Window Rock

History Until 1936 the area had few residents. The Navajo knew it by a ceremonial name, Niʼ Ałníiʼgi, 'Center of the World'. That year John Collier, the reforming Commissioner of Indian Affairs, chose the site for the Navajo Central Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs office for the Navajo. He wanted to use the ceremonial name, but Navajos objected, so the agency took the name of the local landmark instead. The rock with a hole through it became Window Rock in English. The arch matters in Navajo ceremony. It is one of the places where medicine men collect water in woven water jugs for the Water Way Ceremony, held to pray for rain.

What to See The Navajo Nation Council Chamber was built in 1934 and 1935 with New Deal money, on a site Collier picked in 1933. It is an octagonal building of red sandstone, designed to suggest a great hogan, with its main entrance facing east in the traditional way. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2004. The arch itself stands just north of the government buildings, in a small tribal park. At its base is a veterans memorial, set up in 1995, with a statue of a Navajo Code Talker of the Second World War. The Navajo Tourism Department lists the park as free and open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Navajo Nation Museum shares its building with the Navajo Nation Library. In 2018 the National Archives lent it the 1868 treaty that let the Navajo return home from Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Next door, the Navajo Nation Zoo keeps more than 100 animals of about 50 species native to the region. It calls itself the only Native American owned-and-operated zoo in the country, and it is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hubbell Trading Post Most visitors combine Window Rock with Hubbell Trading Post, 31 miles west on State Route 264 at Ganado. John Lorenzo Hubbell bought the post in 1878, and it is still a working trading post, now run for the Park Service by a nonprofit. It is free to visit. Rangers offer free tours of the Hubbell family home when staff are available.

Events The greater Window Rock area, including Fort Defiance and St. Michaels, hosts the Navajo Nation Fair, a Fourth of July celebration and rodeo, and a Navajo Nation Treaty Day celebration. Dates change from year to year, so check before planning around them.

When to Go At 6,765 feet, Window Rock is cooler than most of Arizona. Pack for cold winter nights. Hubbell Trading Post's busiest month is May. In December the trading post holds its annual Luminaria Night. Remember that local clocks follow Navajo time, which is an hour ahead of Phoenix from March to November and matches it in winter.

Getting There Window Rock is on State Route 264 and Indian Route 12. Gallup, New Mexico, is about 26 miles away by road, and it has Amtrak and bus service. Flagstaff is about 188 miles west and Chinle about 67 miles northwest. The Navajo Transit System runs buses from Window Rock across the Navajo Nation.