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Barry Dana

What does it mean to be a Native American in 2000?
First, we're still here, and it's pretty remarkable, considering all we've gone through. It's remarkable, with the Holocaust that happened in this country, that we can take pride in being Native and that we still have a lot of the values that allowed our ancestors to survive all they went through. So, here we are, but what do we do? We have to progress, but we can't let go of those values.

Did you play a role in saving the Penobscot language?
The actual work was done by others. My cousin Carol Dana worked with a [non-Native] doctor who became a self-taught linguist. He recorded the Penobscot language, meeting with many elders. Carol was his secretary. This happened when I started teaching school. [Dana taught on the Maine reservation from 1984 to 1998 but now travels, teaching Native culture statewide.] So she wrote many of the lesson plans I used. A lot of people now in their early 20s say, "Barry taught me that." As a teacher, you get credit. I have been called the icon of cultural preservation for our tribe. I have inherited that role, and whether I am being paid for it or not doesn't matter; the work needs to be done. The downside is that there are not enough Native people who feel the way I do. I get more support in the non-Native world. The tribe has an annual budget in the millions, but they don't use it culturally. They're so concerned with health, law enforcement, the court system, all the day-to-day things. They're not looking past all that; someone has to. I'm running for tribal chief, because if I'm number one, we can get a lot of important cultural activities going.

Talk a little about the tribe.
Our legal land is primarily within the watershed of the Penobscot River and its 150 or so islands. One of them is the Indian Island reservation, where some 500 to 700 people live; the numbers always change. We have 2,000 Penobscots all over the world but primarily in the Northeast. The tribe is in the same boat as most of small-town America, but, at the same time, we have many of the same concerns as a large government, because we're considered a nation within a nation. We have certain sovereign rights that we still hold on to: our spiritual rights, our connection to the land, and the fact that we can choose our membership - we decide what constitutes a Penobscot.

What's the role of Mount Katahdin in your culture?
It's just Katahdin, meaning Great Mountain. That teaches you it's a Penobscot word. Indigenous people in this area were the first to say Katahdin, maybe 11,000 years ago. It sits in the center of the area we identify as the Penobscot indigenous homeland. Some of our legends go back to the creation of life forms coming right out of the mountain. One story talks about Gluskabe, Man From Nothing, who figured out all the things that make it possible for humans to live. If we didn't know something, he taught us. He's gone back to Katahdin, and if we need him again, he'll come out. I've also come across stories of individuals going to Katahdin and fasting for four days. When I was 18, I went and fasted, a unique time in my life.

What did Gluskabe tell you?
He just mumbled. But I came out of that experience knowing that was my place. To reconnect with life was to go back to Katahdin as often as I could.

You initiated the annual Katahdin Run.
Every Labor Day weekend since 1981, participants have run the 100 miles from Indian Island to the mountain, some of them in 24 hours. A lot of the stories my grandfather told me were about great feats of endurance. I didn't forget them. I spent a lot of time at the mountain, and I just got the idea there one day. Maine Native people from all five Wabanaki tribes are invited officially.

What would you still like to know about your culture?
How to tan a moose hide soft. It seems beyond impossible, yet I'll have a Native woman tell me she can do it. Maybe she doesn't have any education or a fancy car, but she's got something I want. I want a beautiful coat of moose hide, because they're warm. But it goes way beyond that - it's the preservation of our culture. If I secure the process of tanning a moose hide, I can write about it. I can take pictures. I can do artwork. [Dana is a serious self-taught painter]. I can sell a book and make a living. Why can't we turn our culture into an economic base for anybody willing to take part in it? That's part of my campaign. There are facets of our culture which people can turn into money - so that they can continue the culture. But my ultimate concern is the language. Before I die, I would like to hear people speaking fluent Penobscot.

Do non-Natives overromanticize Native Americans?
There are a lot of non-Natives who look at Natives as saviors of spirituality for humankind, and they bring to the discussion their concept of what we're supposed to be. But in reality, we may have progressed too far from their romanticized concept of what we're supposed to be. Even the people who look at Native spirituality and culture who are our greatest advocates sometimes need to be reeducated. I'm just human, just a man. I've got five kids, I've got these responsibilities, and I can't be your guru. I can't take you into the woods and enlighten you.