Help Justin Tso, a 77-Year-Old Navajo Elder.

My name is Mitch Cohen. In 2017, while on my third visit to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, I chose to do a horseback tour of Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, AZ. I booked the tour with a Navajo man named Justin Tso, Sr. A soft-spoken and very kind man and age 69 at the time, Justin lived simply and made a meager living leading the horseback tours, raising sheep and horses (for his tours). I met his family, we had dinner together and I was drawn to him. We have stayed in touch a few times per year since 2017.

When COVID hit, it devastated his tour business and he had to sell livestock to survive. He then had to get treatment for prostate cancer. All of this took a big toll on his precarious finances. Recently, the tours have returned, but not to the numbers before COVID. Now his pickup truck is no longer functioning.

Let me share about Justin:

He was born in Canyon Del Muerto in 1948

His Clans are:

• Tabaahi-Water Edge (Mother)

• Maii Deeshgiizhnii- Coyote Pass (Father)

• Todichiinii-Bitter Water (Maternal Grandma)

• Honaghaahnii-One Who Walks Around (Paternal Grandpa)

Now an elder at age 77, Justin is the oldest of all guides in Canyon De Chelly as a horse tour back tour operator with 50 years of experience in the saddle. Justin is a traditional Navajo man, attending Navajo ceremonies, church, counseling veterans (many who struggle with alcoholism), and sometimes attends VA meetings. He himself has been sober from alcohol for 51 years and he has met many people from all walks of life.

Please consider supporting Justin as he is really struggling and as an elder, should be enjoying his later years. However, he cannot.