A Poem by Andy Hope - for Andy Hope

Tlingit scholar, activist, artist and poet, Andy Hope passed away last Thursday in Sitka. He loved words. And, he loved language. He worshipped Nora Dauenhauer when he was young, for her understanding of Tlingit vocabulary. In an outstanding tribute to Andy Hope, in the Juneau Empire, Kate Golden writes:

As a college student, Andrew "Andy" John Hope III would come to Nora Dauenhauer's office just to listen and watch her read and write Tlingit, the language of his people.

"He loved Tlingit, as I remember, and wanted to do something good for it, and make sure it continued," Dauenhauer, the scholar, said. "And in a written form."

I've collected a couple of Andy's poems over the years, thinking of them a possible lyrics. Here's one he wrote some time ago, about his youthful impressions of the news that the USSR had launched Sputnik:

Standing with
Uncle Herb
Early evening
October 1957

In the Front yard
Of Andrew and Tillie Hope’s house

On back street
Which is
Up above
Front street

In the
Sitka Indian village

We were looking
Up into the night sky

He was cursing
The commies
Because

That Russian satellite
Sputnik
Beat
The USA
Into space

image of Andy hope by Peter Metcalfe