Former Navajo President Peterson Zah received a lifetime achievement award on Jan. 11 from the environmental group Grand Canyon Trust at the Navajo Casino in Flagstaff, Ariz. Zah was supported by the fellow members of his tribe and noted as a skilled teacher and negotiator. 

Navajo tribe members believe that Zah dedicated all that he had to instructing others about Navajo culture and language, KRQE reported.

“The extraordinary experiences that you have had came about because you continually push yourself to learn, to grow and to do literally whatever it takes to promote the Navajo people and the Navajo Nation,” Zah’s longtime friend, Eric Eberhard, who worked in the tribe’s Department of Justice, told the station.

Zah's character was praised as he received the award.

“He is gentle," Jim Enote, the board chairman of Grand Canyon Trust, said. "He looks you straight in the eye. He talks with is hands as much as with his voice. The land and the culture are always with him.”

Zah taught directly to the youth of his tribe and also worked for the economic and religious independence of the tribe. During the time Zah was president, a fund was created which has since swelled to more than $4 billion. Zah also sought to prevent the tribe's lands from being economically exploited by outsiders.