University of Oklahoma Engineering Hall of Fame,Distinguished Service Citation University of Oklahoma,Arizona Indian of the year (1970),President Kimble Leadership Award:President Spencer Kimble,LDS church,Distinguished American Award by National Institute for Economic Development
In 1989,MacDonald was removed from office by the Navajo Tribal Council,pending the results of federal criminal investigations headed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. MacDonald was sent to federal prison in 1990 for violations of US law and subsequently convicted of more U.S. federal crimes,including fraud,extortion,riot,bribery,and corruption. He was later pardoned.[1]
MacDonald is married to Wanda MacDonald,and has five children with her. He also has nine grandchildren.[2]
Life and politics
Born Hashkasilt Begay (He Who Clasps With Power),[3] MacDonald was raised among traditional shepherds and groomed as a medicine man. He entered the Marine Corps as a Navajo language code talker during World War II. The war ended soon after his training was complete and he was deployed in post-war China to guard surrendered Japanese officers.
After the war,MacDonald earned an electrical engineering degree at the University of Oklahoma. Upon graduation in 1957,his acumen secured a job at the Hughes Aircraft Company,working on the Polaris nuclear missile project. He returned to the Navajo Nation in 1963 and began a career in tribal politics.
MacDonald served as Navajo Nation Tribal Chairman for four terms between the years 1970 to 1986. During his tenure,MacDonald stressed self-sufficiency and tribal enterprise as key components of his political goals. He worked to extend tribal control over education and over mineral leases and co-founded the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) in 1975.[4] CERT favored accelerated development of energy resources on tribal lands. MacDonald is credited with starting the Navajo Nation Shopping Centers Enterprise,Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority,and many other Navajo-owned enterprises. MacDonald was critical of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and fought against federal encroachments on Tribal sovereignty.
During the 1972 presidential campaign,MacDonald was referred to as "the most powerful Indian in the USA".[5] He was a member of Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP),and was scheduled,at the urging of Senator Barry Goldwater,to speak at the 1972 Republican National Convention.
Concluding that Nixon's support for the Navajo position in a land dispute with the Hopi was tepid,MacDonald met with Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern,chair of a Senate Subcommittee on Indian Affairs. When McGovern pledged to back the Navajo position,MacDonald considered supporting McGovern's presidential bid. As tribal chairman,he could rally a solid block of votes across the reservation.
Two years later,Goldwater's displeasure increased,when MacDonald delivered 9,006 out of a total 10,274 Navajo votes to help elect Democrat Raul Castro as governor of Arizona.
Goldwater supported the Hopi in the land dispute. In the end,10,000-15,000 of Navajo families lost their homes,cementing the rift between Arizona's senior senator and the leader of Arizona's largest tribe. [6]
In 1996,Congress passed a law allowing extended families to stay on their lands for seventy-five more years. The Navajos agreed to several restrictions on the economy. "The Bennett Freeze" affecting thousands of MacDonald's Navajo was not lifted until 2009 when US President Barack Obama repealed the "Freeze".[7]
American Indian National Bank, Washington, DC: Co-Founder and member of the Board. Established the first Native American banking system in the country to serve tribes across the United States and served as the bank director-organizer.[8]
National Tribal Chairman Association, Washington, DC: Co-Founder and member of the Executive Board. An organization of elected tribal leaders to speak with one voice (officially) on behalf of their constituents.[2]
Council of Energy Resources Tribes (CERT), Denver, CO: Co-Founder and Chairman of the Council. [9] Organized to effect changes in management and protection of Native American energy resources and to receive fair market value for tribal resources.
