BYLINE: Shoshana Hoose
Barry Dana grew up learning only a few Penobscot phrases, such as ''Come here,'' ''Shut up'' and ''Give me a kiss.''
Dana, 37, wants the next generation of Penobscots to know more about their heritage. He's devoted much of his adult life to trying to resurrect the language and other customs by teaching children at the Indian Island School.
When Dana first began teaching 13 years ago, some students would ask, ''What do I need this for?''
Over time, though, he has seen the Penobscot language begin to take hold again on the tribe's Indian Island reservation. All of the island's streets have Penobscot names. So do some children. Dana's daughter is named Sigwini, or spring. Another child's name, Nedabeh, means friend.
In the early years, Dana struggled to stay one step ahead of his students. He took Penobscot lessons from the last native speaker, Madeline Shay, who died in 1993.
Dana also draws on tapes made by another tribal elder, now deceased. And he uses an unpublished Penobscot dictionary compiled by Frank T. Siebert Jr.
Dana works with youngsters in grades kindergarten through 8. He begins his classes for grades 1 and 2 by giving commands in Penobscot: ''Stand,'' ''Comb your hair,'' ''Wash your hands.'' The children act them out. They then go over words on flashcards, recite ''Jack and Jill'' in Penobscot and rehearse a skit in the tribal language. The students learn nouns and simple verbs. ''What they are not getting is enough of the fluency,'' said Dana. They ''may know the word for 'dog,' but not necessarily many sentences using the word 'dog.' ''
Dana says he's hampered by having the students for only 1 1/2 hours per week. When they leave the school in ninth grade, there are no classes to help them keep up their language skills.
In the future, Dana hopes to teach adults, and to make Penobscot audiotapes. ''The ultimate goal,'' he said, ''would be for everybody (in the tribe) to have a working understanding of the language.''