Last of the Penobscot (UPDATE)

Downeast magazine recently published an article on the Penobscot Indian Nation’s ongoing effort to preserve its native language. The first comment on the story included a link to my own report on the subject, which I originally wrote for the now-defunct Maine Times a number of years ago and then posted on these pages back in 2006. Anyway, Maulian Dana, whose father Barry is quoted in the story, followed the link, read the story, and asked to respond to the piece, which she bluntly described as “crap.”

Fair enough. It’s one of the lesser insults I’ve sustained, as you may already know. Anyway, in this document [pdf], you’ll find Maulian’s comments and my responses. It was a good discussion and I thank Maulian for making the effort to contact me. I wish this happened more often than it does.

(Be careful what you wish for!)