The Navajo reservation is better suited for the raising of sheep than
for anything else, and the step from the life of a warrior and hunter to
that of a shepherd is not a long one, nor a hard one to take. Under the
stress of necessity the Navajo became a peaceable pastoral tribe, living
by their flocks and herds, and practicing horticulture only in an
extremely limited and precarious way. Under modern conditions they
are slowly developing into an agricultural tribe, and this development
has already progressed far enough to materially affect their house
structures; but in a general way it may be said that they are a pastoral
people, and their habits have been dictated largely by that mode of
life.

Every family is possessed of a flock of sheep and goats, sometimes
numbering many thousands, and a band of horses, generally several
hundreds, in a few instances several thousands. In recent times many
possess small herds of cattle, the progeny of those which strayed into
the reservation from the numerous large herds in its vicinity, or were
picked up about the borders by some Navaho whose thrift was more highly
developed than his honesty. The condition of the tribe, as a whole, is
not only far removed from hardship, but may even be said to be one of
comparative affluence.

Owing to the scarcity of grass over most of the country, and the
difficulty of procuring a sufficient supply of water, the flocks must be
moved from place to place at quite frequent intervals. This condition
more than any other has worked against the erection of permanent houses.
Yet the Navaho are by no means nomads, and the region within which a
given family moves back and forth is extremely circumscribed.

In a general way the movements of a family are regulated by the