AlisonH
Filed under: History
In June, with the story told July 27, a New York Times reporter accompanied a Navajo shepherdess taking her Churro sheep on the traditional summer migration into the mountains. He doesn’t quite get that spinning and weaving are the words for the parts of the process with the wool he’s trying to describe, but he does pretty well overall. He gives the history of the breed and the people and respects her request to only tell so much.
I’ve read of Navajos and their Churros before but have never been given so close a view.
On a trivial aside, I know I know the brand of spinning wheel hers is or at least that it looks like, but it’s not coming to me. Anyone?
Anyway. If you click on his link on the word Churro, you get a beautiful picture of one in full coat. I love his observation that the older sheep knew what the day meant and the route and led the way.
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Looks like my Ashford Kiwi.
Comment by LynnM 08.01.12 @ 11:28 pmand my guess would be that these sheep are in some way related to Jacob sheep — those distinctive horns!!
(and now I’ve got Handel playing in my head “He shall lead his flock, like a shepherd…..”)
Comment by Bev 08.02.12 @ 8:58 amNeat article. I don’t recognize the wheel. I mean, it’s familiar to me, and it could perhaps be a Kiwi, but…
Comment by Channon 08.02.12 @ 11:06 amThe wheel looks like my Louet S-10.
Comment by Adele Marano 08.02.12 @ 5:42 pmI had to revisit after Alison noted the top of the wheel wasn’t curved. Glad Adele solved the mystery!
Comment by LynnM 08.03.12 @ 12:51 amLooks like one of the louets with the solid wheels. (ok, some of them have a hole drilled out for balance.) kind of a workhorse of a wheel for spinning medium size yarns.
Comment by Mickey 08.03.12 @ 7:10 amOh, I loved this. I may need to do this. Did I ever mention that my niece and nephew are Navajo? My niece presented me with a Navajo spindle this last holiday. Luckily, I had just ordered about 8 lbs of Churro fleece from a Navajo shepherdess in Arizona the month before, so I could start spinning immediately.
Comment by twinsetellen 08.05.12 @ 7:15 amLeave a comment
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