Navajo rugs, blankets and weavings
from sheep to rugs - Navajo sheep

In the 1970's several individuals began acquiring Churro phenotypes with the purpose of preserving the breed and revitalizing Navajo and Hispanic flocks. Criteria for the breed had been established from data collected for three decades, 1936 - 1966, by the Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory at Fort Wingate, New Mexico. Several flocks have developed, and the Navajo Sheep Project has introduced cooperative breeding programs in some Navajo and Hispanic flocks.

Navajo-Churro sheep, with their long staple of protective top coat and soft undercoat, are well suited to extremes of climate. Some rams have four fully developed horns, a trait shared by few other breeds of the world. The Navajo-Churro is highly resistant to disease, and although it responds to individual attention, it needs no pampering to survive and prosper. The ewes lamb easily and are fiercely protective. Twins and triplets are not uncommon. The flavor of the meat is uncomparably superior, with a surprisingly low fat content.

In the late 1970's renewed interest in this old-type sheep occurred under the leadership of Dr. Lyle McNeal, then a professor at California Polytechnic State University. At that time there were probably fewer than 500 fairly pure old-type sheep left, scattered in remote areas of the Navajo reservation. With six ewes and 2 four-horned rams, McNeal started his breeding program. Wool from his herds are sold to Navajo weavers, and educational programs were provided on sheepraising, breeding and weaving techniques. McNeal has stated that the purpose of the reintroduction program was to "study and preserve this unique animal and protect it from further losses". By 2002, the Navajo Sheep Project maintained a breeding flock of 300 ewes and rams in Wyoming. The project has placed many breeding stock with Navajo families, and began deploying this prime breeding stock to Navajo pastoralists for flock improvement and sustainable economic development.

The Navajo tribe became involved in the marketing of processed wool during the 1970's. This project, known as the Navajo Wool Marketing Industry, continues to operate successfully, processing native wool, and marketing both Navajo handspun wool and commercial yarn. This commercial yarn is processed from high quality, long staple wool. In the late 1970's, the single-ply processed wool yarn became available in a new range of more delicate chemical dyes producing more subtle colors, remarkable similar in hue and intensity to the vegetal dyes. The number of available shades has rapidly multiplied.

Many weavers still card and spin the native wool by hand, and some of the accomplished weavers use the commercial yarn but respin it.

Churro sheep to Navajo rugs - page 1

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