Obituary: Danny Lopez tirelessly taught Tohono O’odham culture
by Sheryl Kornman on Oct. 23, 2008, under Local, SpecialVisitation Saturday for poet, storyteller, educator
Danny Lopez, a widely known Tohono O’odham poet, storyteller and educator who worked to preserve the tribe’s culture and language has died. He was 71.
Mr. Lopez died Tuesday and will be buried this weekend in the village of Gu Oidak.
The cause of death was not disclosed.
Tribal Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said in a statement Wednesday, “He will be sorely missed and the entire Tohono O’odham Nation will mourn his passing.”
“He lived his life in exemplary fashion and the Tohono O’odham will feel his positive influence for years to come.”
Mr. Lopez taught the Himdag – the Desert People’s Lifeways – to tribal members for more than 30 years.
In 2005, the Heard Museum in Phoenix gave him its first Spirit of the Heard Award to honor a living member of a Southwest Indian tribe who demonstrated personal excellence.
In his own words, Mr. Lopez said then:
“When an elder is gone, what he knows – the songs, the history, whatever he didn’t set down – that knowledge is buried underneath the ground.”
Mr. Lopez taught the O’odham language and culture at Tohono O’odham Community College and to hundreds of middle and primary school children on the reservation.
He also taught the native language to paramedics so they would be able to communicate with elders when they answered emergency calls.
Mr. Lopez was born at home in Big Field on the Tohono O’odham Nation on Dec, 24, 1936.
His mother spoke only Tohono O’odham. His father earned money for the family by chopping wood and by working on livestock roundups.
Mr. Lopez attended school at St. John’s Indian Mission in Komatke.
He later attended Pima Community College, the University of Arizona and Prescott College. He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education.
He worked at Indian Oasis Primary School in Sells and at Topawa Middle School in Topawa.
As he tried to pass on Tohono O’odham language and culture to teenagers and children, Mr. Lopez said he found himself competing with television and modern music.
“If we’re not rooted in our culture, we’re going to see more (people) getting involved with alcohol and gangs,” he said in an interview in 2000.
As recently in January, Mr. Lopez was continuing his grassroots efforts to reach out to children with native culture.
He took part in a Saturday morning storytelling and poetry program for children 4 to 8 at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.
Mr. Lopez also edited a collection of fiction and poetry by Tucson-area American Indian elders, “Dancing with the wind,” published in 2005 by the nonprofit ArtsReach.
He is survived by his wife, Florence, and their three children: Monica, Michael and Mark.
A visitation is planned Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. at the San Xavier Elderly Center southwest of Tucson.
A wake in the village of Gu Oidak will begin at 5 p.m. Sunday and Mr. Lopez will be buried at dawn.
