Tierra Wools Supports Families in the Wool Weaving Trade

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Tierra Wools employs families in the wool weaving trade business.
Tierra Wools employs families in the wool weaving trade business.
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Tierra Wools and the families in the wool weaving trade use sheep like these to create woven goods.
Tierra Wools and the families in the wool weaving trade use sheep like these to create woven goods.

Learn about Tierra Wools and how they help families in the wool weaving trade.

As recently as a decade ago, the Churro sheep, the oldest domestic farm animal in North America, faced extinction. Brought over by the Spaniards in the sixteenth ­century, this hardy breed was so suited to the harsh winters, poor grazing, and lack of water of the Southwest that Churros eventually numbered in the millions. The sheep were important to the Native Americans, especially the Navajo, until after the Civil War when the U.S. military destroyed thousands of sheep as a tactic to starve the Navajo and force them onto reservations.

With the decline of the sheep, the vitality of many small communities in northern New Mexico—already under threat from lumber companies, cattle ranchers, and developers—faded as well. In response, a group of ranchers including Molly and Antonio Manzanares formed Ganados del Valle in 1983 to bring back the Churro sheep. Lyle McNeal, Ph.D., of Utah State University contributed several purebred Churro rams, which they bred to local sheep that showed Churro genes, and after ­several generations they were breeding purebred Churros themselves. This sheep-raising mission has also been adopted by the Navajo Sheep Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to restoring Churros to the Navajo to help revitalize traditional tribal culture.

At the same time, Tierra Wools was created to revive the art of weaving. The ­business, based in the village of Los Ojos, is owned by weavers in the wool weaving trade who buy certified organic wool from local herders and hand weave it into rugs and tapestries based on designs that have been handed down through the generations.

After the wool is washed with a natural detergent, about 10 percent of it is hand spun and the rest is sent to Taos for spinning. It is dyed in Los Ojos under the supervision of Lupe Valdez, and many of the colors are derived from plants that she collects locally. As apprentices, the weavers learn all aspects of the craft. They start with striped patterns, then move on to the more complicated tapestries.

  • Published on Jul 10, 2009
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