 The University of Washington Press is pleased to announce the publication of
Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country
By Marsha Weisiger
Foreword by William Cronon
NOW AVAILABLE"I
cannot think of any book that weaves a more compelling narrative from
the collision of Indian, American, and scientific understandings of
nature. Weisiger's painstaking reconstruction of the region's biotic
communities and her careful attention to biologists' thinking and their
meanings for historians places this book in a class by itself." --Louis
Warren, University of California, Davis "An ambitious, masterful
work that addresses fundamental issues about relationships of power
between the state and the people it attempts to control, the
relationship between nature and cultures, and conflicts between
different ways of narrating stories." --Sherry L. Smith, Southern
Methodist University " Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country
ultimately presents a tragedy that could have been largely avoided. In
this important book, Marsha Weisiger leaves us with an enhanced
appreciation of victories and victims. She portrays resilient people
who will do all they can to remain on the land and a persisting sadness
nourished by dreams of a time gone by and a world to which sheep are
unlikely to return." --Peter Iverson, Regents Professor of History,
Arizona State University
Livestock
on the reservation increased exponentially after the late 1860s as more
and more people and animals, hemmed in on all sides by Anglo and
Hispanic ranchers, tried to feed themselves on an increasingly barren
landscape. At the beginning of the twentieth century, grazing lands
were showing signs of distress. As soil conditions worsened, weeds
unpalatable for livestock pushed out nutritious native grasses, until
by the 1930s federal officials believed conditions had reached a
critical point. Well-intentioned New Dealers made serious errors in
anticipating the human and environmental consequences of removing or
killing tens of thousands of animals.
Environmental historian
Marsha Weisiger examines the factors that led to the poor condition of
the range and explains how the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Navajos,
and climate change contributed to it. Using archival sources and oral
accounts, she describes the importance of land and stock animals in
Navajo culture. By positioning women at the center of the story, she
demonstrates the place they hold as significant actors in Native
American and environmental history.
Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country is a compelling and important story that looks at the
people and conditions that contributed to a botched policy whose legacy
is still felt by the Navajos and their lands today.
Marsha L. Weisiger is associate professor of history at New Mexico State University.
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