Four Sacred Mountains of the Navajo

The Four Sacred Mountains of the Navajo are the four mountains along the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. According to Navajo belief, each mountain is assigned a color and direction and is seen as a deity that provides essential resources for Navajo livelihood. However, the environmental integrity of these sacred mountains has been compromised for decades, by uranium mining and other resource extraction procedures leading to unfavorable consequences for the Navajo community.

Geographical location

The Navajo attribute supernatural power to geographic features, especially mountains, which they consider to be deities. The four sacred mountains in the cardinal directions of Navajo Country hold great importance. They are named in sunwise order and associated with the colors of the four cardinal directions: Sisnaajiní or Blanca Peak (white in the east), Tsoodził or Mt. Taylor (blue in the south), Doko’oosłííd or the San Francisco Peaks (yellow in the west), and Dibéntsaa or Hesperus Peak (black in the north). These mountains are located in south-central Colorado; Grants, New Mexico; Flagstaff, Arizona; and La Plata Mountains, Colorado in relation to U.S. boundaries. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Recent controversies

Mt. Taylor uranium mining

In 1971, Gulf Mineral Resources Corporation purchased property on Mount Taylor. Gulf began mining uranium ore in 1980, a radioactive mineral. Above ground mining took place as well as extensive drill-and-blast operations that used large quantities of ground water in the operations. The New Mexico Environmental Department reports that Gulf "dewatered three aquifers through a series of groundwater withdrawal wells installed in the 1970s." Later Gulf engaged in a corporate merger with Chevron Resources Company to extract 675,000 tons of uranium ore which left behind 698,000 tons of radioactive tailings on the surface. ^[4] The Mount Taylor area has several Superfund Sites and is considered one of the most highly polluted sites in the U.S. to do radioactive contamination from uranium mining. ^[5]

Blanca Peak mining and development

In the 1890s, gold and silver mining commenced on Blanca Peak. ^[6]

Gallery

• 
  Mount Taylor
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  Blanca Peak group
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  Hesperus Peak
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  San Francisco Peaks

Further reading

• Smith, Noel Lyn. "Navajos reiterate sacred-site concerns to feds". Navajo Times. 2011-03-18.
• Zah, Erny. "Sacred sites need protection, preservation, panel told". Navajo Times. 2010-07-29.
• "Speaker Morgan encourages Navajos to visit Four Sacred Mountains". Navajo-Hopi Observer. 2007-03-21.
• Siddons, Louise. 2020. “Seeing the Four Sacred Mountains: Mapping, Landscape and Navajo Sovereignty.” European Journal of American Culture 39 (1): 63–81. doi:10.1386/ejac_00011_1.
• Blake, Kevin S. 2001. “In Search of a Navajo Sacred Geography.” Geographical Review 91 (4): 715. doi:10.2307/3594728.

References

1. Jett, Stephen (1992). "An Introduction to Navajo Sacred Places". Journal of Cultural Geography. 13 (1): 29–39. doi:10.1080/08873639209478398.
2. Pierce, Trudy (1992). Sky Is My Father (1 ed.). University of New Mexico Press. pp. 69–75, 90–96. ISBN   9780826316349.
3. Klauk, Erin. "Physiography of the Navajo Nation". Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College.
4. "Mt. Taylor Mine Site Review". New Mexico Environment Department. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
5. Caulfield, Clara. "Native Sun News: Navajo activists spearhead 'No Nukes' effort". Indianz.com. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
6. "Last Threat of Development Removed from the Sacred Blanca Peak". Wilderness Land Trust. Retrieved 7 September 2024.