Creative Work
Greg Sarris has been involved in a number of creative projects from many different disciplines. Use the links below to navigate to the section you wish to view.
Videos
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 11 - June
When we embarked on the journey to create PLACE AND PURPOSE, our goal was simple yet profound: to immerse ourselves in the essence of a single location and use it as a lens through which to explore the complexities of our world. Now, as we approach our 23rd episode, we find ourselves reflecting on the incredible journey we've undertaken. We've asked countless questions, delved into a myriad of topics, and unearthed layers of understanding. As Greg and Obi take to Sonoma Mountain this Thursday, they're not only reflecting on what they've learned and gained but also looking ahead to the uncharted territories of the future. With each episode, they've unearthed treasures of insight, and now, as they stand on the cusp of another chapter, they're poised to continue their exploration with renewed vigor and curiosity. Join us for the penultimate episode of Year Two.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 10 - May
Greg and Obi invite author Manjula Martin onto the show. Manjula is author of the national bestseller The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History. She is coauthor of Fruit Trees for Every Garden, which won the 2020 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Martin edited the anthology Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living, and she was formerly managing editor of the National Magazine Award–winning literary journal Zoetrope: All-Story. She was born in the Santa Cruz Mountains and currently lives beneath the redwoods in Sonoma County, California.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 9 - April
Join us for an inspiring episode as our two esteemed hosts, Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann, dive into and explore Greg's newest book: THE FORGETTERS (Heyday 2024). This episode streamed live on YouTube April 15, 2024 at 10am PT.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 8 - March
Greg and Obi invite special guests Layel Camargo and Niko Alexandre from the Shelterwood Collective onto the show.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 7 - February
Greg and Obi invite artist and illustrator Eric Wilder onto the show. Eric was trained early in his life as a traditional singer and storyteller by grandparents, Sidney and Essie Parrish of the Kashia Pomo people. Eric has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge through his art, stories, and practice of both traditional and contemporary native culture. He has served as a consultant on historical texts and as Tribal Secretary and Tribal Chairman on the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians Tribal Council and currently works professionally doing graphic design. This episode originally streamed live on YouTube February 8, 2024 at 9am PT.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 6 - January
Join us for an insightful and inspiring episode as our two esteemed hosts, Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann, come together to reflect on the events of the past year and kick off the new year. Together, Greg and Obi will engage in a thoughtful discussion that delves into the highs and lows of the past year, sharing personal anecdotes and lessons learned, reflecting on the future, their aspirations, and resolutions. This episode originally aired live on YouTube January 11, 2024 at 10am PT.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 5 - December
Greg and Obi invite professor Adina Merendlender onto the show. Adina is a Professor of Cooperative Extension in Conservation Science at University of California, Berkeley in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Department, and is an internationally recognized conservation biologist known for land-use planning, watershed science, landscape connectivity, and naturalist and stewardship training. She is the founding director of California Naturalist, which to date has graduated over 4,000 certified California Naturalists. This episode originally aired live on YouTube December 7, 2023 at 10am PT.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 4 - November
Greg and Obi invite public lands policy expert Caryl Hart onto the show. Caryl Hart, PhD is an attorney and expert in public lands and park policy, with over 25 years of advocacy, scholarship and administrative experience. She is currently Vice Chair of the California Coastal Commission where she has served since 2019. Also, she serves as Chair of the Great Redwood Trail Agency. From 2010-2017, Dr. Hart was Director of Sonoma County Regional Parks, a system of 50 parks and regional trails including Doran, Stillwater and Gualala Pt Regional Parks on the Sonoma Coast, and Spud Pt Fishing Marina in Bodega Bay.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 3 - October
Greg and Obi invite author Rebecca Solnit onto the show. Solnit is a writer, historian, and activist. She is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and urban history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe. Her books include Orwell’s Roses; Recollections of My Nonexistence; Hope in the Dark; Men Explain Things to Me; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; and A Field Guide to Getting Lost. This episode originally streamed live on October 6, 2023 at 10am PT.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 2 - September
Greg and Obi invite California's Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot onto the show. Secretary Crowfoot oversees an agency of over 25,000 employees spread across 26 departments, commissions, and conservancies. His agency is charged with stewarding California’s forests and natural lands, rivers and water supplies, and coast and ocean. It also protects natural places, wildlife and biodiversity, and helps oversee the state’s world-leading clean energy transition. He has served as Secretary since 2019 and advises Governor Newsom as a member of his cabinet. This episode originally streamed live on September 8, 2023.
