Greg Sarris: An Introduction

"Personal Narrative in Academic Discourse"

by Vicki Broach and Gloria Bird

Greg Sarris, Pomo-Coast Miwok writer and Professor at UCLA, is a challenging thinker in many areas, but especially in his vision of incorporating personal narrative into academic discourse to create a more meaningful interaction with text. During his visit, the most immediate way in which Sarris challenged us was by his physical presence: over six feet tall, light-skinned, blue-eyed, handsome and clean-cut, he, in fact, fits the All-American ex-football player role he attributes to getting him into college in the first place. Not what we expected. From the moment he stepped into the room, he made us pause and reconsider our original preconceptions. Throughout the day, he continued to encourage this process of re-examination and reflection.

Sarris began the classroom portion of his visit with a highly energetic and entertaining lecture, followed by a vigorous exchange of questions and answers with class members. He is characteristically animated and his speech is fast-paced. Up close, his eyes are constantly in motion and he is continually alert, absorbing everything happening around him.

During lunch at the American Indian Inter-Tribal Graduate Center, he was more relaxed. He has an uncanny ability to learn names quickly, and during this session he frequently addressed students by their first names even though he had only just met them.

He talked about how his short story "How I Got To Be Queen" has been selected for an American Playhouse production and the strong role he will assume in that production. The film will be made on the Pomo reservation near Santa Rosa and Sarris is particularly interested in choosing locations and overseeing the casting. He is very conscious of the economic and social conditions on the reservation, particularly the high unemployment rate. (He mentioned these conditions as having had historically devastating effects on the Pomo community.) He is aware that this film will provide much needed employment opportunities.

Sarris incorporates many personal stories into his conversations, and the discussion of the film led him to share some of the funny antics of his "aunties." He told about taking the film producer to scout locations on the reservation and related what then happened at a dinner he and the producer attended. Sarris mimicked how his aunties turned out all dressed the same, like one of the characters in his story, a lady they all knew, who wore thongs year-round and a pair of sunglasses with one missing lens. They were lined up, sitting three in a row and swinging their chubby legs, as the producer went by. The producer was having a hard time trying not to stare at them and the odd figures they cut. Finally one aunt hit the producer on the shoulder with her purse and asked him if she could play a part in the movie. From this story, Sarris went on to relate the gossip that his aunties tell about this same woman, always talking about what her feet must look like--cracked and dirty from wearing thongs all the time.

Sarris also described one of his pet projects in the Bay Area, a student mentoring program that he initiated and of which he is obviously very proud. His concern for the education of Native American students is a priority that became evident at the Graduate Center. He talked about how difficult it was for him to get interested in college. He attributed part of his ultimate success to the program he enrolled in at Stanford, and from which he consequently received his degrees. He had high praise for the Modern Thought and Literature program and encouraged students to consider that program at Stanford. He talked briefly about students organizing to have their needs met here at the University of Arizona.

Sarris continued to talk with students until almost three o'clock. His willingness to offer his time and energy in this fashion seemed inexhaustible. Gloria Bird notes that, "Last summer when Sarris participated in the AILDI summer program he made a statement that made an impression on me. He said that besides holding regular jobs, Indian people frequently have community obligations to fulfill that means that we have to work harder. He said that this type of work has to be done regardless that we've already put in an eight-hour day and we're dog tired. Watching him at the Graduate Center, I was again reminded of his commitment to working harder, and recognized that he was including us among his 'community,' that as long he felt a need he would stay and talk with students."

We met later at El Minuto for dinner. Our small party included Greg Sarris, Larry Evers, Vicki Broach, and Gloria Bird. At dinner Sarris was again lively and entertaining, telling stories, asking questions, and constantly looking around, absorbing things. We talked about what difficulties Sarris anticipates he might face when he is considered for tenure next fall. He mentioned that some of the faculty at UCLA regard his work as unorthodox. The conversation then casually centered on various novels by Native American authors, The Indian Lawyer and Love Medicine, to name only two. Sarris mentioned that he had written an essay on Love Medicine ("Love Medicine as Home Medicine") and offered to send Vicki and Gloria a copy if we gave him our addresses.

We spoke about the anthology Talking Leaves, and Gloria mentioned that there were a number of stories in that collection that were spooky in some ways, more so than in other collections. Sarris agreed, referring to the story by Debra Earling, for instance, that talks about "poisoning," as he calls it. In response to a question from Vicki, Sarris explained a bit more about Pomo belief regarding poisoning and "hoodoo," especially as it appears in Mabel McKay's story which opens the essay, "Talking with the Old Ones." As we were speaking about the stories, Sarris turned to Larry and said, "Speaking of spooky..." He asked if there had been a killing in the immediate area, adding that he felt something. Larry told us that outside, next to the parking lot, was a shrine dedicated to a man who had murdered his lover because of her unfaithfulness with another. After dinner, we all visited the shrine before leaving for the Center for Creative Photography and Sarris's reading.

On the drive there, Vicki asked Greg about the contact he had made with his mother's family. He said that although he had met his grandmother, who is Jewish, he did not feel entirely accepted by her. Vicki shared with him a similar story from her own family history and they talked about how the American story often seems to be a tale of alienation and dispossession.
The auditorium was already crowded when we arrived. At the reading, Sarris chose to read "Waiting for the Green Frog," a short story about a medicine woman looking back and reflecting upon her life. He said that he wanted to portray the woman as being human with human needs. His story, in fact, did show that she had made mistakes, experienced failures, and that in her old age she was fragile, she used a walker and was on medication. The story was told in first person. Gloria asked him about that later on, mentioning that in fiction writing classes the first thing they tell you is not to write a short story in first person. He gave a typical Greg response, saying, "Haven't you noticed by now that I break all the rules?"

When the formal reading ended, he invited questions from the floor, once again demonstrating his enthusiasm for making connections with his audience. He ended the reading by telling the somewhat chilling story of Crawling Woman, a Pomo woman who had survived incursions by the Americans and the Mexicans, and who, in her old age, could not walk but would travel by dragging herself along. This woman would become terrified by the sight of brass buttons on a jacket because they reminded her of the U.S. Army soldier who had raped her years before. Nevertheless, a spirit persisted in her and she continued to crawl from place to place. "We are all crawling woman," Sarris said, "she is in each of us and we are in her."