OCR Text |
Show 162 XI. DINE DOO WAASHINDOON herds, the People had trouble surviving. At the same time, the Depression largely destroyed the market for the animals. The Navajos had no choice. They simply had to reduce the size of their herds right away. At the same time, they had to improve the quality of the sheep that they kept. In the long run, they also had to find different ways to help their economy. If these things were not done, the range would be ruined, and eventually the Navajos would starve. So it was decided that if ranchers did not comply with reduction orders, force would be used. If no market could be found for the surplus animals, they would have to be killed. In 1933 John Collier became commissioner of Indian affairs. That fall the Navajo Tribal Council met to talk over the details of a plan for stock reduction. Many government "New Deal" programs had been set up on the reservation to fight the Depression. The new plan made use of those programs. It would begin with a careful program of soil conservation and would try to open new grazing land. It would also start building many hew schools so that the Navajos could learn the skills needed for wage work. But the heart of the program was stock reduction. In the first phase, the reservation would be divided into districts. Each district would have to reduce its stock by 10 percent. Each rancher would also have to reduce his stock by that much, whether his herd was large ,*•*> &% .-* < * \\u i» :'£& s ill ^^^^^^1^^^^^ .i ' ' ' Hi; llBlllilllpIlillll Ktllflllfflp â- *r" S:I^P .».• • ^8^^^( â- --w- â- Mil 1R1181I â- *•- lltltfs Sflltfl :-&- * ' -• Sill liiliil .• "â- >.'. B^^S^^^^W b<!^4i^,;rf'\Si*3 ***;. il^siifl â- > "" * '- •:" •' 5PS^^liifi!^^K SSiilfi * ft^^^^pll^^ll ^11 ..<%.>..• iPS •v •* *£<: "^jfiiisji* |f^S| tSSSPpsiftftiHp w:; ^BUl To save Navajo range lands, the government set up a stock-reduction plan. Government agents, like the man shown here, bought Navajo sheep and goats. Many of the animals were then shot. Photograph courtesy of the Kansas City Federal Records Center. |