Organizing for America | Northern Exposures: In Memory of Paul Wilson

In Memory of Paul Wilson

By akmk - Oct 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm EDT

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A beloved Tlingit elder in our rural community passed away this weekend. Paul Wilson, Kadashaan, embodied love, kindness, and compassion. He practiced his cultural traditions and always put his wife and family first.

Paul was a member of our Obama family. He came to the caucus on a cold, snowy evening last winter where with 77 folks (100 total) cast his primary vote for Obama and stated with a bit of awe. "All these people for Obama, I can't believe it."

There is a photo of Paul (that he gave me permission to post) illustrating the "Rural Alaskans for Obama" group on the my.barackobama.com site. In the photo, Paul is in his backyard stringing hooligan for the smokehouse. Hooligan (eulachon) are small smelt-like fish rich in healthy oil that return to many Alaskan rivers from their mostly ocean life for a few days each spring to renew their life cycles.

I chatted with Paul on the street just a week ago or so. He was still an Obama supporter, though his family and the local tribal community are not united in this. He also spoke of the place he loved above else, a beautiful valley above Skagway where he used to hunt goats. "When I win the lottery, we'll fly over there and get a picture of that place so I can look at it when my mind starts drifting away," he told me.

To have a look at Paul's photo and to join the "Rural Alaskans for Obama" group (rural Alaskans and anyone anywhere), here is the link.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/RuralAlaskansforObama

Paul, I hope your spirit can feel the love surrounding your spirit coming back to ya.

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