McCabe was born February 8, 1961 on the Navajo Nation in Fort Defiance, Arizona (Navajo: Tséhootsooí [tsʰéhòːtsʰòː.í]), to Helen Natonabah and Peter McCabe. The Santa Fe Reporter states that “He was born into the Táchii’nii clan (Red Running into the Water People Clan) and was born for Hashk’aa Hadzohi (Yucca-Fruit-Strung-Out-In-A-Line Clan).” Part of his childhood was spent in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1973. He attended high school in Santa Fe, and went on to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts with an emphasis in printmaking as well as ceramic arts and creative writing. After graduating from IAIA, he attended Naropa Institute where he studied Poetics and Spiritual Practices in conjunction with the One World Poetry Conference. Some of his teachers included Allen Ginsberg, Diane Di Prima and Gregory Corso.
Taken from Michael McCabe (artist) – Wikipedia