Shiprock is a 7,177-foot-high (2,188-meter) rock mountain located in northwestern New Mexico about 20 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock. It is on Navajo Nation land.
The Navajo Nation is a self-governing territory of 27,425 square miles in northwestern New Mexico, northeastern Arizona, and southeastern Utah.
Shiprock in Navajo means "rock with wings" or simply "winged rock." This name comes from an ancient folk myth that tells how the rock was once a great bird that 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 another 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.
Shiprock, when viewed from certain angles, resembles a large sitting bird with folded wings; the north and south summits are the tops of the wings.
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.
Shiprock is illegal to climb. There were no access problems for the first 30 years of its climbing history but a tragic accident that resulted in a death in late March, 1970 caused the Navajo Nation to ban rock climbing not only on Shiprock but on all Navajo lands. Climbers have, however, continued to climb Shiprock since the ban, often obtaining permission from the local grazing holder.
No comments:
Post a Comment