Girl tends a rare breed of lamb
Contest winner chooses to adopt an endangered Navajo-Churro
BY ALAN GINSBURG Gazette Reporter

Since the 1970s, however, efforts have been under way to save Pebbles' Navajo-Churro lineage, long considered a rare and endangered wool sheep breed. It is believed to be the oldest breed in America.

Andrea Ryder, 12, of Carlisle, a member of the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association, has joined in the endeavor to conserve the heritage breed.

The recent winner of an essay contest sponsored by the Youth Conservation Program, the Cobleskill-Richmondville sixth-grader was awarded a 3-month-old black Navajo-Churro lamb. The program, which is affiliated with the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in West Friendship, Md., promotes the heritage breeds of sheep. Lambs are donated to the program by breeders.

GROWTH, EXPERIENCE

"The program is more than raising a sheep," said Elaine Ashcraft, program coordinator. "It's raising a child." She said the young winners not only develop their skills in caring for an animal but also "grow and experience opportunities" by informing others about a rare breed of sheep through exhibitions and presentations at sheep shows, county and state fairs.

Andrea was one of 13 winners of the essay contest in which 52 participated, Ashcraft said. Each was awarded a sheep of rare breed. Andrea was the only participant who hoped to win a Navajo-Churro lamb.

As a winner, Andrea agreed to exhibit Pebbles at least twice this year at a county fair or local sheep show and at the New York State Fair.

A member of the Cobleskill Sheep Thrills 4-H club, Andrea has been showing sheep at the Cobleskill Sunshine Fair for several years - sheep from her grandparents' Kipp Hill Farm, whose names are Jackie, Baby Sammy, Ramsey, Ewenice, Vanilla, Cocoa, and Dottie.

Andrea is also required to have the ewe bred to a registered ram of the same breed. And, she must use Pebbles' fleece "to personally make a woolen item or sell the fleece to a spinner, felter or weaver."

"My grandmother shears our sheep and uses the wool for crafts and spinning," said Andrea. "I also knit." COOL SHEEP

Andrea wrote in her essay that she would like to raise a Navajo-Churro ewe "because I read about how they almost became extinct, and they are still pretty rare." She said she joined the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association to find out where she could get a ewe to help preserve the breed. She added, "I think [Navajo-Churro sheep] are really cool."

Andrea learned this rare breed of sheep was brought to North America by Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1540 to provide food and fleece for the Spanish settlers. The Navajo Indians acquired the sheep primarily through trade or raids.

They used the long, greaseless wool to weave rugs and blankets.

A hardy breed, soon known as the Navajo-Churro, the sheep survived and thrived in the nearly barren southwest landscape - until the U.S. government removed the Navajo from their homelands and slaughtered their sheep, said Andrea.

DEATH MARCH

She noted Kit Carson, frontiersman and Indian agent, began the campaign in the 1860s that led to what later became known as the "Long Walk," a 300-mile forced march of the Navajo Indians from northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to Bosque Redondo, a desolate tract on the Pecos River in eastern New Mexico.

According to historical accounts, many Navajo, primarily the elderly and infirm who could not keep up, were shot by soldiers, while many others died from exposure to the cold. An estimated 3,000 Navajo died in the Long Walk.

Later, the Navajo were permitted to return to their homeland, where they again began raising their sheep, increasing their numbers from the animals they hid before being driven from their land.

Then, in the early 1900s, the U.S. government's grazing policies resulted in the demise of large numbers of the Navajo-Churro flock. But efforts over the years by various individuals and organizations, such as the Navajo-Churro Sheep Project, have been replenishing the flocks on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.

Andrea said she's thrilled to be a part of the movement to ensure survival of the Navajo-Churro sheep breed. Currently, there are only an estimated 5,000 of the breed in existence, with fewer than 1,000 registered annually in the United States, she said. "I will give [Pebbles] a good home and lots of love," she said.