Passamaquoddy author to give talk Sept. 6

BANGOR – Allen Sockabasin, author of “An Upriver Passamaquoddy,” will be the featured writer in the Meet the Author Series at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, at Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.

“This is the story of a cultural leader’s lifetime of service to his tribe and its endangered culture. But Allen Sockabasin’s remarkable story goes beyond memoir,” said Erik C. Jorgensen, executive director, Maine Humanities Council. “It offers a compelling and often gut-wrenching account of how the Passamaquoddy people experienced the 20th century, battling widespread racism and maintaining an uneasy relationship with the forces of progress sweeping rural Maine and the rest of the nation. It’s a book with a distinct and important perspective. Nobody with an interest in this region’s history should miss it.”

Drawing on his memories and an oral tradition, Sockabasin has written about his Passamaquoddy village of Mud-doc-mig-goog, or Peter Dana Point, near Princeton.

When Sockabasin was a child in the 1940s and 1950s, his village was isolated and depended largely on subsistence hunting and fishing, working in the woods and seasonal harvesting work for its survival.

Passamaquoddy was its first language, and the tribal traditions of sharing and helping one another ensured the survival of the group. To the outside world they lived in poverty, but Sockabasin remembers a life that was rich and rewarding in many ways.

Their traditions and values were passed on by example and by storytelling, and his elders were generous with their time and their skills, teaching him and the other young people the survival skills of hunting, fishing and canoeing, the value of hard work, and the beauty of their traditional arts.

Once an active participant in the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement, Sockabasin is disappointed by the results and argues for less “help” and more autonomy and more self-government. He worries about the loss of language and the loss of culture, the very things that give him the strength to survive and succeed in two worlds.

Sockabasin is a talented musician who performs in a distinct style he calls Native Folk. In addition to his work as a musician, he has worked as a logger, builder, landscape contractor, tribal chief, HIV-AIDS program coordinator, and a substance abuse and child welfare director.

But his primary interest is the preservation of the Passamaquoddy language and culture. He teaches immersion courses to Passamaquoddy students at the University of Maine, incorporates the language into all of his performances, and presents workshops in schools throughout Maine.

Each summer Sockabasin invites 35 Native American children in need to his rural camp, where they sleep in tents, paddle a fleet of canoes and learn traditional skills as well as their native language. In the process, they also learn to take pride in themselves and in their culture.

Sockabasin is also the author of the children’s picture book, “Thanks to the Animals,” published by Tilbury House.