Peterson Zah, former Navajo chairman and the first Navajo president, dies at 85

A degree in education from Arizona State University in 1963 opened many doors — both on and off the reservation — for former Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah.

His education not only helped him during his political career, but also when he returned to ASU to serve the administration. His life goal was to make a difference in Navajo people’s lives.

Zah died late Tuesday at a hospital in Fort Defiance after a lengthy illness, Navajo President Buu Nygren’s office said. He was 85.

Navajo voters elected the civic-minded Zah twice. He served a four-year term as Navajo tribal chairman in 1982 and then voters elected him again as the first Navajo Nation president in 1992.

Zah later worked as an adviser to the president of ASU. He served in the post 15 years and left in 2010.

Inspiring Arizona’s youth, especially Navajos, to attend college was his passion.

“I love to recruit,” Zah told The Arizona Republic in 2013. “I love to go to high-school graduations, sitting in the stands when the graduation is on the football field is just fine with me. And I love to go into classrooms and talk to students about the value of a good education.”

Filling a need for legal services

Zah was born in 1937 in Low Mountain, on the Navajo Reservation. The son of Navajo shepherds, he attended Phoenix Indian School and later a one-year stint at Phoenix College before enrolling at ASU.

Few tribal members stepped onto college campuses, let alone left with degrees, at the time.

When Zah returned to Window Rock in the late 1960s, he saw the tribe had great needs, including a lack of legal representation.

Zah would later become director of DNA Legal Services, a non-profit that offered legal help for Navajos. Under his leadership, DNA pursued a case against traders on the reservation in the 1970s.

Navajo people sold their hand-woven rugs, jewelry and shopped for groceries at trading posts. They also pawned jewelry for cash. When traders started to impose outrageous interest rates, DNA Legal Services stepped in, and many traders stopped the practice.

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Voters elected Zah to the Window Rock School District governing board in 1972 and he later served as board president.

Navajos were impressed with Zah’s results and, in 1982, helped him win election as Navajo chairman, unseating Chairman Peter MacDonald, Sr., who had served three consecutive terms.

Replacing limos with sedans

Zah focused on government accountability and continued to work on two high-profile issues he inherited. He worked on two Navajo-Hopi land conflicts and also came up with a solution to handle a $70 million court settlement.

Zah wasn’t able to stop Congress from relocating Navajo families off land awarded to the Hopi tribe in one of the two land cases. Congress had already settled the dispute by dividing the land in the 1970s. But Zah’s administration did create a permanent trust fund in 1985 from a case involving the Kerr-McGee Corp., which was involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas. The trust has grown to over $1 billion.

In contrast to his political rival MacDonald, Zah’s leadership exuded simplicity.

“He ordered sedans purchased to replace the limousines that had been a hallmark of the MacDonald administration,” wrote former ASU professor Peter Iverson in his book, “Dine, a History of the Navajos.” “Zah reduced the chairman’s salary by $10,000, from $55,000 to $45,000.”

Zah shunned three-piece suits, which MacDonald favored, and opted for casual clothing, Iverson wrote.

In 1986, Zah lost the chairman’s election. He joined in the fundraising for the Navajo Education and Scholarship Foundation and later directed a regional office for Save the Children.

Navajo voters returned Zah to the tribe’s highest office in 1991, this time as Navajo president after the Navajo Nation Council changed to a three-branch government.

Zah’s second term focused on uniting the people after the tumultuous MacDonald administration. Tribal gaming arrived on the Navajo landscape, a decision the new tribal president left to the people to decide.

Zah lost to Albert Hale in 1995 and moved to Phoenix, where he joined ASU.

He had success in boosting enrollment among American Indian students from 672 students in 1996 to 1,453 students in fall 2005, according to ASU officials.

Zah was a runner up to the top 10 influential people in Arizona in 2012.

A dreamer with big ideas

He continued to be a well-known, respected leader of the Navajo Nation, both on and off the reservation. Zah and his wife Rosalind lived in both Phoenix and Window Rock.

"He recognized that it's about the common good. And our common good is defined in each generation, so he supported a lot of younger leaders," Council Delegate Carl Roessel Slater said Wednesday. "I'm so blessed not to just know him as this great leader, but to interact with him on a leader to leader basis."

Inspiring, encouraging and endorsing the younger generation of Navajo leadership is what many are remembering Zah for. Zah endorsed Slater, whose grandparents were Robert and Ruth Roessel, prominent educators on the Navajo Nation who paved the way for what is now Diné College. Zah was once a student of Ruth Roessel's in Low Mountain before he left for Phoenix Indian School.

Slater remembers when he decided to run for Navajo Nation Council he reached out to Zah for advice.

"What I saw in Mr. Zah was he was a dreamer and had these big ideas about what our people, our society, our Nation ought to be," said Slater. "There's a destiny for us. I don't think anyone has demonstrated they have a mind like his that could really comprehend the magnitude of the discussion at the chapter house and how it will reverberate to D.C and vice versa."

Slater said he was inspired by Zah's motivation and dedication to the Navajo Nation, working on behalf of the people up until the very end. Zah would attend Slater's campaign rallies and speak to the crowd.

"It's not like he reached a certain point in his life and said 'I've done enough,'" said Slater. "He talked about how Annie Wauneka (the first female Navajo Council Delegate) was an important mentor to him and got him into politics. She has that saying 'I'll go and do more,' and I felt like that was his ethos too. That it was I'm going to do more and I'm not going to rest. There is no such thing as rest."

Zah endorsed Council Delegate Crystalyne Curley, who became the first female speaker of the Navajo Nation. She ran a close election for council delegate and now represents Zah's home community of Low Mountain.

"I will always cherish and remember the support and teachings you provided me throughout my academic and professional journey," she said. "I will miss your leadership and your many accomplishments for Low Mountain and the rest of the Navajo Nation. Thank you for laying a foundation for future generations."

Newly elected Navajo President Buu Nyrgen had also received Zah's endorsement during this past election.

“When it comes to Peterson Zah, he was a legendary figure who really cared about our children, our children’s future and the Navajo Nation’s future,” Nygren said. “I just want to say thank you to the Zah family, his kids, his grandkids, his wife and all his relatives out at Low Mountain for sharing with the Navajo Nation such an inspirational leader that will continue to guide us in the right direction as we move forward.”

Arlyssa Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com

Betty Reid is a former reporter at The Arizona Republic.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Peterson Zah, former Navajo chairman and president, dies at 85