Gregory Michael Sarris (born February 12, 1952) is the Chairman of the
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok, is a federally recognized American Indian tribe of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians. The tribe was officially restored to federal recognition in 2000 by th ...
(since 1992), the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Creative Writing and
Native American Studies at
Sonoma State University
Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's d ...
, where he teaches classes in
Native American Literature
Native American literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by Native Americans in what is now the United States (as distinct from First Nations writers in Canada), from pre-Columbian times through to today. Famous authors include N ...
,
American Literature
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
, and
Creative Writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
. He is also President of the Graton Economic Development Authority.
Sarris has authored six books, the best known of which is ''
Grand Avenue'', a collection of autobiographical
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
about contemporary Native American life. Named after a real place in
Santa Rosa's South Park district, Sarris was a co-
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
of a
two-part 1996 HBO miniseries adaptation, shot entirely on location.
Childhood
Greg Sarris was adopted shortly after his birth by a
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
couple, George and Mary Sarris, who believed they
could not have children. Shortly after, they conceived the first of three biological children, which complicated life at home with his
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
father. Sarris was frequently the target of his father's
abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
. In an effort to keep him out of harm's way, he was sent to live with various white and American Indian
foster families. At the age of 12, Sarris met Pomo
basket weaver Mabel McKay
Mabel McKay (1907–1993) was a member of the Long Valley Cache Creek Pomo people, Pomo Indians and was of Patwin people, Patwin descent. She was the last Dreamer of the Pomo people and was renowned for her basket weaving.
Greg Sarris publishe ...
, who taught him about American Indian customs and tradition. According to Sarris, McKay's guidance provided him with a sense of purpose.
Education
After graduating from
Santa Rosa High School in 1970, Sarris attended
Santa Rosa Junior College
Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. Santa Rosa Junior College was modeled as a feeder school for the University ...
. In 1977 he graduated
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
with a
BA in English from
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. He went on to complete his graduate studies at
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
University, earning a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in creative writing in 1981 and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in Modern Thought and Literature in 1989.
Career
* 1989-2001 English professor, UCLA.
* 2001-2005
Fletcher Jones Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
.
* Endowed Chair in
Native American Studies,
Sonoma State University
Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's d ...
, 2005.
* Consultant for Turner Broadcasting System on California Indians.
* Tribal Chairman of the
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok, is a federally recognized American Indian tribe of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians. The tribe was officially restored to federal recognition in 2000 by th ...
. 1992–Present. He is in his fifteenth elected term as Chairman of the Tribe.
Ancestry
Greg Sarris’ mother, seventeen year old Mary Bernadette “Bunny” Hartman, of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
,
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
descent, came from a wealthy family. She was sent to Santa Rosa to deliver her child, which was not uncommon for unwed mothers at the time. She was inadvertently given the
wrong blood type in a transfusion after giving birth, and died shortly thereafter. Sarris’ father was not named on the birth certificate. It wasn't until the early 1980s as a graduate student at Stanford that Sarris learned Emilio Arthur Hilario, of
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
,
Miwok
The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word ' ...
and
Pomo
The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small grou ...
descent, was his biological father. According to Sarris, he learned the identity of his great great grandparents from his grandfather, Emiliano Hilario. Hilario's grandmother, Reinette Smith Sarragossa, was the daughter of Emily Stewart, a woman of mixed blood ancestry, and Tom Smith, a well-known healer of Pomo and Coastal Miwok blood.
Marilee Montgomery and
Stop the Casino 101 Coalition dispute Sarris's claim to have Pomo and Miwok blood. Sarris was at the forefront of the controversial
Graton Resort and Casino project which was strongly opposed by Stop the Casino 101 Coalition.
