Former Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly dies at 75

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, who during his term dealt with issues such as feral horses on the Navajo Nation, the Little Colorado River settlement and the Grand Canyon Escalade project, died Wednesday morning after a long illness. He was 75.

Shelly served as a member of the Navajo Nation Council from 1991 to 2007, representing the community of Thoreau, N.M., before being elected as vice president of the Navajo Nation, a post he held from 2007 to 2011. He served as president from 2011 to 2015. He had previously served as a county commissioner for McKinley County in New Mexico for eight years.

Shelly was married for 57 years to Martha Shelly, originally of Coyote Canyon. Together, they have five adult children, 12 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren. He remained active in Navajo leadership after stepping down from office. He and his family operated a transportation business for the last seven years.

"He took on issues that are dangerous in today's world," said Shelly's former communication director, Erny Zah. "Feral horses, there was Little Colorado River settlement, purchase of Navajo Mine, the Utah-Navajo Trust Fund. He had the courage to take on these issues where he felt it was in the best interest of the Navajo people, as a leader. A lot of political backlashes came with it."

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Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, who was crowned Miss Navajo during Shelly's term, offered condolences in a joint news release with Navajo President Buu Nygren.

"On behalf of the 25th Navajo Nation Council, I offer my thoughts and prayers for Martha and their entire family during this difficult time. President Shelly will always be remembered in our hearts and minds for his great sense of humor, devoted public service, and his love for his people and family. We mourn the loss of our leader, but we honor and give thanks for his life and the legacy that he leaves behind," said Curley.

During his term, Shelly lobbied against a bill that would reinstate a horse slaughter ban because he felt feral horses on the Navajo Nation were suffering from lack of food, water and care. He also felt the overpopulation of feral horses was ruining the land.

"The feral horses was a controversial issue on a national level," said Zah. "Not just a local level, it was on a national level where former Governor Bill Richardson met with President Shelly, trying to come to an agreement regarding feral horses. He had the courage to take on these things and try to manage without regard to his political career. It's commendable."

Zah worked for Shelly as his communication director for two years and remembers Shelly as someone who had a huge heart. He said the large issues he had to undertake were at times unpopular to some, such as Shelly's support of the Grand Canyon Escalade, a project that would've taken 10,000 tourists a day to the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, by way of a 1.4-mile aerial tram from the canyon's eastern rim.

"He supported the escalade and there was a lot of people who didn't," said Zah. "But he believed in jobs and building the Navajo Nation economy. He was big supporter in development. There were things he built but it wasn't without controversy, the purchase of Navajo Mine was one of them."

Shelly ran for re-election in 2014, but didn’t make it past the primaries, trailing well behind Joe Shirley, who had served previously as president, and Chris Deschene.

But during the primary campaign, it was revealed that Deschene wasn’t a fluent Navajo speaker, which was against the Navajo Nation election code at the time. Because of the ensuing controversy, Shelly remained in office for an extra five months. The incident also was the catalyst for a language referendum that amended the election code to allow voters to determine whether a presidential candidate is fluent enough. 

Arlyssa Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com.

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Sonja Haller is a former reporter for The Arizona Republic.