118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 188 



season is one of the busiest periods in the livestock year, requiring 

 extensive supplementary feeding of milk for 1 to 2 months, depending 

 on weather conditions. Shearing, another busy season, begins in April 

 and lasts until early June. Shearing practice has been considerably 

 modernized in recent years. Commercial shears are used by all 

 families, and animals are usually sheared on a canvas or woolsack. 

 Under constant encouragement from the trading post, most families 

 today tie their fleeces individually and pack them in standard wool- 

 sacks (21/^ X 8 ft. flat) . Fleece ties and woolsacks are provided by the 

 trading post without charge. 



At a community meeting in 1955, Shonto voted to disinfect its 

 sheep by spraying rather than dipping. (The Indian Service dipping 

 tank, whose upkeep was the community's responsibility, had fallen 

 into disrepair.) A spraying outfit under the supervision of the 

 grazing committee was stationed at Shonto Trading Post for 2 days 

 in July, and a charge of 2 cents a head was levied for spraying. Only 

 about a quarter of Shonto's sheep and goats were brought in for 

 spraying. 



In 1952, an African sheep disease, familiarly known as "blue- 

 tongue," was found to be present in Navaho flocks. Since that time, 

 amiual inoculation has in theory been mandatory as a condition to 

 sale of lambs. An inoculating unit spent 2 days in the community in 

 July 1955, but less than 10 percent of Shonto's sheep were submitted. 

 The compulsory regulation was not enforced, and lamb sales were 

 not affected. 



Lamb sales, which take place annually during the fall, are subject 

 to schedulmg by the Navaho Tribal Council. In recent years they 

 have always been set during the last 10 days of September. Animals 

 at this time are from 6 to 9 months old. Shonto families seldom sell 

 ewe lambs. Sale of buck lambs is likely to vary from 50 percent to 

 nearly 100 percent from year to year, depending on the price offered 

 at the trading post. All sales take place on the trading post scales, 

 the animals being herded or, in some cases, trucked in. 



Slaughtering takes place at all times of the year, averaging perhaps 

 once every 3 weeks in most residence groups (see "Cookmg and House- 

 keeping," pp. 81-82). Heaviest mutton consumption occurs during 

 midsummer, before lamb sales eliminate the opportunity to replace 

 slaughtered animals. Some part of a slaughtered animal usually goes 

 to every household in the residence group. 



Goats are j)resent in all flocks of sheep, in the average proportion 

 of one goat to three sheep (see table 19) . To a large extent they take 

 the place of wethers. Goat herding practice corresponds to sheep- 

 herding practice in all respects, with the addition that goats are regu- 

 larly milked by many families. They are less frequently slaughtered 

 than sheep despite the fact that the animals themselves have no com- 



