Former interim Navajo chairman who led in chaotic time dies

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A former Navajo Nation interim chairman who oversaw the tribe during one of its most tumultuous times has died.

Leonard Haskie died Sunday after a battle with cancer, said his daughter, Lenore. He was 71.

Tribal lawmakers elected Haskie to serve as interim chairman in 1989 after then-Chairman Peter MacDonald was put on leave over a corruption scandal. Haskie was at the helm when MacDonald vowed to take back the chairmanship, and MacDonald's supporters tried to overthrow the government, inciting a deadly riot in Window Rock.

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