Former Navajo President Peterson Zah dies at 85
Flagstaff, Ariz. — Peterson Zah, a monumental Navajo Nation leader who guided the tribe through a politically tumultuous era and worked tirelessly to correct wrongdoings against Native Americans, has died.
Zah died late Tuesday at a hospital in Fort Defiance, Ariz., after a lengthy illness, his family and the tribe announced. He was 85.
Zah was the first president elected on the Navajo Nation — the largest tribal reservation in the U.S. — in 1990 after the government was restructured into three branches to prevent power from being concentrated in the chairman’s office. At the time, the tribe was reeling from a deadly riot incited by Zah’s political rival, former Chairman Peter MacDonald, a year earlier.
Zah vowed to rebuild the tribe, and to support family and education, speaking with people in ways that imparted mutual respect, said his longtime friend Eric Eberhard. Zah was as comfortable putting on dress clothes to represent Navajos in Washington, D.C., as he was driving his old pickup truck around the reservation and sitting on the ground, listening to people who were struggling, he said.
“People trusted him, they knew he was honest,” Eberhard said Tuesday.
Zah will be buried Saturday morning at a private service. His family expressed thanks for the outpouring of love and support they’ve received.
“It’s heartwarming to hear from the many people who share stories about Peterson, which provide comfort for the family,” they said in a statement late Wednesday.
Aspiring politicians on and off the Navajo Nation sought Zah’s advice and endorsement. He rode with Hillary Clinton in the Navajo Nation parade a month before Bill Clinton was elected president. Zah later campaigned for Hillary Clinton in her bid for the presidency.