Sheep on Hot Ground • Oil on canvas board
The Sears Gallery in St. George, Utah, is mounting a pop-up exhibit, “Covid Pops Up in Art,” each artwork accompanied by a story. I contributed “Sheep on Hot Ground.” Here’s the backstory:
My husband and I recently gave four Navajo Churro sheep to the Navajo Nation. The tribe has a saying: Dibé éí Diné be’iiná at’é, sheep is life. They developed the Churro to thrive in the desert, beginning in the 16th century from Spanish stock. Twice, the US government tried to annihilate the breed. Only recently have they been brought back from the edge of extinction. My husband, Hal Cannon, and I acquired a few after Hal reported on the breed’s revival for National Public Radio. They became beloved pets and my favorite life models.
The Navajo Nation is experiencing Covid-19 infection rates higher than New York, which means among the highest in the world. In the midst of wide-spread sickness and loss, many children who rely on school breakfasts and lunches are going hungry. Hal and I felt it was time for these sheep to return to their people.
I miss them every day. But that is not the only hole I feel in my heart. I ache for the terrible inequities of the virus, and the toll it is taking on Native people and other people of color.
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