Greg Sarris facts for kids

Gregory Sarris, born on February 12, 1952, is a leader of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. He has been their Chairman since 1992. He also recently led the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Until 2022, Mr. Sarris taught at Sonoma State University. He was a special professor in Creative Writing and Native American Studies. There, he taught classes about Native American and American literature, and creative writing. He is also the President of the Graton Economic Development Authority. Currently, Sarris is a Distinguished Chair Emeritus at Sonoma State University. In 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed him as a UC Regent.

Mr. Sarris is a well-known scholar and activist. In 2020, he was chosen to be part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Sarris has written six books. One of his books is Grand Avenue. This book is a collection of short stories about modern Native American life. It is named after a real street in Santa Rosa, California. Sarris helped produce a two-part TV miniseries based on the book. This miniseries, called Grand Avenue, was shown on HBO in 1996. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Sundance Institute.

Early Life and Family

Greg Sarris was born in Santa Rosa, California. He was adopted soon after his birth by George and Mary Sarris. They were a middle-class white couple. They later had three biological children. This made life at home challenging for Greg. To keep him safe, he lived with different foster families. These families were both white and American Indian. When he was 12, Sarris met Mabel McKay. She was a Pomo basket weaver. She taught him about American Indian customs and traditions. Sarris has said that McKay's guidance gave him a sense of purpose.

School and Learning

After finishing Santa Rosa High School in 1970, Sarris went to Santa Rosa Junior College. In 1977, he graduated with high honors from UCLA. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He then continued his studies at Stanford University. He earned a master's degree in creative writing in 1981. In 1989, he received his Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature. In June 2024, Sonoma State University gave Sarris an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Work and Leadership

• 1989-2001: English professor at UCLA.
• Writer in residence for the PEN Program.
• 1996: Scholar in residence at Santa Rosa Junior College.
• 1997: Writer in residence at Dallas College.
• 1997: Adlai Stevenson Scholar in Residence at UC Santa Cruz.
• 1997: Writer in Residence at Humboldt State University.
• 2001-2005: Fletcher Jones Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at Loyola Marymount University.
• January 2003: Writer in Residence at Stanford University.
• October 2002: Writer in Residence at Syracuse University.
• 2005: Endowed Chair in Native American Studies at Sonoma State University.
• Consultant for Turner Broadcasting System on California Indians.
• 1992–Present: Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. He is in his seventeenth elected term as Chairman.
• 2024: Board Chair of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
• Member of the UC Board of Regents.
• June 2025: Appointed to the Sundance Institute's Board of Trustees.

Working for His Community

In the early 1990s, Sarris worked hard to help the Coast Miwok and Pomo Native Americans. He wanted them to be officially recognized as a tribe. He helped write the Graton Rancheria Restoration Act. This law was signed by President Clinton on December 27, 2000. It officially recognized the tribe. The Act also said that land in Marin or Sonoma Counties should be set aside for the Tribe's reservation.

Books and Creative 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.
• Becoming Story, Heyday Books (Berkeley, CA) 2022.
• The Forgetters: Stories, Heyday Books (Berkeley, CA), 2024.

Nonfiction Books

• 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 Projects

• 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 American Passages.
• Word for Word produced the play Citizen, based on Sarris' story in 2023.

Awards and Recognitions

• AFP National Philanthropy Day Outstanding Grantmaker Award, November 2024.
• Asian American Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Heritage Month Honoree, May 2024.
• Induction to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Arts & Humanities Dean's Teaching Award, Sonoma State University.
• Sonoma County Democratic Party Trowbridge Lifetime Achievement Award, February 2024.
• University of Utah Award in the Environmental Humanities, September 2023.
• Sonoma State University Distinguished Chair Emeritus Award, August 2022.
• Heyday Lifetime Achievement Award, October 2020.
• Santa Fe Film Festival Award, best screenplay, and American Indian Film Festival Award, 1996, for Grand Avenue.
• Hugo Award for Best Documentary, American Passages, 2003.
• Best Reads Award, California Indian Booksellers, 1996.
• California Indian Writer of the Year from the 15th Annual California Indian Conference, October 2000.
• Certificate of Recognition for 2018 Sonoma County Conservation Action Dick Day Community Activist Award, June 2018.
• California Independent Booksellers Award, Best Read, Fiction, Grand Avenue, 1997.
• Bay Area Theater Critics Award, best play, 2002, for Mission Indians.
• Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1988-1989.
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Santa Rosa Junior College.
• Greg Sarris Scholarship Fund (for Native American Students), Santa Rosa Junior College.
• University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1989-1991.
• Independent Publisher Book Bronze Award for How a Mountain Was Made, April 2019.
• North Bay Business Journal 2018 Community Philanthropy Awards, Santa Rosa, California, March 2018.
• Associate Director of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, 1991-1992.
• Appointed to the MLA Committee on the Literatures and Languages of America, 1992.
• Award for Outstanding Service from California Indian Legal Services, September 25, 1998.
• Humanitarian Award, Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, 1996.
• “I Made a Difference Award”, Sunday Best, Gray Foundation, Santa Rosa, California, September 2013.
• “Working Class Hero Award”, North Bay Labor Council, AFL-CIO, December 2012.
• Sarris was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Sonoma State University in June 2024.

See also

In Spanish: Greg Sarris para niños

• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas