Once the center of Navajo culture and life, the scrubby little Churros are being shepherded into the present by the Navajo Sheep Project, based in Logan, UT. Headed by Dr. Lyle McNeal, Utah State University professor of animal, dairy and veternary science, the Project is devoted to putting the Churro back into tribal flocks on the Navajo Reservation.
Reintroduction of Churro Wool will ultimately bring about an increase in value of contemporary Navajo rugs and could mean the preservation of Native American weaving, says Jackson Clark, co-owner of the famed Durango Collection, the most complete collection of Navajo historical weavings. Churro fleece, Clark explains, produces a better feel in a rug, a more beautiful matte finish, and the dyes are more evenly distributed.
Churros once ranged the Southwest By the thousands. Their fleece is long, straight and shiny. They come in colors including apricot, brown,ilver, champagne and black. The black fleece can withstand sunlight and still keep its sheen. Churro sheep grow coarse, long hair on the outside and soft wool next to their skin. Sometimes when the sunlight shines through a lamb's thick fleece it casts a glow around them, making it easy to understand why the Navajos have traditionally believed the Churros were a gift from their Holy People.
A genetics expert, Dr. McNeal is guiding the Project as it builds a breeding flock of the ancient Churro genotype. Through an intensive selective breeding program those Churros which exhibit appopriate traits are being retained. With the assistance of surveyors, geologists, extention agents and others working in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, McNeal has located most of the remaining Churro sheep and is building a stable propagating flock to supply Navajo women with a reliable source of wool. Clark has predicted the Navajos' botttom-line thinking and the tribe's ability to change when it sees good reason to do so will ensure the inclusion of Churros in many Navajo flocks.
Churros were brought to North America by the Spanish conquistadors of the 16th century. Soon the Navajo Indians had acquired sheep of their own from Spanish flocks and were learning to weave with wool by the 17th century.
But if the Churro's fleece is so perfectly suited to the fine handweaving of the Navajo women, why was the breed almost allowed to die out?
On two occasions, the U.S. government, through well-meaning but misguided actions, almost decimated the Churro. During the mid-1800s the U .S. government was not only fighting a civil war but was beset with Indian problems as well. Kit Carson and his troops rode into the Navajo's sacred Canyon de Chelly, destroyed the crops, killed the sheep, and herded the people to a reservation. Once again in the Dust Bowl days during the Great Depression, the government decided the Navajo Reservation was being overgrazed and ordered a stock reduction program. Churro sheep were shot on sight until once again the flocks were decimated.
Too late, the government realized its error. In order to increase the flocks once again, the government brought in so- called improved breeds. But this only further reduced the Churro blood line. The sheep on the Navajo Reservation today are neither suitable for the arid Southwest nor for handweaving. They are used primarily for mutton.
Today, most Navajo women weave with commercial yarns, which are often imported. The yarns are easily available and are ready to use; thus, the tiresome shearing, carding, and spinning processes are eliminated.
So Dr. McNeal and his Navajo Sheep Project staffers have their work cut out for them. They are working to build up a breeding flock as well as encourage the Navajo women, who own the flocks, to begin breeding Churros. It is not an easy process. Distances are vast on the Reservation, and McNeal travels hundreds of miles each month transporting Churros and giving advice.
"Too many weavers," McNeal says, "have been exploited by non-Navajos and neglected by Navajos. Weavers possess a wealth of knowledge and experience in a Navajo traditional economy.
"The weaver has the skill and the product. She needs support, an improved raw product, Churro type sheep and wool, more sheep and wool management, technological information and better marketing strategies, as well as new markets."
Denverite Bob Morgan, regarded by many experts as one of the best restorers of antique Navajo rugs and weavings, expects tribal rug prices to increase as soon as more Churro fleece is available for yarn. "You must compare the process of weaving a Navajo rug with Merino of Rambouillet sheep wool to painting on a canvas which will last for only 50 years. If you like the design in a painting, you should be willing to pay more for the item if it is done on canvas which will last for generations," he says.
"Churro wool may not sell a rug, but it will become a significant adjunct to a rug's overall value."
The earliest Navajo weavings, many bringing enormous sums on the market today, are made of Churro wool. McNeal estimates that even if a sheep grower does not weave, gross income can be increased significantly just by raising Churros.
In the Ramah District of the Reservation, McNeal is getting some Navajo women interested in breeding Churros and in using their fleece. He must continually remind them the sheep must be kept separate from other breeds to keep a pure blood line. The Ramah Navajo Weavers Association is supporting the efforts of these regional weavers; an umbrella organization, Navajo Wool Growers and weavers association, supports Project efforts.
Dr. McNeal is developing reservation outreach programs and training extension agents in order to speed up the process the U.S.U. professor has engineered a new wool scouring system which is needed by an emerging Southwestern wool industry .He has set up conferences such as Wool On a Small Scale to develop better ways to grow, process and market wool and wool products. In addition, classes in historical interpretation, weaving, grading, breeding, and marketing are underway on the reservation.
Perhaps the most poignant reflection of what the Navajo Sheep Project is attempting to do was expressed by a young father on the reservation. Closely involved in the Project, he works with his wife to support Dr. McNeal's efforts. "We want to keep this lifestyle on the reservation instead of moving to the city and abandoning Navajo ways. I want my son to have what his grandmother had."
