PRESS & MEDIA
Reprinted with permission from Hobby Farms magazine, July/August 2005. Visit their Web site at www.hobbyfarmsmagazine.com - click here for Article as shown in magazine

A Sheep for the Centuries
Hardy, easy-keepers, the Navajo-Churro has come back from the brink of extinction.
The year was 1863, and the slaughter had begun. Under the leadership of Colonel Kit Carson, 700 U.S. cavalry soldiers stormed onto land that had been occupied by the Navajo people for centuries and systematically destroyed the Indians’ means of survival. They tore up cornfields and burned peach orchards, demolishing the Indians’ crops. Worst of all, they attacked the Navajo Nation’s flocks of sheep, shooting the animals by the thousands and leaving them to rot in the New Mexican desert.
Those sheep, so treasured by the Navajos and nearly wiped out by the federal government, were truly special creatures. Hardy and easy to keep, they possessed a unique wool that had been spun and woven by generations of Navajos. The people had relied on this sheep for survival, eating its meat and using its wool to stay warm during cold Southwestern winters. By destroying this sheep, the U.S. Army brought the Navajo Nation to its knees.
Nearly 150 years later, after the Indian Wars nearly saw the demise of this amazing animal, the Navajo sheep has returned. Through the hard work of dedicated breeders, this incredible ruminant, now known as the Navajo-Churro, is beginning to thrive.

Dramatic History

The Navajo-Churro’s history begins long before the government-ordered slaughter of the breed took place. During the 1500s, the Spanish introduced a type of sheep known as the Churra to Mexico. These early Spanish flocks served as the foundation for what would become the Navajo-Churro.
Sheepherding took hold among the Indians of the Southwest in the 1600s, changing the ways of life of the Navajo, Apache and other tribes. As these Nations embraced agriculture, they gave up their nomadic ways of life and began growing corn and keeping livestock. By the 1800s, sheep were an important part of the Navajo economy, providing sustenance to the Diné people in the form of food and clothing. These sheep also provided the wool that was used to create Navajo weavings, today famous around the world.
The type of sheep that developed among the Navajo were hardy, with a double-layered wool that made the sheep well-suited to the temperature extremes common in the Southwest. Highly resistant to disease, these sheep were easy to care for and flourished in the rugged desert environment. The ewes lambed easily and the meat was nutritious.
After the Navajo flocks were destroyed and the Navajo people were imprisoned at Fort Sumner, the Navajo-Churro breed nearly vanished. When the Navajos were later confined to reservations, the government supplied them with sheep to raise, but the breeds were mixed. The only pure-blooded Navajo-Churros that were left survived in isolated New Mexican villages and in remote canyons of the Navajo reservation.
Slowly, the Navajo-Churro blood became diluted as other types of sheep mixed with the remaining Navajo-Churro flocks. By the 1970s, the original breed had nearly vanished.

