The Churra (also known as ''Spanish Churro'')
is an ancient
Iberian breed of
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...
from
Zamora province in
Castile and León. The ewes produce the milk for Zamorana cheese; the meat is also prized.
The Churra (renamed "churro" by American frontiersmen) was first imported to North America in the 16th century and used to feed Spanish armies and settlers. By the 17th Century, churras were popular with the Spanish settlers in the upper Rio Grande Valley. Flocks of churras were also acquired by
Navajo through raids and trading, and soon became an important part of their economy and culture.
In the early 1900s, the
United States federal government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...
decided that other breeds would be better for reservation life and a program of out-breeding nearly caused the churra sheep to go extinct. People concerned with quality of wool and the history and culture of the Navajo are making an effort to save the breed.
advises not to mix ''churras'' and ''
merinas'', i.e., not to confuse different concepts.
See also
*
Navajo-Churro sheep
The Navajo-Churro, or Churro for short, (also American or Navajo Four-Horned) is a breed of domestic sheep originating with the Spanish Churra sheep obtained by Navajo, Hopi and other Native American nations around the 16th century during ...
References
{{reflist
Sheep breeds originating in Spain
Sheep breeds