The Navajo Nation
1) The Navajo Nation reservation is located in the southwestern portion of the United
States in an area known as the “Four Corners” area. The Four Corners is where the states of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico meet.
The Navajo reservation land lies within three adjacent states: Arizona, Utah and
New Mexico. The Navajo Nation covers approximately 24,078 sq. miles and is roughly the size of West Virginia.
2) However, the current reservation boundaries encompasses but a portion of the Navajo’s ancestral homelands, called Diné Bikéyah. This area lies within four sacred mountains to the east, the south, the west, and the north. Starting in the east, and moving clockwise, the sacred mountains are as follows:
- East Mountain: Sisnaajiní – Blanca Peak, near Alamosa, Colorado
- South Mountain: Tsoodził – Mount Taylor near Grants, New Mexico
- West Mountain: Dook’o’osłííd – San Francisco Peak near Flagstaff, Arizona
- North Mountain: Dibé Ntsaa– Mount Hesperus near Durango, Colorado
Within these primary sacred mountains lie two additional sacred mountains. They are:
- Dził Na’oodiłíí– Huerfano Mountain southeast of Farmington, New Mexico; and
- Ch’oolí’í– Gobernador Knob, east of Farmington, New Mexico
3) The “capital” of the Navajo Nation is located in Window Rock, AZ. Window Rock is on the Colorado Plateau at the southern end of the Chuska Mountain range. It is at 6,830 ft. elevation. Pollen Circles is based in Window Rock, AZ.
