Known today most commonly by the name Shiprock, the 1700 foot tall eroded volcanic plume is sacred to the Navaho Indians as Tse Bi dahi, or the Rock with Wings. This name comes from an ancient folk myth that tells how the rock was once a great bird which transported the ancestral people of the Navahos to their lands in what is now northwestern New Mexico. The Navaho ancestors had crossed a narrow sea far to the northwest and were fleeing from a warlike tribe. Tribal shamans prayed to the Great Spirit for help. Suddenly the ground rose from beneath their feet to become an enormous bird. For an entire day and night the bird flew south, finally settling at sundown where Shiprock now stands. Geologists tell us the rock was formed 12 million years ago during the Pliocene. The legend of the rock seems more likely to be a metaphor hinting of the site's magical power to lift the human soul above the problems of daily existence into an awareness of the Great Spirit. From ancient times to the more recent past, Tse Bi dahi was indeed a pilgrimage place of major importance, particularly for young men and women engaged in solitary vision quests. Technical climbers first scaled the rock in 1939. Since 1970, Shiprock has been off limits to climbers, giving it once again the respect due a Navaho sacred place.

Sacred Sites Information on Shiprock.

Written by  Martin Gray.

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