June 28, 2006

Award honors Zah's advocacy for Indian affairs

Peterson Zah, former president of the Navajo Nation and adviser to ASU's president on American Indian affairs for more than 10 years, has been honored with the First American Public Advocate Award by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED).

The nonprofit center is the first national organization solely dedicated to developing American Indian economic self-sufficiency through business ownership.

Zah received his award at a ceremony June 16 at Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. The ceremony honored individuals for their contributions to economic parity and the betterment of Indian communities.

The First American Public Advocate award is presented to a government agency or one of its employees who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in support of American Indian business and economic development.

Zah is considered one of the 100 most important American Indians in the last century and a key leader in the development of American Indian government, education, law and business.

He also is one of ASU's most distinguished alumni, having earned his bachelor's degree in education in 1963, and an honorary doctoral degree in 2005.

In 1982, Zah was elected chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council. In 1990, under a new tribal government, he was the first president of the Navajo Nation, leading the movement to restructure and modernize its governmental system from a council to a nation. That made Zah the last chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council and the first elected president of the Navajo Nation.

Zah has made education his first priority throughout his career. He has worked for more than 30 years to defend the interests of all American Indian people and is widely respected among U.S. tribes.

Based on his intense focus on education and building the “American Indian human resource,” American Indians have made great progress toward achieving viable economic sustainability and self-sufficiency.

In his ASU position, Zah has helped double the university's American Indian student population from 672 to more than 1,400. He also has increased retention from a low of 43 percent to among the highest of any major college or university in the country.

Zah's guidance and support has allowed for creating one of the largest and most profound groups of American Indian faculty in the country, totaling 26.

Zah is a strong supporter of ASU's Native American Achievement Program, a partnership with tribes providing scholarships, mentoring and advising to students.

In accepting the award, Zah says he is “thankful and respectful of all the wonderful people he works with every day, including my family, students, faculty and staff. No job is ever truly completed by one person.”

Zah also made special efforts to encourage the NCAIED, similar organizations and tribes to begin building partnerships with universities such as ASU to further ensure American Indian economic growth.

“The NCAIED has done a great job paving the way for American Indian entrepreneurship and now must focus its attention on bringing more students to the universities, and bridging American Indian communities to programs like the W. P. Carey School of Business,” Zah says. “We need more American Indian students in the school of business to help Indian nations grow and flourish. And, in reality, cities, towns, states and companies need us to grow their communities. Water rights, land expansion, development and the abundance of natural resources on tribal lands are issues of importance.”