INDIAN ISLAND – Carrying on traditions was the theme at the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club on Thursday and Friday. Children learned native crafts, games and customs as part of a two-day event organized by John Neptune, the club’s recreation director.

“We just wanted to do something different and unique for the winter for the kids … we wanted to get them in touch with their roots and get them outdoors,” Neptune said Thursday. Children had the opportunity to weave baskets with the help of members of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, mush sled dogs around a track created by Chief Barry Dana, roast moose meat over an open fire, and compete in a snow snake throwing competition.

“They flourish when they’re doing things like that – it’s their heritage, it’s their culture,” Neptune said.

The craft of basket making, a native woodland Indian tradition, is Maine’s oldest art form, according to basket maker Theresa Hoffman. In addition to passing on the craft, volunteers shared traditional language and phrases with the children.

“Amskawahs Apasanote” is a rough translation for “my first basket,” according to Carol Dana. When children finished their project, they were taught the phrase.

“We want to keep this craft alive, along with the language,” Dana said. As she helped one youngster complete her basket, she explained that basket making always has been a community event and that the two-day workshops held by the alliance aren’t much different than traditional gatherings would have been. Although this was the first time the Basketmakers Alliance had partnered with the Boys and Girls Club, they frequently hold similar workshops.

“Just being here – anytime we’re together and can learn and share new words, it’s a community connection,” Carol Dana said. “People you wouldn’t ordinarily see together are here today talking and helping out.” Three tribes came together to help with the event.

A short distance down the road, about a dozen children competed in the snow snake competition. Snow snakes, which are hand carved from hardwood, are about 3 feet long and tapered at the tail. The upturned snake head and round-bottomed belly allow the stick to travel farther and faster. A notch at the tail provides a place for the thrower’s finger as they propel the snake down the chute.

Stan Neptune and his son Jo “Hugga” Dana created the 200-foot-long track by dragging a log to make the approximately 1-foot-wide chute in the snow. Traditionally, sticks were coated with various oils, but now are covered with polyurethane to keep out the water and make them go faster.