Shiprock

**Shiprock** (Navajo: *Naatʼáanii Nééz*) is town in San Juan County, New Mexico that is in the southwestern United States territory known as Navajo Nation, or *Naabeehó Bináhásdzo.*

It is named for the monadnock rock formation Shiprock, *Tsé Bitʼaʼí*, meaning "winged rock" or "rock with wings" which rises 1,583 feet (482.5 meters) above the highest desert plain in the town. The Shiprock formation is a major part of the mythology and tradition of the Navajo people; in the United States' pre-history, the region was home to the ancient Pueblo people, also known as the Anasazi.

The Skinwalkers, a trio of powerful shapeshifting women, live in the desert of Shiprock and are well known for being very protective of their lands. After the Thunder Kitsune Kira Yukimura was experimented on by the Dread Doctors in Beacon Hills, California, which unbalanced her inner Fox spirit, her ancient Celestial Kitsune mother, Noshiko Yukimura, brought her to Shiprock in hopes that the Skinwalkers would be able to help Kira regain control. At the Shiprock peak, Kira battled a Desert Oni, where she inadvertently summoned numerous lightning bolts with her electrokinetic powers. As of the end of Season 6, Kira remains in Shiprock, where she is training under the Skinwalkers' guidance.

## Notable Events

* Kira and Noshiko Yukimura traveled from Beacon Hills, California to Shiprock, New Mexico, as Noshiko, who is familiar with the Skinwalkers who live in its deserts, believed the female shapeshifters could help Kira regain control over her unstable Kitsune spirit. Upon their arrival, the Skinwalkers appeared from under the ground and aimed their spears at Kira and Noshiko, who drew their katanas. *("Damnatio Memoriae")*
* Kira engaged in a battle with the Skinwalkers; though she held her own at first, her fear of losing control over her inner Kitsune spirit caused her to lose focus, allowing one of the Skinwalkers to impale her through the shoulder with her spear and pin her to a nearby sandstone boulder. After the Skinwalkers assessed her and determined that she wasn't afraid of them, but of herself, Noshiko firmly asked them if they could help her. After some deliberation, the leader of the Skinwalkers offered the two Kitsune a deal—if Kira passed their test, they would train her for as long as it took for her to regain control, but if she failed, she would be transformed into a Skinwalker and would have to stay in Shiprock forever. *("Codominance")*
	+ Kira's wounds were healed by the Skinwalkers in their tent in the deserts of Shiprock, and though Kira was not pleased by either plan (to stay and train for months or years or to become a Skinwalker for the rest of her life), Noshiko stated she was willing to go through with it either way out of fear that her inner Fox spirit would subsume her completely and the true Kira would be gone forever.
	+ Kira was tested in a battle between herself and a Desert Oni at the peak of Shiprock, which caused herself to sustain every wound she inflicted on the Oni on her own body as well. Though she defeated the Oni, it was because her inner Kitsune spirit destroyed it by using Kira's body as a weapon, and the Skinwalkers declared that Kira had failed. When Kira and Noshiko refused to stay, a third fight almost broke out, only for Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski to arrive in Stiles' Jeep and rescue them at the last moment.
* After learning that her katana would need supernatural power to be reforged again, Kira traveled back to Shiprock to see the Skinwalkers and beg them for their help, both in reassembling her sword as well as to gain assistance in defeating Theo Raeken and the Beast of Gevaudan, the latter of whom had possessed her friend Mason Hewitt. The Skinwalkers, despite Kira and Noshiko's earlier behavior toward them, agreed to give her what she wanted, but at a cost—she would have to return to Shiprock to train with them as previously agreed. *("The Beast of Beacon Hills")*
* After Kira and the McCall Pack defeated the Beast of Gevaudan and Theo Raeken, Scott McCall drove Kira down to Shiprock to fulfill her end of their bargain. As they said their final goodbyes, Kira gave Scott her obsidian Kitsune tail and asked him to keep it safe for him before informing him that she would be there "as long as it takes" and kissing him goodbye. Afterward, Kira disappeared with the trio of Skinwalkers in a cloud of dust. *("Apotheosis")*

## Trivia

* The Shiprock formation is believed to be roughly 27 million years old and is made of volcanic breccia and minette.
* As of 2000, Shiprock had 8,156 people living in the town, and it is located at the junction between U.S. Route 491 (formerly known as U.S. Route 666) and U.S. Route 64.
* Shiprock is a short distance from the Four Corners monument, which marks the quadripoint border between Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico; at this monument, a person is capable of existing in all four states at once by putting each of their hands and feet in one of the corners.

## Gallery

*Teen Wolf Wiki* has 38 images related to ***Shiprock***.