Navajo Culture and the Dust Bowl

The Issue

A major problem in the American mid and southwest in the 1930's was soil erosion and deforestation leading to the infamous Dust Bowl. The American southwest is an arid place characterized by high temperatures, low humidity, and at the time, largely unsettled territory. This erosion and deforestation was caused primarily by overgrazing and mass plowing followed by the planting of wheat. When drought prevented the wheat crops from growing, the ground cover that had been holding the soil in place was no longer there. This allowed winds to blow the top layer of soil away, forcing many into poverty because the remaining soil was too barren to continue to grow the crops which had been their livelihood. This was a major environmental issue concerning the Navajo because the sheep which had been a part of their culture for so many hundreds of years had a hand in the devastation caused by overgrazing. Because of this, the government enacted a livestock reduction plan which proposed to pay the Navajo one dollar per head of sheep, and the sheep would be taken away and slaughtered. This never happened, as most of the sheep were killed on the spot and the Navajo were never paid. Today, there is a movement underway to help save the decimated population of Navajo-Churro sheep which had as few as 450 head left in the 1970's. This movement is spearheaded by the Navajo Sheep Project and the Sheep is Life project.

History of the Navajo