January 11, 2022
Former Navajo chairman and president, Peterson Zah, speaks to a crowd gathered to honor his work in promoting Navajo language and culture, inspiring youth and strengthening tribal sovereignty on Jan. 11 2022, at the Navajo Nation casino east of Flagstaff, Ariz. 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. He died late Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at a hospital in Fort Defiance , Arizona, after a lengthy illness, Navajo President Buu Nygren's office said. He was 85. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)
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Peterson Zah, the first president of the Navajo Nation, was remembered March 11 with a memorial service and 100-mile funeral procession that stretched from western New Mexico to eastern Arizona.
Peterson Zah, who guided one of the largest Native American tribes in the U.S. through a politically tumultuous time, has died.
