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Navajo Nation President To Be Sworn In Today

Russell Begaye will be sworn in Tuesday as president of the Navajo Nation.

Begaye easily beat former two-term President Joe Shirley Jr. in a special election last month to win the post on the country's largest American Indian reservation.

Begaye and Jonathan Nez, the vice president-elect, will serve a shorter term than usual. That's because the presidential contest was postponed by more than five months as legal challenges played out in court.

The inauguration ceremony will take place in Fort Defiance with a welcoming address by Navajo Nation Council Speaker LoRenzo Bates.

Students from the reservation will perform a Navajo song and lead the crowd in the pledge of allegiance.

Begaye has said economic development will be one of his top priorities in office.

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