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GEOLOGY ON POST STAMPS |
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GEOLOGY ON POST STAMPS |
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Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki / United States of America
Skała-Okręt w stanie Nowy Meksyk, ostaniec utworzony przez skały komina
wulkanicznego wyerodowane ze skał otaczających; znaczek wydany w roku 1962.
Shiprock in New
Mexico, a monadnock formed by rocks filling the ancient volcanic vent, eroded
from the surrounding rocks; the stamp issued in 1962.
Coll. Grzegorz Barczyk
Known today most commonly by the name Shiprock, the 1700-foot
eroded volcanic plume is sacred to the Navajos as Tse Bi dahi, or the
Rock with Wings. This name comes from an ancient folk myth that tells how the
rock was once a great bird that transported the ancestral people of the Navahos
to their lands in what is now northwestern New Mexico. The Navaho ancestors had
crossed a narrow sea far to the northwest (the Bering 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. Geologists tell us the rock was formed 12 million years ago
during the Pliocene. The legend of the rock seems more likely to be a metaphor
hinting of the site's magical power to lift the human soul above the problems of
daily existence into an awareness of the great spirit. From ancient times to the
more recent past, Tse Bi dahi was indeed a pilgrimage place of major importance,
the destination of young men engaged in the rigors of solitary vision quests.
The rock was climbed in 1939. Since 1970, Shiprock has been off limits to
climbers, accorded once again the respect due a Navaho sacred place.
From: http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/united_states/shiprock.html
