Shirley Harvey - whitesprucecreative@gmail.com
Pipestone, Manitoba
Shirley Harvey comes from a fifth generation, family-owned farm on Treaty 2 territory in southwestern Manitoba. What started out as a creative passion for weaving tapestries in 2020 quickly became a need to know more about where the materials she was using were coming from. Shirley started White Spruce Heritage Farm in 2022 after researching various sheep breeds, learning about the Canadian wool industry, and discovering the fascinating and tragic history behind the Navajo-Churro sheep. Her goal is to help preserve these beautiful animals and their unique fibre, while promoting their cultural and historical significance to the Diné people.
At White Spruce Heritage Farm, she works to inspire creative uses of the heritage Navajo-Churro sheep for fibre, art & food. Shirley uses regenerative practices on her farm to keep the sheep and land base as healthy as possible.
The Navajo-Churros are a hardy, range sheep with a rustic type of wool that includes a coarse outercoat and fine undercoat. Her focus for the flock’s breeding program is to produce high quality fleeces that are in keeping with the breed standard as outlined by the Navajo-Churro Sheep Association. Preservation of the Navajo-Churro breed and their cultural and historical significance to the Diné people will always be important to her.
“The Canadian Wool Collective is important to me because of the need to promote and preserve heritage sheep breeds and their wool for future generations.”
Verified Products
Tier 1: Harmony living wool rugs, Heirloom & Harvest single ply yarns, Traveller roving, Heritage fleeces
Please contact us for inquiries about wholesale pricing.
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Disclaimer: Verified products have been rigorously reviewed by the Canadian Wool Collective. If you would like more information on the traceability of the wool product, please reach out to the certified partner listed above. A description of the different certification tiers can be found here.
