Shiprock, NM

Ancient Beginnings, Bright Future

The jagged pinnacle of Shiprock rises like a mirage above the New Mexico desert, a giant castle of rock silhouetted against the sky. It is a holy spot to the Navajo, or the Diné, as they call themselves. Tradition holds that here at Tsé bit’a’í—or the “rock with wings”—twin heroes killed the Monster Birds that terrorized their ancestors, allowing the Navajo to settle the area.

European settlers saw a giant sailing ship in the rock, hence the name. Scientists say Shiprock’s spires are the remains of an ancient volcanic core, dating back at least 26 million years. Visible for hundreds of miles across four states, the dark monolith towers some 1,700 feet above the desert floor, with dikes of igneous rock radiating like dinosaur spines into the desert.

The community that shares the rock’s name and many of its characteristics is nine miles away. Perched on the northeast corner of the Navajo Reservation, Shiprock (pop. 8,156) is a rugged crossroads for caravans of tourists heading into the heart of Indian Country and to the Four Corners where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet. Farmers in this agricultural community raise corn, melons, alfalfa, and summer squash. Yet many here think Shiprock’s real potential is untapped and, like the rock, may rise up from its ancient past.

“Shiprock is a gold mine, but we just see it buzz by,” says Orville Tsinnie, a Navajo jewelry maker who sells more at out-of-town shows than in his downtown shop. He says restaurants and hotels might lure tourists visiting Indian Country to stop and explore the town.

“The potential is fantastic. It’s unlimited,” says Tsinnie, filing patterns into a silver bracelet. A stamp of the rock monument appears on all his jewelry.

The U.S. government founded Shiprock in 1903, nearly four decades after Col. Kit Carson rounded up 8,000 Navajo and led them on the Long Walk from their traditional lands to the barren Bosque Redondo, south of Santa Fe. In 1868, the government released them to a newly formed reservation after Navajo leaders pleaded for help. Against this hard past, many in Shiprock see a bright path ahead.

“I call Shiprock ‘The Native City of the Future,’” Duane “Chili” Yazzie says. As president of the Ship-rock Chapter of the Navajo Nation, he is the Navajo equivalent of mayor. Images of the winged rock surround him, engraved on his sterling belt buckle and captured in photos that encircle his office. Yazzie imagines a town standing just as tall as the rock pinnacle, combining Navajo wisdom and Western ideas with enough tribal autonomy to let Shiprock set its own direction.

“The rock—it’s like a bear,” Yazzie says. “A bear is strong. Powerful. Silent.” The same qualities are true of its namesake town, he says, and that spirit can move Shiprock forward.

Diné College East is building a new campus in Shiprock, where 325 of the school’s 1,725 students attend classes. The college has seven other campuses on the reservation. And Bernice Casaus, dean of the college, hopes it will play a vital role in invigorating the town where she grew up. She wants to offer more classes to help Navajo learn their culture and the language that many don’t speak, especially the young. Casaus hopes to do other community outreach as well, including poetry readings for senior citizens.

“We like to say that the Diné language and culture is our foundation and that’s what will sustain us. I truly believe that,” Casaus says. “If we have the right planners and the right mix of Western and traditional knowledge, I think we can fare pretty well, but you have to live and practice that philosophy.”

That philosophy ties the people of Shiprock to the tower that shares its name. Always in view, the pinnacle stands as a constant reminder of the Navajo creation and of the bedrock traditions that lie beneath the modern-day residents of this ancient land.

David Frey is a regular contributor to American Profile.

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