Tsé Bitʼaʼí

Tsé Bitʼaʼí

Located out in the Southwestern desert plains by the town of Shiprock, is Shiprock Rock, the feature the town was named after. It is a huge disabled volcanic rock on the Navajo Reservation. Rising almost two thousand feet from the high desert plain, the rock sits in the center of the land of the ancient Pueblo civilization and a prehistoric Anasazi culture.

Tsé Bitʼaʼí is the Navajo name for it, meaning Rock with Wings. From a distance, Shiprock Rock looks like a gigantic sitting bird with its wings folded to its sides. Behind the Navajo name for the rock, the story goes that a gigantic bird carried the Navajos from the cold northlands to the Four Corners area, this is substantiated by other Native American stories and history that can explored among the Navajo people.

Captain J.F. McComb, an explorer in 1860 immediately named the rock The Needles, because of its pointed height. Despite this, the name didn’t last as long as he thought, because the rock was also called Shiprock by the locals. The locals were the Navajos that lived in the area where Shiprock can been seen; they called it Shiprock Rock because of the stories (explained in paragraph two). The name Shiprock has been stuck to maps since the 1870’s, and has always been used, because the rock’s resemblance towards the nineteenth century clipper ships.


In Navajo folklore, Shiprock is a sacred landmark to the Navajo people. It plays a role in Navajo religion and tradition. The legend of Shiprock is that the Native American people were running away from an invading tribe, so the Navajo people prayed for deliverance. The ground beneath them transformed into a gigantic bird that carried the people on its back for one day and night, then landing during sunset, it folded its wings. As the people were climbing off from the bird, a giant dragon looking creature, named Cliff Monster, built a nest on the bird’s back, trapping the bird. The people sent Monster Slayer to fight Cliff Monster in a battle; during the battle the bird was injured. Monster Slayer killed Cliff Monster by cutting off its head. It now lays at the east Cabezon Peak. The bird was fatally injured. To keep the bird alive, Monster Slayer turned the bird into stone, and today it is a reminder to the Diné of the birds sacrifice in their deliverance.


More tales of the rock have surfaced, telling of Diné people who lived on the mountain, planting food and watering their fields. During a lightning storm, lightning struck the only trail, destroying their passage way. Marooned on the mountain, the people starved to death, and they are now considered ghosts, ghosts that still haunt the mountain today. Presently, it is illegal to climb Shiprock.


A rumor that was spread in the 1930s that whoever climbed to the top of the peak would be rewarded one-thousand dollars, which inspired both experienced and inexperienced climbers. It became illegal to climb the mountain for several reasons: in March, 1970, an accident happened that resulted in death because of a failed attempt to climb the rock. Also, it is forbidden to climb Shiprock, so the chindi’s won’t be disturbed nor have their remains taken as souvenirs.


As I mentioned in the beginning, Shiprock Rock is a sacred landmark to the Navajo people. In today’s century, Shiprock has been made into several cameos in Hollywood movies, like Transformers, John Carter, The Host, and The Lone Ranger. With Shiprock’s appearances in these movies, it caused conflicts with the Navajo people, who say, “Shiprock Rock is a sacred Native American landmark; they are exposing our tradition to the world.”


Shiprock will always be part of the Navajo’s daily tradition and worshipped as a reminder of the stories that this rock holds. Later, in a time of need the great bird itself will soon come back to life, and then carry its people to new land.