Teec Nos Pos

On Tuesday morning, Navajo sheep herders and Montezuma Land Conservancy will come together at a farm in Lewis to celebrate a threatened breed of sheep and its place in Diné culture. The Navajo-Churro sheep breed became endangered in the 1930s due to livestock reduction policies implemented by the U.S. government. Montezuma Land Conservancy offered for Navajo herders from Teec Nos Pos, Arizona to have their Churro sheep graze at a farm north of Cortez in exchange for education for the public on weaving and wool. Roy Kady is a member of the Navajo Nation and a weaver who’s contributing to the revitalization of the breed, which began in the 70s. He and his apprentice herders – most of them younger Navajo citizens living on the reservation, many in Teec Nos Pos – will be holding fiber and weaving demonstrations at Fozzie’s Farm. And last week, residents of Montezuma County attended a meeting in the Dolores Public Library on the need for more veterinarians for the area, including those who respond to after-hours emergencies.

On Wednesday morning, flags were lowered to half mast for the funeral service for a Cortez police officer who was killed in the line of duty last week. Hundreds of police vehicles formed the motorcade for Sgt. Michael Moran. The funeral was held at the Cortez Recreation Center and was not open to the public. And Montezuma Land Conservancy will hold a sheep celebration event at Fozzie’s Farm in Lewis, Colorado on Tuesday next week, in partnership with Navajo sheep herders. The event will include the butchering of a sheep in accordance with Diné cultural tradition, starting at around 8 a.m. At 10 a.m., Diné fiber artists will hold workshops and demonstrations. Herders in Teec Nos Pos loaned their sheep and goats to Fozzie’s Farm as part of a cultural exchange with Montezuma Land Conservancy, or MLC.

One hundred seventy-seven people enjoy a free Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Barnabas Church in Cortez.Teec Nos Pos chapter house on the Navajo Nation is…