Saving a Breed
About 450 sheep of the old Navajo type still existed in isolated areas by 1977, allowing a dedicated man to attempt to save the breed. That man was Lyle McNeal, PhD, a professor of Animal Science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif. With the goal of preserving the Navajo-Churro and revitalizing Navajo and Hispanic flocks, McNeal began searching the Navajo Reservation for sheep that fit the criteria established by the USDA’s Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory. Located in Fort Wingate, N.M., this was a government project established to help study and preserve Navajo weaving activities. Dr. McNeal initiated a systematic sheep genetic rescue and breeding program called the Navajo Sheep Project (NSP). The search for remnant seed-stock took many years over thousands of miles on unimproved roads on the reservation.
In 1979, McNeal and the NSP nucleus flock relocated from Cal Poly to Utah State University in Logan, Utah. In addition to continuing to search for and breed Navajo-Churro, the NSP conducted applied research on the sheep and discovered the breed was resistant to contagious ovine foot rot and to internal parasites that affect sheep.
After publication of a story in the Los Angeles Times about the Navajo-Churro, the NSP started receiving a significant amount of publicity and interest. Because of the intrinsic hardiness and prolificacy of the Navajo-Churro, the flock had grown to a number large enough to allow McNeal and his students at USU to start donating sheep to the Navajo in 1982.
In 1986, a group of Navajo-Churro breeders formed the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association with the assistance of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, a group dedicated to preserving rare American livestock breeds; Ganados del Valle, a non-profit organization established to assist the Hispanic community, and the CS Fund, a private foundation. The Navajo-Churro Sheep Association’s goal was to preserve and promote this unique American breed. Using stock books kept by the American Livestock Breed Association, the new organization developed a registry for the Navajo-Churro. Today, most of the Navajo-Churro sheep in the Association’s registry have linkages back to the NSP nucleus flock.  
Currently, the Navajo Sheep Project and the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association are both working to help increase the numbers of Navajo-Churro sheep in the United States. The Navajo Sheep Project has helped re-establish the Navajo-Churro within the Navajo Nation. With Dr. McNeal at the helm, the Project established a systematic and scientific conservation program with a nucleus flock. The organization also helped to bring Navajo-Churro flocks to the Navajo Reservation and to Hispanic villages, while also providing outreach education and technical assistance to Navajo and Hispanic groups and individuals. The organization continues to work toward bringing the Navajo-Churro to more Navajo and Hispanic sheepkeepers.
Nine years ago, the Navajo Sheep Project gave way to the Sheep Is Life project, a celebration of sheep, wool and weaving that started at USU in 1985, but was moved to the Navajo Reservation in 1990. Sponsored by The Navajo Lifeway, a non-profit Navajo-managed organization, the event takes place every June on the Navajo Reservation and honors the role of sheep in Navajo spirituality and daily life. Navajo farmers that have mixed-breed sheep are encouraged to bring their sheep to the event and trade their animals for Navajo-Churros in an attempt to increase the numbers of Navajo-Churro sheep on the reservation.
“The Sheep Is Life event is a gathering of mostly Native Americans, along with other people interested in sheep culture,” says Don Bixby, DVM, technical program director for the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, which provides technical support for breeders who need assistance selecting and breeding Navajo-Churro sheep. “The event is based on the traditional Navajo Sheep Camp, but has grown dramatically.”
The Navajo-Churro Sheep Association has established a standard for the Navajo-Churro and provides breed information to the public. The organization consists of breeders from around the country and registers Navajo-Churro sheep in an effort to maintain a stud book that records the re-establishment of the breed. The Navajo-Churro Sheep Association has more than 4,090 sheep registered throughout the United States.

Living with the Navajo-Churro
The Navajo-Churro has a dynamic history and a dramatic story behinds its resurrection from near extinction, and all for good reason: this is no ordinary sheep. Those who love the breed rave about the quality of its wool and meat, about how easy the breed is to lamb and to maintain, and the wonders of its temperament and nature.
“The Navajo-Churro is very easy to care for, sensible, parasite-resistant, colorful, spirited and intelligent,” says Connie Taylor of Cerro Mojino Woolworks, a Navajo-Churro breeder in Ojo Caliente, N.M. “The variety of color and horn types makes each lambing full of delightful surprises.”
Registrar for the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association and one of the founding members of the organization, Taylor maintains 70 ewes and nine rams that represent most of the major colors within the breed. Colors recognized by the breed standard include white, black, brown, grey, blue, badgerface, black-and-tan, brown-and-tan, spotted and multi, among others. This variety of color is one reason the Navajo-Churro is so popular with weavers.
Another well-loved feature of the Navajo-Churro is its hardiness. Because the breed developed in difficult terrain, they tend to be rugged and well-adapted to harsh environments.
“Navajo-Churros are intelligent, hardy and have good survival instincts,” says breeder Tanya Charter of McKenzie Creek Ranch, in Cazadero, Calif., who keeps her sheep on 220 acres near the northern California coast. “They live and produce far longer than the average sheep. The ewes are exceptional mothers, often have twins and have ample milk.”
Unlike many modern breeds of sheep, the Navajo-Churro were not bred to be polled and often have horns. In fact, some rams develop beautiful racks of four horns.
“At first glance people often think the Churros are goats because of their horns,” says breeder Karen Lobb of Bidewee Farm in Newberg, Ore., board chair and publisher of The Catch Pen, the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association quarterly newsletter. “Learning to work with horned sheep is not difficult, and we've not found the horned Churros to be any more dangerous or difficult to work with then polled Churros.”  
One of the primary commercial benefits of keeping Navajo-Churro sheep centers on the breed’s exceptional wool. Valued by weavers, the wool of this breed is still used by the Navajo to create their weavings that sell for thousands of dollars. The Navajo discovered the excellent nature of this wool hundreds of years ago, and modern weavers treasure it as well.
The wool of the Navajo-Churro is known for its glossy texture. Low in lanolin, it can be shorn from the sheep, hand-cleaned and spun into yarn that easily absorbs vegetable dyes. Navajo-Churro wool is also easily felted.
When raising Navajo-Churro for wool, breeders can encounter some challenges getting the wool processed. “Most of the mills today are mini-mills not equipped to handle the length of staple from the Churro,” says breeder Kaye Peterson of Bear Park Farms in Williams, Ariz. “So you need to shear more than once a year to keep the staple shorter or else process the wool yourself.”
The breed is also known for the quality of its meat. Navajo-Churro meat is low in fat and very flavorful.

