Russell Begaye easily beat a former two-term Navajo Nation president for the top post on the country's largest American Indian reservation, ending a tumultuous election season that was extended by nearly five months amid a heated court fight over a candidate's ability to speak fluent Navajo.

A ruling Wednesday by the Navajo Nation Supreme Court clears the way for election officials to set a date for the presidential contest.

The decision about whether Navajo Nation presidential candidate Chris Deschene speaks Navajo fluently enough to be on the ballot is headed back to a lower tribal court after a Navajo Nation Supreme court ruling Friday.

An attorney for Rep. Albert Hale is preparing a legal challenge to the newest appointee to the Arizona Senate, who is scheduled to be sworn into office Tuesday morning.

No woman has served as Navajo president, although the matriarchal society has strong reverence for women as caretakers and heirs to everything from home site leases to sheep. When introducing themselves, Navajos start with their mother's clan name.

FLAGSTAFF - Navajos voted Dec. 15 to drastically reduce the size of the Tribal Council and give their president a line-item veto in the first ballot initiatives ever brought before tribal members on the nation's largest Indian reservation.

WINDOW ROCK - An investigation into whether the leader of the country's largest American Indian reservation and others broke any laws in connection with two companies that operated on the Navajo Nation is moving forward.

The Navajo Nation Council on Oct. 26 placed the tribe's president on administrative leave, pending an investigation into allegations of ethical, civil or criminal involvement with two companies that operated on the reservation.

WINDOW ROCKA�-A�Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. is recovering at his home after undergoing an emergency operation to have his appendix removed. Shirley’s spokesman George Hardeen says his boss was released the morning of July 20 from Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital ...