Former Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah Passes Away At 85-Years-Old After A Long Illness

Former Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah has passed away. Zah died late Tuesday night at a hospital in Fort Defiance after a long illness. Zah was the first president elected on the Navajo Nation in 1990 after the government was restructured into three branches. He was tribal chairman starting in 1982. At the time he was elected, the tribe was in turmoil after a riot in 1989. Zah vowed to rebuild the tribe, and to support family and education. He supported candidates on both sides of the aisle. Zah supported both Bill and Hillary Clinton in their presidential campaigns, along with the late Senator John McCain in his. Zah was born in 1937 in Low Mountain and graduated from Phoenix Indian School. He then went to Arizona State University on a basketball scholarship where he earned a degree in education. Zah was 85-years-old.