A former chief of the Penobscot Nation said Monday that he hopes it will be a learning experience for a man who police have charged with making racist phone calls to his home.

Barry Dana of Solon said he got 10 calls on his home phone Nov. 10 from a man using vulgar language and insulting his Indian heritage.

Barry Dana of Solon, a former chief of the Penobscot tribe, speaks during the Indigenous Peoples Day rally at Lake George Regional Park in Skowhegan on Oct. 13, 2015. David Leaming/Morning Sentinel

Bryan P. Aubrey, 43, of Skowhegan is charged with harassment by phone, punishable by as much as six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said Monday that Aubrey admitted to making the calls, saying he had been drinking that day.

“Hopefully, by being brought before a court and making the fella answerable for his actions, is probably a good idea so that he learns a lesson that that is not acceptable anymore in today’s times,” Dana said Monday. “By him going before the court, they can help him out, whatever his problems are, by making it mandatory that he seek counseling of some sort.”

Dana said a good model for addressing such behavior is seen in the Penobscot tribal court system, where tribal elders and mentors speak to the offender to try to get to the root of the problem and help the person. “In the end they benefit from it,” he said.

Detective Mathew Cunningham of the sheriff’s office investigated the calls and said Aubrey admitted to making them. The calls all occurred in a six-hour span.

“Mr. Aubrey candidly admitted to having consumed alcohol before making the calls to Dana,” Lancaster said.

Cunningham consulted with the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office and the Maine Attorney General’s Office on what charges should be brought, Lancaster said.

“The Attorney General’s Office advised that ‘the phone messages are offensive, but there is no specific threat’ that would warrant a Maine Civil Rights Act claim,” Lancaster said. He said the district attorney can amend the charge.

Aubrey told the detective that he had attended the Indigenous Peoples Day celebration in 2015 at Lake George Regional Park, and said Dana had given a speech on fur trapping, according to Lancaster. Aubrey does not trap for fur and strongly opposes trapping, Lancaster said, adding that Dana told Cunningham during the investigation that he has never given a speech on fur trapping.

Indigenous Peoples Day is marked by native Americans and others who object to the celebration of Columbus Day, which they say celebrates the massacre of native peoples.

“He called me names because I was a trapper,” Dana said. “In fact, I’m not, but I certainly would if I had the opportunity.”

Dana said there have been no phone calls since Nov. 10.

Aubrey has an initial court appearance set for Jan. 11 in Skowhegan.

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