Shiprock is sacred to my tribe, the Navajos It’s also called the Rock with Wings. This name comes from a myth that tells how the rock was once a great bird that transported the ancestral people of the Navajos to their lands. The Navajo ancestors had crossed a narrow sea far to the northwest (the Berring Strait) and were fleeing from a warlike 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.