Window Rock, known in

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

as Tségháhoodzání (), is a city and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

that serves as the capital of the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

, the largest

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...

by both land and tribal enrollment. The capital lies within the boundaries of the St. Michaels

Chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

, adjacent to the Arizona and New Mexico state line. Window Rock is the site of the Navajo Nation governmental campus, which contains the

Navajo Nation Council The Navajo Nation Council () is the Legislative Branch of the Navajo Nation government. The council meets four times per year, with additional special sessions, at the Navajo Nation Council Chamber, which is in Window Rock, Arizona. The counci ...

, Navajo Nation Supreme Court, the offices of the Navajo Nation President and Vice President, and many Navajo government buildings. Window Rock's population was 2,500 at the 2020 census. It is estimated to reach around 20,000 during weekdays when tribal offices are open. Window Rock's main natural attraction is the window formation of sandstone (

Entrada Sandstone The Entrada Sandstone is a formation (geology), formation in the San Rafael Group found in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Colorado, northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this formation was deposi ...

) which the community is named after. The Navajo Nation Museum, the Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park, and the Navajo Nation Code Talkers

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

memorial are tribal attractions located in Window Rock.

Name

Until 1936, the area was sparsely populated and known by the Navajo only by its ceremonial name ("Center of the World").

John Collier John Collier may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet *John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger *John Collier (painter) (1850–1934) ...

, a reforming Commissioner of Indian Affairs, chose this site to establish the seat of the Navajo Central Agency, the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

official connection to the nation. His proposal to make the ceremonial name the official name met with resistance, and Navajos soon ridiculed it as "" (~ "into your middle (parts)"). Due to this, the BIA chose the name of the major local landmark, the rock-with-hole-through-it (Navajo: ) for this Indian agency site. It was rendered in English as ''Window Rock''. This landmark is north of the Navajo governmental administration buildings. It is important in the traditional Navajo Water Way Ceremony (), as one of the four places where Navajo medicine men go with their traditional woven water jugs to get water for the ceremony that is held to pray for an abundance of rainfall.

Government

Window Rock is the capital of the

government. Its complex houses the Navajo Nation President and Vice President, Navajo Nation Supreme Court, the 24-member Navajo Nation Council, and Navajo government administration buildings. As a district within the St. Michaels Chapter, Window Rock is served by a Navajo Council Delegate and Chapter President and Vice President.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,059 people, 876 households, and 713 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 998 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.5% Native American, 3.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.4% Asian, 0.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, <0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.1% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population. There were 876 households, out of which 51.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 29.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.6% were non-families. 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.42 and the average family size was 3.81. In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 36.3% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $36,885, and the median income for a family was $36,500. Males had a median income of $27,266 versus $26,902 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $11,122. About 24.6% of families and 24.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 28.6% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Geography

The Arizona/

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

state line marks the town's eastern edge, and some of the town's buildings are located a few feet (meters) from the state line. Immediately across the state line from Window Rock is the village of

Tse Bonito, New Mexico Tse Bonito (Navajo: ') is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the greater Window Rock, Arizona, population center, and seat of the Navajo Nation government. The population was 380 at the 2 ...

. The greater Window Rock area comprises the Fort Defiance and St. Michaels chapters, and the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Hunter's Point and the Summit in Arizona, and Tse Bonito on the New Mexico side of the border. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Window Rock CDP (census designated place) has a total area of , all land. The area is atop and encompassed within the

Defiance Plateau The Defiance Plateau, part of the geologic Defiance Uplift, is an approximately 75-mile (121 km) long, mostly north-trending plateau of Apache County, Arizona, with its east and southeast perimeter, as parts of San Juan and McKinley Countie ...

Climate

Window Rock is categorized as being within the 6a

USDA hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

, meaning the average annual extreme minimum temperature is between . The city is cooler than most of Arizona due to its high elevation.

Note

Education

Window Rock is a part of the

Window Rock Unified School District Window Rock Unified School District (WRUSD) is a school district within Apache County, Arizona, United States. The district comprises seven schools within a 65-mile radius. WRUSD serves several unincorporated areas, including Fort Defiance, Oa ...

, which serves the greater Fort Defiance and St. Michaels chapters population center. Window Rock is served by: * Window Rock Elementary School * Tséhootsooí Middle School * Window Rock High School located in the Fort Defiance Chapter. The community is also served by the private

Saint Michael Indian School St. Michael Indian School (SMIS) is a private Roman Catholic day school. It is part of Saint Michael Parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico. It is located at St. Michaels chapter on the Navajo Nation. History St. Michael ...

, a K-12 private, Catholic school established by Katharine Drexel in 1902. Saint Michael Indian School is a member of the National Catholic Education Association and the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Catholic School System. The surrounding community is also served by Hilltop Christian School, operated by Across Nations offering pre-K through 6th grade learning curriculum. In addition, the Saint Michaels Association for Special Education, Inc. (SMASE) school serves the greater Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico. A non-profit school, founded by Sister Marijane Ryan in 1970 serves as an educational and residential center for individuals with disabilities of all ages.