Activism
In the early 1990s, Sarris worked to have the Coast Miwok and Pomo Native Americans gain recognition as a tribe. He co-authored the Graton Rancheria Restoration Act, 25 U.S.C. §1300n (Act) with California Indian Legal Services. President Clinton signed the Act into law on December 27, 2000, officially granting the tribe status as a federally recognized tribe. The Act mandated that the Secretary of the Interior take land in the tribe's aboriginal territory of Marin or Sonoma Counties into trust as the Tribe's reservation.
Published works
;Novels
* ''Watermelon Nights: A Novel'', Hyperion (New York, NY), 1998; reissued 2021, University of Oklahoma Press.
;Short story collections
* ''How A Mountain Was Made'', Heyday (Berkeley, CA), 2017.
* ''Grand Avenue'', Hyperion (New York, NY), 1994.
* (Editor and contributor) ''The Sound of Rattles and Clappers: A Collection of New California Indian Writing'', University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1994.
;Nonfiction
* ''Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts'', University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1993.
* ''Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream'', University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1994.
* (Editor, with Connie A. Jacobs and James R. Giles) ''Approaches to Teaching the Works of Louise Erdrich'', Modern Language Association of America (New York, NY), 2004.
;Film and Theater
*
Grand Avenue' (television miniseries; based on his short story collection), Home Box Office, 1996.
* Wrote script for
Mission Indians', a play directed by Nancy Benjamin and Margo Hall, 2001.
* Co-produced, advised, and was featured in a sixteen part series on American literature for public television called
'.
Awards and Achievements
* Induction to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* Arts & Humanities Dean's Teaching Award, Sonoma State University
* Santa Fe Film Festival Award, best screenplay, an
American Indian Film Festival Award 1996, for ''Grand Avenue'';
* Best Reads Award, California Indian Booksellers, 1996;
* Bay Area Theater Critics Award, best play, 2002, for ''Mission Indians''.
Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching 1988-1989
1989-1991
* Associate Director of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, 1991-1992.
* Appointed to the MLA Committee on the Literatures and Languages of America, 1992.
[Lincoln, Kenneth. "Greg Sarris." ''Native American Writers of the United States''. Ed. Kenneth M. Roemer. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 175. ''Literature Resource Center''. Web. 21 May 2016.]
See also
*
List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
This is a list of notable writers who are Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
This list includes authors who are Alaskan Native, American Indian, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous peoples of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, a ...
Notes
References
* Lincoln, Kenneth. "Greg Sarris." ''Native American Writers of the United States''. Ed. Kenneth M. Roemer. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 175. ''Literature Resource Center''. Web. 21 May 2016.
* "Greg Sarris." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2007. ''Literature Resource Center''. Web. 28 May 2016.
* Wasp, Jean
''World Class Author, Screenwriter Greg Sarris Named to Native American Endowed Chair at SSU'' Sonoma State University News Center. April 8, 2005. Web. 28 May 2016.
"Tribal Government"Graton Rancheria.n.p.n.d.Web.28 May 2016.
greg-sarris.com n.p. n.d. Web. 28 May 2016.
* Mason, Clark. ''Casino critic challenges tribal leader's Indian heritage'
The Press Democrat. February 17, 2010. Web. 28 May 2016.
Title XIV Graton Rancheria Restoration uscode.house.gov. n.p. 27 Dec 2000. Web 28 May 2016.
Federal Register Noticeat 74 FR 40219. August 11, 2009. Web. 28 May 2016.
* Sarris, Greg. ''Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. ISN 0-520-20968-0.
Further reading
* Elvira Pulitano, ''Toward a Native American Critical Theory''. 2005. Sarris is one of six authors whose work is surveyed.
* ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Volume 175: ''Native American Writers of the United States'', Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1997.
* ''Here First : Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers''. First American ed. (New York), 2000.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarris, Greg
1952 births
American people of Filipino descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Jewish descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
Living people
Writers from Santa Rosa, California
Miwok
Pomo people
Male actors from Santa Rosa, California
Native American leaders
Native American novelists
Native American academics
Sonoma State University faculty
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
20th-century American male writers