Peter MacDonald, Sr., Navajo Code Talker, World War II
Navajo Community College Board of Regents; (Dinè College); member, Tsaile, AZ [10]
Native American Preparatory School (NAPS) Board of Trustees and co-founder (1986–1988)[2]
American Indian Policy Review Commission, chairman of Task Force on "Reservation and Resource Development and Protection", U.S. Congress (1975–1976)[11]
Publications
MacDonald published an autobiography in 1993 called The Last Warrior.[12]
In his memoir, MacDonald provides a firsthand account of his experiences as a Code Talker, detailing his journey from growing up on the Navajo reservation to serving as a crucial part of the U.S. Marine Corps during the war. The book offers insights into the Navajo Code Talkers' role in the Pacific Theater, where they used their native language to create an unbreakable code that confounded enemy forces. It offers readers a unique narrative of patriotism, honor, and cultural pride, as seen through the eyes of one of the last surviving Code Talkers. [13]
Macdonald’s autobiography also describes his involvement with the Navajo Nation during his role as tribal chairman. The Last Warrior goes into depth on the details of his occupational life. Macdonald discusses his early careers in engineering and his journey to becoming in the position for the tribal chairman election. [14]
Allegations and charges
In 1976, Barry Goldwater initiated an audit of tribal finances that resulted in charges against MacDonald of filing false travel vouchers. MacDonald was acquitted of what some saw as spurious charges, but was forever embittered against the U.S. justice system. Government prosecutor Ken Fields, in retrospect, commented to the New York Times, "I was extremely uncomfortable about that. I've always wondered if we [the prosecutors] were dupes."[15]
On February 17, 1988, a divided Navajo Tribal Council placed MacDonald on administrative leave. Chairman MacDonald refused to step down from his position, leading to a five-month stand-off. By March of that year, the council appointed an interim chairman. Remaining MacDonald supporters known as "Peter's Patrol" responded by occupying the leader's offices.
In 1990, a Navajo tribal judge ordered Peter MacDonald Sr., after being suspended by the Navajo Council, to face three criminal trials instead of a single trial on 111 criminal counts., raising questions of double jeopardy.[16]
In the third case, MacDonald was charged with violating tribal election law by accepting illegal campaign contributions from non-Navajos. In this case, MacDonald stood trial with Johnny R. Thompson, the suspended Navajo vice-chairman.
Bud Brown, given immunity, testified against MacDonald, alleging that the chairman pressured him into the Big Boquillas deal. He was allowed to keep an estimated $3 million profit from the land sale and face no jail time. [17][18]
Inciting riots and prison
The Navajo Nation Council suspended MacDonald in February 1989. The council had suspected that MacDonald accepted kickbacks from contractors and corporations. Turmoil ensued, culminating in a riot in Window Rock five months later that led to the shooting deaths of two MacDonald supporters and the injury of two tribal police officers. They had stormed the tribal headquarters in an attempt to restore him to power, according to the Associated Press, which is commonly known as the "Peter MacDonald Riot".
MacDonald was eventually convicted of defrauding the Navajo Nation in tribal court, but served only a few months of that sentence before being convicted in federal court of conspiracy to commit burglary and kidnapping charges connected to the Window Rock riot.
MacDonald was convicted on US Federal conspiracy charges for inciting the riot and for taking bribes and kickbacks. MacDonald also served a federal sentence for fraud and racketeering convictions.
In 1990, Peter MacDonald was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth Texas. Within several years he was convicted of more US federal crimes including fraud, extortion, riot, bribery, and corruption stemming from the Navajo purchase of the Big Boquillas Ranch in Northwestern Arizona. MacDonald was then moved from the general federal prison unit into a prison hospital after experiencing chest pains.
The Navajo Tribal Council pardoned MacDonald in 1995 as he was serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth – noting in their pardon that certain allegations could not possibly have been true and re-establishing the Navajo concept of hozhonji, the Beauty Way, and the need to forgive and ask forgiveness.[1]
Presidential
The day before President Bill Clinton left office in 2001, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy lobbied the White House to commute the sentence of the former leader. President Clinton granted the request,[19] along with dozens of other commutations and pardons.
Return to Navajoland
"I sincerely believe that we will all be better off if we return to the traditional Navajo system in which the family was important and everyone fulfilled their roles and responsibility for preparing our children for life," said the former Navajo Nation Chairman.
Since his return from federal prison, MacDonald has remained a public figure advocating for increased Navajo sovereignty away from federal domains on certain aspects. He speaks at conferences, meetings and education venues.