Travel and tourism

Tourism is an integral part of the local economy. Window Rock attracts a large number of tourists and visitors due to its close proximity to many national parks and sites and Navajo government. The area is a popular base of commerce for the regional people as well. Window Rock is near to: *

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site is a historic site on Highway 191, north of Chambers, Arizona, Chambers, with an exhibit center in Ganado, Arizona. It is considered a meeting ground of two cultures between the Navajo and the settler ...

Diné College Diné College is a public tribal land-grant college based in Tsaile, Arizona, serving the Navajo Nation. It offers associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, academic certificates, and one master's degree. History Diné College opened in 196 ...

Petrified Forest National Park Petrified Forest National Park is a national park of the United States in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about , encompassing semi-desert shrub steppe as wel ...

Canyon de Chelly National Monument Canyon de Chelly National Monument ( ) was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting o ...

Chaco Culture National Historical Park Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in the American Southwest hosting a large concentration of pre-Columbian indigenous ruins of pueblos. The park is located in northwestern New Mexico, betwee ...

Gallup, New Mexico Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States, with a population of 21,899 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A substantial percentage of its population is Native Americans in the United States, Native American, wi ...

Navajo Nation Museum

In the year of 1961 the Navajo Tribe established the first Navajo Tribal Museum in a small building on the Window Rock Tribal Fairgrounds. It was moved in 1982 to the back room of the Navajo Arts and Crafts Store. In 1997, a $7 million permanent home was built to store the Navajo artifacts in a museum specially built in a modern Navajo hogan style near the Navajo Nation Zoo. The Navajo Nation Museum and its colocated Library offer many relics and artifacts of the Navajo people and Navajo Nation, many resources on the Navajo people, language and ceremonies are also offered in the Navajo Nation Library which is adjacent to the museum. The museum is open Monday through Friday and is free to the public.

Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park

The Navajo Tribal Zoo opened in Window Rock in 1963 featuring reservation animals such as bear, coyotes, snake, elk, and the golden eagle. The Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park offers a wide variety of plants, animals, fishes, birds and insects native to the

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

area of the Navajo Nation such as

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

Mexican gray wolf The Mexican wolf (''Canis lupus baileyi''), also known as the ''lobo mexicano'' (or, simply, ''lobo'') is a subspecies of gray wolf (''C. lupus'') native to eastern and southeastern Arizona and western and southern New Mexico (in the United Sta ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

, Rio Grande wild turkey, raccoon,

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...

, and

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. The Navajo Nation Zoo is open Monday through Saturday and is free to the public.

Ch'ihootso Indian Market Place

The Ch'ihootso Market Place offers many vendors with Navajo arts and crafts along with Hopi, Zuni and local artists. The market place is open from 5:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Sunday.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Window Rock is served by

Arizona State Route 264 State Route 264 (SR 264) is a state highway in northeastern Arizona, that runs from a junction with US 160 near Tuba City to the New Mexico state line at Window Rock, where the highway continues as New Mexico State Road 264 (NM 264). ...

, and Indian Route 12 . Window Rock is served by a local regional airport : Window Rock Airport. Window Rock Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile south of the central business district of Window Rock, in Apache County. It is owned by the Navajo Nation. Local transportation is provided by the

Navajo Transit System The Navajo Transit System (NTS) is a public transportation system that serves and operates on the Navajo Nation. The system currently operates 17 routes throughout the Navajo Nation and within Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.Bigwater, Lee. (2014). N ...

which operates from Window Rock. It provides several routes that serve the community, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Nation, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

Business

Window Rock is served by two regional shopping centers: Diné

Bashas' Bashas' is a grocery store chain, primarily located in Arizona, with two locations outside the state in Crownpoint, New Mexico, and Shiprock, New Mexico. Its headquarters are in Chandler. As of December 15, 2021, Bashas' is owned and operated by ...

and

Lowe's Market Lowe's Market is an American regional supermarket chain, primarily in West Texas and South Texas and throughout New Mexico. The company also operates stores in Colorado, Arizona and Kansas. The company's home office is in Littlefield, Texas. H ...

. The Navajo Nation Shopping Center Enterprise also serves the area. This includes local business, such as Navajo Arts And Crafts Enterprise, Caffeinated Ape, Dee Barber Shop, Shima Grill & Catering, Ch'ihootso Indian Market Place, Arizonian's Bookstore, Window Rock Coffee Company, Navajo United Way, IndigeHub, Navajo Technology Services, LLC, the DVD Collection, National Flowers, and New Mexico Chile Fair.

Culture

Numerous events are hosted throughout the year in the greater Window Rock area, which includes Fort Defiance and St. Michaels, such as: *

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

Celebration & PRCA ProRodeo * Navajo Nation Fair * Navajo Nation Treaty Day Celebration * Navajo Nation Prayer Day * Megabucks Bull Riding

Health care

Window Rock is served by the Tséhootsooí Medical Center. Located in Fort Defiance, Arizona it also serves the Window Rock and the surrounding area.

References

External links

Window Rock profile, with more links to the most interesting sites about Tségháhoodzání and the Dinétah
{{authority control Seats of government of American Indian reservations Census-designated places in Apache County, Arizona Populated places on the Navajo Nation Census-designated places in Arizona Cities in Arizona