Shiprock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shiprock | |
|---|---|
 Shiprock |
|
| Elevation | 7,177 feet (2,188 m) |
| Location | New Mexico, USA |
| Prominence | 1,583 ft (482 m) |
| Coordinates | |
| Topo map | USGS Ship Rock Quadrangle |
| Type | Volcanic breccia and minette |
| First ascent | 1939 by David R. Brower, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson, John Dyer[1] |
| Easiest route | technical rock climb[2] |
Shiprock, or Shiprock Peak or Ship Rock (Navajo: Tsé Bit'a'í, "rock with wings" or "winged rock"[3]) is a rock formation rising nearly 1,800 feet (550 m) above the high-desert plain on the Navajo reservation, about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the northern New Mexico town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak.
[edit] Name
The name "Shiprock" 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.[4] USGS maps indicate that the name Ship Rock dates from the 1870s.[5][4]
The Navajo name Tsé Bit'a'í for the peak refers to the legend of the great bird that brought them from the north to their present lands.[5][4]
[edit] Religious and cultural significance
The peak and surrounding land are of great religious and historical significance to the Navajo People. Foremost is the peak's role as the agent that brought the Navajo to the southwest. According to the legend, after being transported, the Navajos lived on the monolith, "coming down only to plant their fields and get water."[4] 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. This gives one reason that Navajos do not approve of anyone climbing the peak, "for fear they might stir up the chį́įdii (ghosts), or rob their corpses."[4]
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.[4]
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.[4] (In another version, the Warrior Twins were summoned to rid the Navajo of the Bird Monsters.[6])
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.[4]
[edit] 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. Ship Rock 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.[7] [8]
[edit] Climbing history and legal status
Rockclimbers see Shiprock as an interesting place to climb. The first ascent was in 1939, by a Sierra Club party including David Brower. (There was a widespread rumor of a $1000 prize for climbing the peak, which inspired "dozens of attempts by the experienced and inexperienced alike."[1]) 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 still regarded as the easiest, and it is rated at Grade IV, YDS 5.9, A1.[1]
It is not clear if recreational climbing is legal or appropriate, given the peak's importance in Navajo religion and culture. The idea of climbing Shiprock is repugnant to many Navajo people.[4] Shiprock is governed by the Navajo Nation. Some sources report that climbing the peak was declared illegal in 1970.[5] A report in 2000, from a person denied a climbing permit, noted that there had been a resolution passed as a result of a recent climbing accident on Shiprock encouraging the authorities not to give out permits.[9] However it was unclear if this became law.
[edit] In Film
The 2002 film "Rocks With Wings," directed by Rick Derby, follows the Navajo members of the Lady Chieftains, the girls' basketball team from Shiprock High School, as they struggle with a new (black) coach, their own expectations, and those of their community and the "Anglo" world around them. The 2007 movie "Transformers" showed the landmark in the scene where the special forces team is making their way to the village of the young translator.
[edit] In Fiction
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.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Audrey Selkeld, editor, World Mountaineering, Bulfinch, 1998.
- ^ Climbing Shiprock may be prohibited; see the History section.
- ^ Wall, Leon; William Morgan (1958/1994). Navajo-English Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene. ISBN 0-7818-0247-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Laurance D. Linford, Navajo Places: history, legend, landscape, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 2000, ISBN 0-87840-623-2, p. 264-265.
- ^ a b c Butterfield, Mike, and Greene, Peter, Mike Butterfield's Guide to the Mountains of New Mexico, New Mexico Magazine Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-937206-88-1
- ^ Shiprock on Dark Isle
- ^ Steven C. Semken, The Navajo Volcanic Field, in Volcanology in New Mexico, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 18, p. 79-83, 2001. ISSN 1524-4156
- ^ Paul T. Delaney, Ship Rock, New Mexico: The vent of a violent volcanic eruption, Geological Society of America Centennial Field Guide -- Rocky Mountain Section, p 411-415, 1987.
- ^ Jim Beyer, "Shiprock", American Alpine Journal, 2000, p. 192.
[edit] See also
[edit] Images
 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. |
 Shiprock |
