2003 Speakers
- Peterson Zah
- Bruce Feiler
- John Walsh
- Judith Miller
- Arianna Huffington
- Randall Kennedy
- Eric Schlosser
PETERSON ZAH
Winds of Change in Indian Country
From 1967 to 1982, he served as executive director of DNA People’s Legal Services, a program for the Navajo, Hopi, and Apache people in the Four Corners area of Arizona. During his tenure at DNA, Zah succeeded in winning some landmark cases, including several cases that established Indian sovereignty before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Zah served as chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council from 1983 to 1987. In 1990, under a new tribal government organization, he was elected again – this time as president of the Navajo Nation and served a four-year term, making him the last tribal chairman and the first president of the Navajo Nation.
Since 1995, Zah has served as advisor to the president of American Indian Affairs at Arizona State University. In this capacity, he assists with recruitment and retention of American Indian students. He meets with students, presents guest lectures and represents ASU in external relations with American Indian communities, and federal and state governments. Since Zah’s arrival, the ASU American Indian student population has increased from 672 to 1,089 with student persistency and retention rates also increasing from 43 percent to 87 percent. These numbers are the highest in regard to American Indian students of any major college or university in the country.
In 2002, Zah was the first recipient of The National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s Pierce-Hickerson Award for his outstanding contributions to the advancement or preservation of Native American rights.
Zah graduated from Phoenix Indian School in 1958 and graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in education. He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from Colorado College and the College of Santa Fe. He has also taught at Window Rock High School and worked for the Navajo Nation as a construction project estimator.