Harvard researchers to lead Navajo economic council

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Leaders with the nation's most expansive American Indian reservation have culled a team of experts from around the country to serve as economic advisers.

The Navajo Nation says its new advisory council will be made up of a senior fellow from the Harvard Business School, a Ford Foundation professor and co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, former Navajo President Peterson Zah and others.

The advisers will provide objective, analytical advice on economic policy for the remainder of Navajo President Russell Begaye's term.

One of the council's tasks will be exploring ways to diversify the Navajo Nation's economy in light of dwindling royalties from natural resources.

The tribe has long struggled to bring in businesses and unemployment hovers around 50 percent.