Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country Lecture by author-historian Marsha Weisiger

Marsha Weisiger will discuss her book, Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 1, in the History Museum’s John Gaw Meem Room. This free event is co-sponsored by the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives and El Palacio, the quarterly magazine of the state museum system. 

Weisiger is an associate professor of history and director of the Public History Program at New Mexico State University, where she teaches environmental history and the history of the U.S. West. She is also the author of Land of Plenty: Oklahomans in the Cotton Fields of Arizona, 1933-1942 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1995), which won the Angie Debo Prize. In her lecture, Weisiger will share photography included in the book, some of it from the Photo Archives, along with a previously unknown photo of Navajo leader Manuelito that will debut in El Palacio’s winter edition.

Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country (University of Washington Press, 2009) has won the Gaspar Perez de Villagra Award from the Historical Society of New Mexico and the Norris and Carol Hudley Award from the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. It is a finalist for the Caroline Bancroft Prize from the Denver Public Library.

The book explores the 1930s-era reduction in sheep herds on the Navajo Nation – an ambitious attempt by the federal government to eliminate overgrazing on an arid landscape and to better the lives of the people who lived there. The policy was a disaster. Livelihoods were lost, particularly for women, the primary owners and tenders of the animals, without significant improvement of the grazing lands.

Livestock on the reservation had become an important part of the Navajo economy, increasing 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. But at the beginning of the 20th century, as grazing lands showed signs of distress, well-intentioned New Dealers embarked on a reduction plan that seriously underestimated the human and environmental consequences of removing or killing tens of thousands of animals.

In her book, 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, arguing that federal officials worsened matters, resulting in a collective memory of trauma, a rejection of range conservation policies, and a chronic wasteland. She positions women at the center of the story, demonstrating the place they hold as significant actors in Native American and environmental history.

A high-resolution photo of Weisiger, along with photographs from her book, can be downloaded by clicking on "Go to related images" below.