A Relationship Between Present Day Life
and the Ancient Ways
Ruben "Butch" Phillips was born and raised on Indian Island,
the ancestral homeland of the Penobscot Nation, near Old Town, Maine. He
attended school on the Penobscot Reservation until 5th grade and then went to
Old Town High School. Following graduation, he served with the United
States Army. His career as an electronic and radio technician was spent
with AT&T and New England Telephone.
For the past six years, Butch Phillips has devoted his life to speaking
engagements at middle schools, high schools, colleges, historical societies and
civic groups--and also to leading hunting and fishing expeditions. He and
his wife live in Milford, Maine, across the Penobscot River from the Penobscot
Nation Reservation where Mrs. Phillips teaches fifth and sixth grade at the
Penobscot Reservation School.
From 1977 to 1980 Mr. Phillips was a member of the four-man committee
which negotiated the historic 81.5 million dollar settlement between the State
of Maine and the Penobscot Nation which was signed into law by President Jimmy
Carter on October 11, 1980. Following the settlement, Mr. Phillips was
elected to the Maine legislature to represent the Penobscot Nation. (Maine
is the only state whose legislature includes an elected representative from an
Indian nation.) Mr. Phillips served the Penobscot Nation as Lieutenant
Governor from 1983 to 1984 and chaired its Fish and Game Committee for fifteen
years.
Mr. Phillips hopes that his talk will help audiences gain an
understanding of Penobscot ways and how the Penobscot Nation tradition as
hunters and gatherers can help individuals lead more harmonious lives respectful
of the land, its creatures and its bounty. This thoughtful and experienced
Penobscot leader encourages a question and answer period following his one hour
talk.
Ruben "Butch" Phillips is a member of the National Congress of
American Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes.
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