This blog essay is the start of something new — a series of sketches of individual tradition bearers who, while they lived, added greatly to the musical flavor of our area. Some, but not all, were well known in their day. Most of them I got to know while producing Tucson Meet Yourself between 1974 and 1995. Although many were immigrants to our desert, I’m starting with a Tohono O’odham — Danny Lopez.
Danny was born in the village of Big Fields, southwest of Sells, on what was then called the Papago Indian Reservation. He grew up speaking O’odham at home, and perfected his English at a Catholic boarding school, at a time when such schools discouraged the use of native languages. He moved to Tucson, and got a job in the mines south of town. And then he had an epiphany. He realized that something precious — his culture and language — was disappearing, and he determined to do something to at least slow down the process. At about that time he became involved with a children’s dance group at San Xavier, The Desert Indian Dancers.
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The group was begun by two remarkable O’odham: Danny’s mother-in-law, Frances Manuel, and her friend Lorenzo Pablo. Frances was an excellent basket maker and teacher, and a noted bearer of O’odham tradition. Lorenzo was a singer and a dreamer of songs. Among the Tohono O’odham, songs are the property of the person who created them, and Lorenzo brought his wealth of songs to the new enterprise. After a while, Danny became the person in charge of the group. The Desert Indian Dancers are still in existence several decades later, and appeared at Tucson Meet Yourself in 2014.
After a few years, Danny left the mines for a lower-paying job teaching on Tohono O’odham Nation and spent the rest of his life as a professional educator, teaching O’odham children about their linguistic and cultural heritage, and helping them learn what it means to be O’odham. His life’s work has affected many of his people, and helped the rest of us towards an understanding and appreciation of our O’odham neighbors. His mark, along with those of Frances Manuel and Lorenzo Pablo, is strong and beautiful on our desert land.
Of Earth and Little Rain: The Papago Indians by Bernard Fontana (University of Arizona Press, 1989) devotes Chapter Six to Danny Lopez.
Frances Manuel tells of her life in Desert Indian Woman: Stories and Dreams. By Frances Manuel and Deborah Neff. (The University of Arizona Press, 2001)
This blog essay is the start of something new — a series of sketches of individual tradition bearers who, while they lived, added greatly to the musical flavor of our area.
