‘Navajo in Disharmony’ revisits the scandal, the riot and the fallout

Posted by Donovan Quintero | Jan 22, 2026 | News |

By Donovan Quintero
Special to the Times

WINDOW ROCK – Howard Bitsui spent more than a decade writing about events he wishes never happened.

The 79-year-old Vietnam War veteran published “Navajo in Disharmony” last year, a 404-page account of the political chaos that consumed the Navajo Nation between 1987 and 1993. The book documents the rise and fall of Chairman Peter MacDonald Sr., the federal investigations that followed and the 1989 riot in Window Rock that left two men dead.

Bitsui wasn’t just a witness. He was one of 32 people indicted in connection with the turmoil.

“I was involved and I was one of MacDonald’s appointees, and you might say a loyalist,” Bitsui said in an interview with the Navajo Times. He worked in the Division of Economic Development and helped develop shopping centers under MacDonald’s administration.

The charges against Bitsui were dismissed before trial. But the damage was done. He lost his job, defaulted on his home mortgage and vehicle loan, and his family fell apart. His environmental consulting business collapsed after his preferred employer certification with the tribe expired and wasn’t renewed.

“It took me quite some time to recover from that,” he said. “I also lost my family at the time. So that’s what inspired me to write this book, to write a true story that happened.”

The book sells for $69.99 on platforms like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, reflecting its length and detail. It weighs 2 pounds and contains more than 60 photographs, most in black and white. The publisher conducted an investigation of Bitsui’s manuscript and checked his sources before agreeing to print it.

To read the full article, please see the Jan. 22, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.

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