Peter MacDonald at 80th Anniversary of Navajo Code Talkers in Washington, D.C. (2022)
On November 17, 2017 Peter MacDonald gave a White House Address on the Navajo Code Talkers. He introduces three surviving Code Talkers and recounts their significant contributions during World War II. MacDonald highlights the effectiveness of the Code Talkers' communication in battles and advocates for the preservation of their legacy through the establishment of a national museum. He concludes by emphasizing the unity and resilience of America when faced with challenges, showcasing the strength of diversity and collective effort. MacDonald's address serves as a reminder of the Navajo Code Talkers' legacy and their immense contribution to American history. [22]
A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is most often used for United States service members during the World Wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. In particular, there were approximately 400 to 500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was to transmit secret tactical messages. Code talkers transmitted messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formally or informally developed codes built upon their Indigenous languages. The code talkers improved the speed of encryption and decryption of communications in front line operations during World War II and are credited with a number of decisive victories. Their code was never broken.
The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation at the border of Arizona and California.
Chinle is a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, United States. The name in Navajo means 'flowing out' and is a reference to the location where the water flows out of the Canyon de Chelly. The population was 4,518 at the 2010 census.
LeuppLOOP is a census-designated place (CDP) in Coconino County, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, United States. The population was 951 at the 2010 census.
The Navajo Nation, also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in Window Rock, Arizona.
Philip Johnston was an American civil engineer who is credited with proposing the idea of using the Navajo language as a Navajo code to be used in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly 6,952,960 acres, it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding that of eight U.S. states. The seat of government is located in Durant, Oklahoma.
The Navajo are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
As many as 25,000 Native Americans in World War II fought actively: 21,767 in the Army, 1,910 in the Navy, 874 in the Marines, 121 in the Coast Guard, and several hundred Native American women as nurses. These figures included over one-third of all able-bodied Native American men aged 18 to 50, and even included as high as seventy percent of the population of some tribes. The first Native American to be killed in WWII was Henry E. Nolatubby from Oklahoma. He was part of the Marine Detachment serving on the USS Arizona and went down with the ship on December 7, 1941. Unlike African Americans or Asian Americans, Native Americans did not serve in segregated units and served alongside white Americans.
Joe Shirley Jr. is a Navajo politician who is the only two-term President of the Navajo Nation. He served as president from 2003 to 2011. He lives in Chinle, Arizona, and is Tódíchʼíiʼnii, born for Tábąąhá.
Peterson Zah was an American politician who held several offices with the Navajo Nation. From 1983 to 1987, he was chairman of the Navajo Nation, its then head of government. At its 1991 restructuring, he became the first president of the Navajo Nation, until 1995. He then worked at Arizona State University as special adviser to the president on American Indian Affairs and consulted companies willing to work with his nation.
Thomas Atcitty was an American politician and educator who served in the New Mexico House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party, 2nd Vice President of the Navajo Nation, and briefly served as the 3rd President of the Navajo Nation. He was a member of the Navajo Nation.
John Brown Jr. was an American Navajo Code Talker during World War II.
Thomas Claw was an American Navajo Code Talker during World War II. He served with the 1st Marine Division throughout the Pacific theater during the war.
The Navajo Times – known during the early 1980s as Navajo Times Today – is a newspaper created by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1959; in 1982 it was the first daily newspaper owned and published by a Native American Indian Nation. Now financially independent, it is published in English; its headquarters are located in Window Rock, Arizona.
Joe Morris Sr. was an American World War II United States Marine veteran and Navajo code talker.
Frank Chee Willeto was an American politician and Navajo code talker during World War II. Willeto served as the vice president of the Navajo Nation under President Milton Bluehouse, Sr. from his appointment in August 1998 until January 1999, when the Begaye administration took office.
Arthur J. Hubbard Sr. was an American state senator from Arizona, who served as a Navajo Code Talker instructor in World War II.
The 1989 Navajo Nation Council Reforms, also known as the Title II Amendments were a series of Constitutional changes to the government structure of the Navajo Nation. Following 1985 reforms to the Judicial Branch, the reforms were meant to separate the powers of the Tribal Council the President and the Supreme Court with a checks and balances system similar to that of the U.S. Constitution. The resolutions were adopted by the Council on December 15, 1989 and became law on April 11, 1990.
↑ Russakoff, Dale (January 12, 1983). "A Profound Changing of the Guard Being Felt In Indian Country". Washington Post.
↑ Olson, James Stuart (1999) Historical Dictionary of the 1970s Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, p. 108, ISBN0313305439
↑ Bland, Celia; Baird, W. David (1995). Peter MacDonald: former Chairman of the Navajo Nation. North American Indians of achievement. New York: Chelsea House. ISBN978-0-7910-1714-2.
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