Watermelon Nights
by Greg Sarris
List Price: $13.95
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0140282769
Publisher: Penguin USA
As a child adopted by a white suburban couple, you were a young man when you uncovered your own Native
American roots. Did you ever question your adoptive parents about your background when you were growing up? What inspired you to search for information
about your birth parents?
I knew that my biological mother was white. On my original birth certificate the father was listed as "Unknown
non-white." My adoptive mother told me there was speculation my biological father was Mexican. I had a difficult time growing up in my adoptive home—my
father was abusive, and I was a dark-haired child in a family of blondes.
How did your biological parents' families react to meeting you? In what ways did learning
the story of your heritage change the way you felt about yourself? Are there elements of your own life in your portraits of young Indian men
like Johnny and Felix?
My biological mother's family was cautious. Her mother wondered "what I wanted." My biological
mother, Bunny Hartman, died shortly after I was born. She was sixteen and the hospital gave her the wrong type blood. Her mother secretly buried
her in the paupers' section of a local cemetery and told family and friends that she had "fallen off a horse." The truth was not revealed
until I came along some twenty-five years later. My father's family, on the other hand, was wonderful, accepting of me straight away.
Yes, there are parts of my life in Johnny and Felix. In certain ways, I have been at different times
like Johnny and Felix—kind like Johnny, mean and manipulative like Felix. Haven't we all?
When and why did you decide to become a writer?
In college. I loved literature. It was what I knew best—good gossip. Literature tells you something
about someone you didn't know before. It's stories. I can do that, I thought.
Your novel is filled with violent events and personal tragedies, yet the title Watermelon Nights
refers to a rare, almost magical night in the lives of the South Park community. How did you come to choose that title?
I chose the title from an actual event, an event I had forgotten, that happened in South Park, where Grand
Avenue is located. My longtime friend, Lenny Gomes, was one of the first people to steal the watermelons off the truck. As he retold the story,
I remembered how everyone had eaten watermelon and was happy. The image stuck with me.
Many of your stories are told from a woman's perspective. Why did you choose to do this? What
difficulties did you encounter as a male writer focusing on the emotional lives of women?
I don't choose a perspective. The characters, many of whom happen to be women, choose me. I don't
have difficulties writing from a woman's perspective. It's spirit. I am the reed through which the voice comes. I just write. Sometimes representing
the voice on paper—sentence structure, syntax—is troublesome in the beginning, but once I have it down, the voice flows. Voices don't
necessarily choose the reed, the instrument of their telling, by gender; rather, they choose by capability.
Did you do a lot of historical research in order to present an accurate portrayal of Native American
life in Northern California? Did you use stories you learned from your own tribe, the Miwok, or other contemporary Indian communities?
I don't do a lot of research per se. So much of what I know is in my head—from stories I've
heard in and around my community. Yes, I hear the stories from members of my tribe—and family members—and then retell them.
There is a growing interest in Native American literature today. What do you think has caused this?
What books by or about Native Americans do you most admire?
The growing interest in Native American literature today reflects the larger interests in literature
from diverse communities as well as Americans' growing interest in the original peoples of this land—hearing voices from the land that
is America. Particularly good books by Native American writers include Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine,
N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain, and the poetry of Joy Harjo and Linda Hogan.
In addition to offering an authentic picture of Native American life, what insights do your books
present into American society in general?
My books are about more than just American Indians. My books are chronicles of survival, how a people
survive for better and for worse. They light the dark places so we can all—all of us, Indian and non-Indian—see where we have been,
where we are, and where we might go.
As chief of the Miwok tribe, you have petitioned the government for the restoration of tribal lands
and for official recognition. Why is it important for Indian tribes to be acknowledged by the federal government? What do you see as the most
significant problems contemporary Native Americans face?
It's important for Indian tribes to be acknowledged by the Federal government for several reasons. First, it is important for reasons associated with identity, with who
we are and who we have been culturally and historically. Second, only acknowledged tribes have access to educational, medical and housing benefits
afforded other tribes by the U.S. Government through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Without acknowledgment, Indian people in this country risk
becoming "unknown non-whites" to the larger society. I know what that's like.
Regarding significant problems . . . well, like everyone else we have many problems and assets. What
concerns me is that for our well being we must keep telling our stories. Our stories can heal. They are ceremonies that enlighten. Isn't that
what will keep us—all of us, Indian and non-Indian—human?
© Copyright 2012 by Greg Sarris. Reprinted with permission by Penguin USA. All rights reserved.
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