Click to enter the gallery. Building a future on the shoulders of the past is the goal of a group of Navajo herders, weavers, and cultural activists working under the name Diné bí' íína', meaning "Navajo lifeways." Sheep, say Navajo elders, will unlock a prosperous future for the Navajo Nation. Identifying with deep cultural traditions, Diné bí' íína' organizers, who represent the Navajo Nation Sheep and Goat Producers, see long-term economic and cultural benefits in increasing sheep and wool production and in nurturing awareness of the history of sheep to the Navajo way of life. Founded in Arizona in 1991, the group is committed to supporting traditional ways of life and economic opportunity. While a Navajo organization primarily led by Navajo women, Diné bí' íína' works with anyone interested in raising sheep or working with wool. Here in the Southwest desert, tribal leaders have helped revive sheep farming among the Navajo with the reintroduction of the Churro sheep, which were once widely raised by the tribe. The Churro was central to Navajo life for a very long time-deeply connected to Navajo agriculture and day-to-day life until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when the sheep were nearly exterminated by a combination of agricultural policies, herd reduction incentives, and the introduction of other breeds by the U.S. government. In recent years the Navajo, recognizing the importance of this breed to tribal lifeways, spirituality, traditional arts, and economic independence, have been raising the Churro in increasing numbers. This old breed of sheep is in effect a symbol of the tribe's past through which one can see a promising future.