Place and Purpose: Year 2, Episode 1 - August
Greg and Obi invite on publisher Steve Wasserman. Wasserman is former editorial director of Times Books/Random House, publisher of Hill & Wang and The Noonday Press at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and served as editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review. He is currently the publisher for Heyday, based in Berkeley, CA. This episode originally streamed live on August 3, 2023.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 12 - July
On Thursday, July 6, 2023 Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 11 - June
On Thursday, June 1, 2023 Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 10 - May
On Thursday, May 4, 2023 at 10am PT Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast broadcasting live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 9 - April
On Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 10am PT Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann will continued their live, video-podcast broadcasting live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 8 - March
On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 10am PT Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast broadcasting live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 7 - February
On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 10am PT Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast broadcasting live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 6 - January
Premiered live on January 4, 2023 Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast broadcasting live from Sonoma Mountain in California.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 5 - December
Premiered-live on December 1st. Greg Sarris and Obi Kaufmann continued their live, video-podcast from a stormy Sonoma Mountain.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 4 - November
Premiered-live on November 3rd from Sonoma Mountain. Obi and Greg discuss Native American traditions, questions of power and control, election season, and more.
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 3 - October
Premiered-live on October 6th from Greg’s farm in Northern California. Called into question are so many core values of our carbon based economy including humanity’s relationship with a thousand-thousand, more-than-human or non-human communities. Think of the bear. Think of the beaver. Think of the salmon. These relationships may end up defining who we are
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 2 - September
Originally streamed-live on September 1st from the backcountry of Sonoma Mountain. This time, the two discussed the coming of fall, harvest, and other topics related to California's seasonal history, ecology, and indigenous wisdom. Watch the replay or listen!
Place and Purpose: Year 1, Episode 1 - August
Our first episode, titled August, streamed-live on August 4th from the backcountry of Sonoma Mountain. Called “Place & Purpose”, this 12-part series will cover a vast range of topics exploring what it is to be from California. Ranging from historic policy to traditional ecological knowledge, from scientific innovation to indigenous criticism, join Greg and Obi for this first discussion and then again every month as they watch the seasons change and wrestle with themes of hope, time, and justice.
Billy-Ray Belcourt and A History of My Brief Body, with Greg Sarris
Billy-Ray Belcourt’s debut memoir opens with a tender letter to his kokum and memories of his early life in the hamlet of Joussard, Alberta, and on the Driftpile First Nation.
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Plans for 2020
Graton Rancheria Chairman Greg Sarris Talks About the Tribe’s Plans for 2020
Mill Valley History Talks with Greg Sarris
For thousands of years the Coast Miwok lived rich lives infused with tradition in what we now know as Marin and southern Sonoma Counties.
Greg Sarris: Native American Literary Tradition (BABF 2018)
Greg Sarris latest book, “How a Mountain Was Made,” is a collection of stories inspired by traditional Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo creation tales; it celebrates the lore surrounding Sonoma Mountain.
California History Through an Indigenous Lens
California Historical Society hosts Greg Sarris and William Bauer, with a short performance from Word for Word from Sarris’ new book.
Youth Arts: How A Mountain Was Made by Greg Sarris
Z Space presents Word for Word’s Youth Arts presents How A Mountain Was Made by Greg Sarris
2017 Geography of Hope: Greg Sarris
Greg Sarris, writer, educator, and Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, speaks at the 2017 Geography of Hope Conference.
Greg Sarris on creating the Graton Resort and Casino Experience
Greg Sarris is an author and Tribal chariman Chairman of The Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria. In this video he talks about creating the Graton Resort and Casino experience.
Greg Sarris talks about the Graton Rancheria Tribal History
In this brief video Greg Sarris talks about the history of the Graton Rancheria tribe and how the Graton Resort and Casino will benefit the community.
TEDxSantaRosa: Greg Sarris — Re-storying Place
Author and long-time Sonoma County native Greg Sarris uses personal anecdotes and native american history to explain how storytelling can affect how, and where, we live.
Watermelon Nights: A Readying by Greg Sarris
Series: “Artists on the Cutting Edge” [10/2001] [Humanities] [Arts and Music]
Greg Sarris in conversation with Jonah Raskin at Rohnert Park Library
Greg Sarris, Tribal Chairman and SSU Professor, Jonah Raskin in conversation at Rohnert Park Library