Adjacent to Window Rock on the west is the town of St. Michaels. This town has about 1,300 people and it grew up around a Franciscan Mission called St. Michael (without the "s").
Construction on the mission began in 1897 and was financed by Katherine Drexel of the
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Construction of the mission was overseen by Anselm Weber. He served as a missionary to the Navajos until his death in 1921. Weber and Drexel are both highly respected in Navajo society to the this day. Weber was a member of the Ohio Franciscans and the Navajos turned to this group shortly after they returned to their traditional homeland after spending five horrific and tumultuous years at Bosque Redondo near
Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
This was the destination of "The Long Walk" of 1863 that was forced on the Navajos and other tribes, particularly the Mescalero and Chiricahua Apaches, by the federal government. Upon their return to "Navajo Land," the surviving members of the tribe turned to the Ohio Franciscans for help with re-establishing their lives and for help dealing with the United States government. Their previous dealings with Spanish missionaries didn't work out because the Spanish showed a blatant disregard for the Navajo belief system, but Anselm Weber showed alot of respect for Navajo beliefs and customs. Under Weber's direction, Navajo beliefs and customs were interwoven with Catholic teachings to create a "white man's religion"
that the Navajos were willing to accept.
Today, on the grounds of the St. Michael Indian School, there is a circular chapel with a dirt floor, with the door facing east to greet the rising sun, that was designed to represent a traditional Navajo hogan, although a hogan is usually eight-sided and not circular. The original mission school is now the Visitor's Center.
Anselm Weber immersed himself into learning the Navajo language and he wrote the first Navajo dictionary using the English alphabet. Anselm was also instrumental in getting the federal government to establish this area as part of the Navajo Indian Reservation in 1907. The original reservation, which was established in 1868, was farther north and much smaller than it is today. The original reservation was nearly evenly split by the Arizona/New Mexico border. The original part of the reservation is depicted by a brown rectangle on the tribal flag. In the late 1800s, even though this area was not part of the Navajo Reservation, it was heavily populated by Navajos because it was part of their traditional homeland.
The Navajo name for St, Michaels is "ts'ihootso," which means "yellow meadow." When the Spanish arrived, they renamed it "Cienaga Amarilla," which means the same thing.
Katherine Drexel, who financed the school's construction, named it St. Michael. I am not sure how the "s" was added to the town's name when it is not part of the school's name.
Today, St. Michaels functions as a suburb of Window Rock, the tribal capital. There is a Navajoland Inn&Suites on the west side of town(formerly a Days Inn). This is one of only two motels in the Window Rock vicinity. Next door to the motel is a Dennys Restaurant. This is the only Denny's on the Navajo Reservation.
