--Justin dancing grand entry at the Hinckley (Minnesota) Powwow. -1996

Ya' at' eeh', hello. My name is Justin Kii Huenemann, and I am a member of the Navajo Nation. I was born in Winslow, Arizona in the (IHS) Indian Health Service hospital. I lived in several rez towns, but the one I remember mos t is Tsaile, Arizona. Tsaile, `Tseehili', translated means, `the mouth of the canyon'. Tsaile was not even a real town, but rather a small Indian college community tucked 7,000 feet into the Chuska Mountains. This was a place where I learned much about who I am as a Dine'. My family: parents, one sister, and one brother lived in a contemporary hoogan. The house was eight sided with a vaulted ceiling ascending over the 360 degree central hearth. My backyard was a pinon forest and black mountains. I never thought much about the house, the college, the setting or the family community when living there. I was around it everyday for many years. It was not until I moved away that I truly began to see the effects and impressions that way of life taught me. As a child, I unknowingly was being taught a way of life by many Navajo cultural influences. My family, my religion, my home, my school, the community, the mountains, the canyons, were all my teachers. They were around me all the time.

That was my first education. After leaving Arizona, the road led me to New Mexico and South Dakota. I graduated from high school in South Dakota and proceeded on to college. I am a University of Minnesota graduate with a degree in Architecture wit h a minor in American Indian Studies. But the road wasn't always paved. I worked many odd jobs in my life including: honey bee factory, ice-cream drive -up, archeological museum guide, painter, construction worker, school teacher, tutor, architectural de signer, and currently the AILRC counselor. If I can do it, you can do it.

My interest/hobbies include many things. I love to dance/camp at pow-wows, I enjoy all realms of music, I love art and to do art, I love to grill out, I like to sing, I love to play sports, (espeacially basketball)I like horse riding, I like to go o ut on weekends.(responsibly) and the list goes on... Dislikes: Below freezing temp., popcorn between my teeth, bad architecture, being away from my family, not remembering a joke I heard.

Now that you know a little about me, please stop in and introduce yourself to me. I love to visit and hear a good joke if you have one. Or E-mail me!

-Justin

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