the special qualities of the glossy Navajo-Churro wool.  Unlike wool from modern commercial breeds, wool from primitive carpet-wool sheep such as Churro is low in lanolin, so it does not require valuable water for washing nor time-consuming carding.  It can be shorn, hand cleaned, then spun into tightly twisted yarn that readily absorbs indigo and native vegetal dyes, from which the Navajo artists create weavings famous for their creativity, luster, fine texture, and durability.  The wool can be easily felted for a variety of uses; the distinctive long-haired pelts are highly valued. 

      Carpet-wool sheep have two lengths of wool.  When shorn, the resulting fleece has very long fibers as well as an undercoat of shorter fibers.  Yarn spun from this type of wool is extremely strong and durable, making it excellent for the Navajo rugs and Spanish jerga.  (Wool fragments that have endured for thousands of years in the Middle East are from a related breed of sheep.)  As the Navajo managed their flocks for over 350 years, they evolved the Navajo-Churro, a breed recognized by the American Sheep Industry. 

      The Churro can usually be shorn twice a year, rather than the conventional practice of annual shearing.  The wool comes in natural colors, including apricot, grey, black, brown, beige, and white, which are highly-prized by hand-spinners.  Genetically resistant to many sheep diseases,
Churros can withstand austere conditions and have excellently flavored meat. 

      A series of federal government actions led to the almost total eradication of the Churro, disrupting the chain connecting Navajo culture, weaving, traditional lifestyle, and self-sufficiency.  In the early to  mid-1900s, market forces, ignorance, and misguided attempts to "improve" Navajo wool, depressed the economic value of Navajo-Churro sheep and led to their almost complete disappearance from their homeland. 

      At the same time, traditional summer grazing lands in the mountains were appropriated by the
U.S. government and a system of allotments was instituted which disrupted the traditional way of family land management.  The lack of access to appropriate grazing lands and their nutritious plants caused a number of problems, including inferior quality wool, lower lambing rates, poor meat production, and, most tragically, devastation of the already fragile lands of the Navajo Nation. 

      During the 1930s, Navajos were forced by the United States to radically reduce their herds - the wellspring of their Good Life.  Government agents went from hogan to hogan, shooting a specified percentage of the sheep in front of their horrified owners, who love their sheep and regard them as family members.  First to be shot were the Churro, because the agents thought this hardy breed was "scruffy and unfit."  Today, elders tearfully recall that time and can describe in detail each sheep that was killed and the exact location of the massacre. 

      In the late 1930s and ‘40s, federal agricultural agents discouraged raising the Churro and, under the auspices of the Fort Wingate program, encouraged cross-breeding with other fine wool genotypes.  Unfortunately, the fine wool Merino and Rambouillet breeds require more resources such as grass and water, and more management.     

 Their shorter wool fibers break easily when hand spun using traditional Navajo methods and do not take the native, natural dyes very well.  Navajo weavers became discouraged with trying to process this new wool by traditional means, and many began buying commercially produced and dyed yarns. 

      At the same time the Navajo-Churro were
being destroyed, the government instituted a range management system that was antithetical to the Navajo's traditional system.  This federal system
has led to degradation and loss of most valuable and lush rangeland on the Navajo Nation.  Navajo shepherds and livestock producers are now struggling with how to return to their traditional land management techniques.

      While beautiful weavings have been created with commercial yarns, their use has contributed
to breaking the traditional tie between sheep, wool, land, and weaving.  Weavings made with commercial yarns are not as durable, and the texture and quality are not the same as those created with Navajo-Churro wool.  Among today’s informed collectors, weavings from Churro wool command premium prices.

      Sheep are owned primarily by women, and fiber arts are often a woman’s occupation.  The men support the infrastructure and interface
with outside economic factors.  Young people are involved in traditional life through herding, carding, spinning, and other activities related to sheep and fiber arts.  As a result, women, children, and family stability have been negatively effected by displacement of the Navajo-Churro breed. 

      In addition, Churro meat is very lean in comparison to the meat of other contemporary breeds.  The disappearance of the Churro has adversely affected the Navajos’ health, as well
as economic opportunities for specialized niche markets for meat and wool. 

      By the 1970s, only about 450 of the old type Navajo-Churro existed on the entire Navajo Nation, and only a few specimens were preserved in other locations.  The conventional wisdom of the time was “the breed is not useful - let it die out,” an attitude often directed towards the traditional cultures, themselves. 

      In the mid-1970s, animal scientist Dr. Lyle McNeal recognized the genetic and cultural significance of the Navajo-Churro.  In 1977, Dr.
and Mrs. McNeal founded the Navajo Sheep Project, which currently maintains a breeding
flock of 300 ewes and rams in Wyoming. The project has placed many breeding stock with Navajo families and helped form the nucleus of Ganados del Valle/Tierra Wools flocks in Los Ojos.  In September 2002, NSP will begin deploying this prime breeding stock to Navajo pastoralists for flock improvement and sustainable economic development.  

      The Navajo-Churro Sheep Association was founded 20 years ago to maintain a breed registry and ensure quality.  Today, there are several thousand sheep of this breed from throughout the United States registered with the association.

      Diné be’ iiná, Inc. (The Navajo Lifeway) was founded by Navajos in 1991 to represent and
assist Navajo Nation sheep and goat producers.  DBI organizes year-round educational programs, presents the annual Sheep is Life Celebration,
and provides services to:  1) increase recognition
of the importance of sheep to cultures and lifeways; 2) improve the quality of sheep and wool resources on the Navajo Nation; 3) improve marketing of Navajo wool and lamb products; 4) educate the public and regulatory agencies about the importance of sheep to the lifeways of native
and traditional peoples; and 5) promote economic development that is culturally relevant and technologically appropriate in some of the most rural communities in our nation.