WILSON JUSTIN
Board Member
Wilson Justin was born into a Medicine man family in 1950. Some years after the death of his father the family relocated first to the small village of Chistochina and then to Mentasta in 1958. Like his uncle Johnny Nicolai, Mr. Justin was not afraid of seeking out new venues and far-off places. At the age of fourteen Mr. Justin began 9th grade at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks. In the spring of 1965 he transferred to Anchorage. Graduating in 1968 from West High, Mr. Justin chose to volunteer for the draft. While waiting for the paperwork to process, he re-activated the family big game guiding business, thinking of it as a short term diversion while waiting to go overseas with the US Army. In October of 1970, he took his Army induction physical and failed owing to a condition known as
"ringing in the ears", or tinnitus. Mr. Justin appealed the finding and was rewarded for his efforts in 1973 with a 4
"F" Classification which forever took away the idea of service in the Armed Forces.
With military service no longer an option, Mr. Justin began seriously to revamp the family guiding business. In 1977 he took time out to learn another trade and ended up spending two years with the Regional Corporation Ahtna, training as a land planner and easement specialist.
Alcoholism plagues Mr. Justin's every effort; however, finally in May of 1983 he was able to walk away from the terrible hold that alcohol addiction entails. With the exception of two and a half years as oil spill response supervisor in the Valdez terminal, all of Mr. Justin's time was spent in his home region. He served as President of Copper River Native Association from 1987 to 1989. He served as President and CEO of Ahtna, Inc. from 1991 to 1993. After leaving Ahtna in 1993, he was asked to help out in the formation of a new service organization called Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium.
Today he remains with MSTC and is active statewide on numerous health-related committees and boards. He is Vice-Chair of the Association of Tribal Health Directors, which is the primary working committee of the Alaska Native Health Board. In addition, Mr. Justin serves on the Alaska State Community Service Commission and the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission. He is currently Health Director/Vice-President of Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium.
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