Easy Keepers
One of the greatest qualities of the Navajo-Churro is its adaptability. The breed’s ability to thrive on minimal care and in different climates makes it a good candidate for beginning sheep breeders.
“Navajo-Churros are a good breed with which to learn sheep husbandry as they are easy keepers and smaller than many breeds,” says Peterson. “I do not grain my Churros at all. Primitive sheep like these are usually more self-sufficient than most other breeds.”
Although the Navajo-Churro developed in the desert Southwest, the breed has proven adaptable in other climates.
Marion White, owner of Land & Lamb Company in Tunbridge, Vt., raises Navajo-Churro on 15 acres in the Green Mountain State.
“Navajo-Churro do terrifically in Vermont,” she says. “It’s cold and snowy, but they have the coat to be able to deal with it. The primary difference I notice between my sheep and the ones in the Southwest is that mine are fatter because the grass is more lush.”
White notes that heat and humidity in the summer don’t seem to bother the Navajo-Churro, although fly strike can be an issue. “I sheer twice a year, during the spring and fall, both to keep the fleece cleaner and the sheep more comfortable,” she says.
Although Navajo-Churros are easy to raise, as with any type of animal, it’s important to study their husbandry before embarking on a breeding program.
“I recommend Navajo-Churros for hobby farmers with no prior
experience in raising sheep, but with conditions,” says breeder Cathy Gorman, of Canyon Wren Farms in Winkleton, Ariz. “They are easier to raise than other breeds because they are hardy and are good mothers. However, I like to ensure that the sheep I sell are going to good homes where there are proper facilities such as fences and predator protection. I’m happy to give advice, suggest educational reading materials and follow-up with any problems as any responsible breeder would. I also suggest joining the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association.” 
Charter points out that agreeing to care of any animal is a serious responsibility and that breeding adds risk. “Before acquiring sheep, one must learn what will be required, make a commitment to year-round husbandry, have good fences and a shelter in place, and ideally establish a relationship with a veterinarian and a shearer,” she says. “Navajo-Churros are more trouble-free and more economical than most breeds of sheep, and many of our customers over the years have been new or fairly new to livestock and sheep raising. Before we agree to sell them sheep, we do everything we can to make certain that they are prepared and we offer follow-up support.”

“I find that raising a rare breed like the Navajo-Churro gives me a sense of contributing to our agricultural history in a day when most people are removed from the farm,” says Peterson. “It also affords an opportunity to teach and share history, crafts, the science of genetics, land management, responsibility, husbandry, marketing and economics.”
For more information on the Navajo-Churro, contact the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association, P.O. Box 94, Ojo Caliente, NM 87549, www.navajo-churrosheep.com.