Navajo Nation President Ben Shelley, who oversaw issues such as the Navajo Nation’s Wild Horses, the Little Colorado River Settlement and the Grand Canyon Escalade Project, died Wednesday morning after a long illness. he was 75 years old.
Shelley was elected Vice President of the Navajo Nation from 2007 to 2011 after serving on the Navajo Nation Council representing the community of Thoreau, New Mexico from 1991 to 2007. 2015. Previously, he served on the county commissioner of McKinley County, New Mexico for eight years.
Shelley was married to Martha Shelley, originally from Coyote Canyon, for 57 years. Together, they have 5 adult children, 12 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He remained active as a Navajo leader even after he resigned from his office. He and his family have been in the transportation business for the last seven years.
“He tackled a dangerous problem in today’s world,” said Ernie Zar, former communications director at Shelley. “Stray horses, there was the Little Colorado River settlement, the acquisition of the Navajo mines, the Utah Navajo Trust Fund. He had courage, and with it came a lot of political backlash.”
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Navajo Nation Council Chairman Christalyn Curley, who was crowned Miss Navajo during Shelley’s term, offered her condolences in a joint news release with Navajo President Buu Nyglen.
“On behalf of the 25th Annual Navajo Nation Council, my thoughts and prayers go out to Martha and all of her family during this difficult time. and the love of his people and family. While we mourn the loss of our leader, we honor and appreciate his life and the legacy he left behind.
During his term, Shelley lobbied against a bill to reinstate the ban on horse slaughter because he felt that Navajo feral horses suffered from a lack of food, water and care. He also felt that overcrowding of stray horses was ruining the land.
“Wild horses have been a controversial issue at the national level,” Za said. “Not only at the local level, but also at the national level, former Governor Bill Richardson met with President Shelley to try to reach an agreement on stray horses. A political career. Kudos.”
Zah worked as Communications Director for Shelly for two years and remembers Shelly as an open-minded person. The big problems he had to deal with were unpopular with some, such as Shelley’s assistance with the Grand Canyon Escalade, he said, from the eastern rim of the canyon he was 1.4 miles of aerial trams.
“He supported the Escalade, but there were a lot of people who didn’t,” Zha said. “But he believed in jobs and building a Navajo Nation economy. He was a big proponent of development. There were things he built, but they weren’t without controversy. Navajo mines was one of them.”
Shelley ran for re-election in 2014, but failed to make it through the primary, falling well behind former presidents Joe Shirley and Chris DeShane.
However, during the primary election, it was revealed that DeShane was not a fluent Navajo speaker, violating the Navajo election laws of the time. The incident also sparked a language referendum to amend election laws to allow voters to determine whether a presidential candidate is sufficiently fluent.
Arlyssa Becenti covers Indigenous Affairs for the Republic of Arizona and azcentral.send ideas and tips arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com.
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Sonja Haller is a former reporter for the Republic of Arizona.
