Shiprock, (, "rock with wings" or "winged rock"^[1]) is a rock formation rising nearly above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation, about southwest of the New Mexico town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, mythology and tradition. It is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has been featured in several film productions and novels. It is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico.

Name

The Navajo name "rock with wings" or "winged rock" for the peak refers to the legend of the great bird that brought them from the north to their present lands.^[2][3] The name "Shiprock" or Shiprock Peak or Ship Rock derives from the peak's resemblance to an enormous 19th-century clipper ship. However Anglos first called the peak "The Needle," a name given to the topmost pinnacle by Captain J.F. McComb in 1860.^[3] United States Geological Survey maps indicate that the name "Ship Rock" dates from the 1870s.^[2][3]

Religious and cultural significance

The peak and surrounding land are of great religious and historical significance to the Navajo people. It is mentioned in many Navajo myths and legends. Foremost is the peak's role as the agent that brought the Navajo to the southwest. According to one legend, after being transported from another place, the Navajos lived on the monolith, "coming down only to plant their fields and get water."^[3] One day, the peak was struck by lightning, obliterating the trail and leaving only a sheer cliff, and stranding the women and children on top to starve. The presence of people on the peak is forbidden "for fear they might stir up the (ghosts), or rob their corpses."^[3]

In a legend that puts the peak in a larger geographic context, Shiprock is said to be either a medicine pouch or a bow carried by the "Goods of Value Mountain", a large mythic male figure comprising several mountain features throughout the region. The Chuska Mountains comprise the body, Chuska Peak is the head, the Carrizo Mountains are the legs, and Beautiful Mountain is the feet.^[3]

One legend has it that Bird Monsters (Tsé Ninájálééh) nested on the peak and fed on human flesh. In one version, after Monster Slayer destroyed Déélééd at Red Mesa, he killed two adult Bird Monsters at Shiprock and changed two young ones into an eagle and an owl.^[3] (In another version, the Warrior Twins were summoned to rid the Navajo of the Bird Monsters.^[4])

The peak is mentioned in stories from the Enemy Side Ceremony and the Navajo Mountain Chant. It is associated with the Bead Chant and the Naayee'ee Ceremony.^[3]

Geology

Shiprock is composed of fractured volcanic breccia and black dikes of igneous rock called "minette". It is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano, and the volcanic breccia formed in a diatreme. The exposed rock probably was originally formed 2,500-3000 feet (750-1,000 meters) below the earth's surface, but it was exposed after millions of years of erosion. Wall-like sheets of minette, known as dikes, radiate away from the central formation. Radiometric age determinations of the minette establish that these volcanic rocks solidified about 27 million years ago. Shiprock is in the northeastern part of the Navajo Volcanic Field; the field includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks that formed about 25 million years ago. Agathla, also called El Capitan, is another prominent volcanic neck of this field.^{[5] [6]}

Climbing history and legal status

The first recorded ascent was in 1939, by a Sierra Club party including David Brower, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson and John Dyer^[7][8]. Since then at least seven routes have been climbed on the peak, all of them of great technical difficulty. A modification of the original route is recorded as the easiest, and it is rated as Grade IV, YDS 5.9, A1.^[7] It was considered a great unsolved problem by the climbing community in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time there was a widespread rumor of a $1000 prize for climbing the peak, which inspired "dozens of attempts by the experienced and inexperienced alike."^[7]

The idea of climbing Shiprock is repugnant to many Navajo people. Climbing it is illegal.^{[9] [10]} In spite of this, rock climbers continue to see Shiprock as an interesting place to climb. According to reports from the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department, which administers recreational activities on Navajo land, there have been false claims that the department allows rock climbing and cooperates with rock climbing organizations. A 2006 press release addressing Monument Valley, another area of monoliths within the Navajo Nation, states:

Reports of the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department allowing rock climbing are false. Yet several websites have postings on how to evade Navajo Nation regulations and proceed with dangerous and illegal rock climbs in [Monument Valley]. Even more serious than the possible physical harm illegal climbs could pose is the religious damage done to the Navajo people by these non-Navajo visitors.

The Monuments are sacred to the Navajo people and any human interaction (by Navajo or non-Navajo) is strictly off limits. Please abide by the humble religious requests of the Navajo people and do not climb the Monuments. ?Navajo law will be strictly enforced on this issue,? Parks Department Manager Ray Russell also added.^[11]

Permits are issued by the department to camp and hike in some areas, but not for sacred monuments such as Shiprock.

In the media

Tony Hillerman's mystery novel The Fallen Man centers on the discovery of a long-dead climber found atop Shiprock. Hillerman touches on the conflict of attitudes and values between the climbers and the Navajo people. Also, the Helgrind of Christopher Paolini's novels is based on it. Shiprock makes an appearance in Women and Men: A Novel by Joseph McElroy.

Shiprock also appears in numerous film productions such as Rocks With Wings, Natural Born Killers and Transformers.

References

See also

• Volcanic plug
• Navajo mythology

Images

<gallery> Image:Ship Rock NASA.jpg|Ship Rock and associated dikes, in a cropped, marked, and lower-resolution image from original by NASA Visible Earth. This image was acquired by an ASTER sensor and colors are not photo-like. Image:Shiprock.jpg|Shiprock </gallery>

de:Shiprock nl:Ship Rock

external links

http://www.navajo.org/

http://shiprock.nndes.org/

http://www.discovernavajo.com/

http://flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=shiprock