How a Mountain was Made: Stories

by Greg Sarris

In the tradition of Calvino’s Italian Folktales, Greg Sarris, author of the award-winning novel Grand Avenue, turns his attention to his ancestral homeland of Sonoma Mountain in Northern California. In sixteen interconnected original stories, the twin crows Question Woman and Answer Woman take us through a world unlike yet oddly reminiscent of our own: one which blooms bright with poppies, lupines, and clover; one in which Waterbug kidnaps an entire creek; in which songs have the power to enchant; in which Rain is a beautiful woman who keeps people’s memories in stones. Inspired by traditional Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo creation tales, these stories are timeless in their wisdom and beauty, and because of this timelessness their messages are vital and immediate. The figures in these stories ponder the meaning of leadership, of their place within the landscape and their community. In these stories we find a model for how we can all come home again. At once ancient and contemporary, How a Mountain Was Made is equally at home in modern letters as the ancient story cycle. Sarris infuses his stories with a prose stylist’s creativity and inventiveness, moving American Indian literature in a new and emergent direction.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Indigenous, Fantasy, Adult, Anthologies, Native American

296 pages, Hardcover

Published October 10, 2017

About the author

Gregory Michael Sarris is the Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Creative Writing and Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, where he teaches classes in Native American Literature, American Literature, and Creative Writing.

Reviews

[Maia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories by long time Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Greg Sarris; a writer I've been hearing about for years and am finally sitting down to read! These stories are all set around the Sonoma Mountain and Cotati, very close to where I grew up, and I loved being able to picture the foggy mornings, the many oaks, the quail, poppies, lupine, hawks, coyotes, and creeks in these stories. The book has a frame narrative of two crow sisters, Question Woman and Answer Woman, who introduce each story and also appear as characters in one. The stories are interwoven, nearly all set in the village by Copeland Creek where Coyote lives as headman with his wife Frog, his cousin Chicken Hawk, and his many neighbors. The stories use a lot of the kind of repetitive language that lends itself to memorization; I honestly didn't feel like sitting down and reading the book cover to cover wasn't the best way to experience them. It might have been better to flip the book open to a random story and read whichever one caught my eye, especially to read it out loud, either to myself or to a young listener. Maybe I'll get an opportunity to read it that way sometime to a nibling.

[Leah Agirlandaboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love love this book so much I bought a copy for my kids’ school library so I can make everyone else read and love it too. It’s just exactly what it needs to be, in exactly the right way.

[Lucy Kenyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of sweet, meaningful stories based on Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo traditional tales. Each story illustrates traditional values and standards of behavior through examples of individuals who experienced the consequences of their acts and intentions, often by being turned into animals or objects. Sonoma Mountain itself and everything on it, animals, plants, rocks, day and night, the sun and moon, the rainbow, all have stories of how they came about. By seeing these things in daily life and recalling their stories, one can be reminded that all of them, living and inanimate, are interrelated, and that it's essential to treat them all with profound respect.

I loved that present-day place names are used in the stories: Copeland Creek, the bridge over Copeland Creek, Santa Rosa; they're all there. The human characters live in houses with rooms and porches. These modern touches make the stories timeless and relatable, bringing antiquity into the present and giving them meaning for the times we live in.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of re-imagined tales - I loved it! I haven't read much into Native American stories, but these were very easy to read, understand, and could very easily inspire people to do more in-depth searching for more. I also loved the in-between sections of stories where the narrators Question Woman and Answer Woman introduce the stories being told, but also pinpoint the questions which gave life to the stories in the first place - it's a very cyclical book. Would recommend to people who like short stories, myths, creation stories, and learning more about Native culture!

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elements of other peoples' folklore always get lost in translation; if not because the languages don't align ideally then because the cultures do not understand concepts in the same way. It comes as no surprise that such is the case here. However it is unclear how much of these stories comes from traditional folktales and how much the author has created himself. (I imagine Question Woman and Answer Woman are almost completely fabricated, but am unsure about the most of rest of the characters and their deeds.) Having been at least partly invented by a modern author, should the stories feel so translated? More importantly, is it even kosher for a person to write original stories that mimic folklore? Then again, how much does that aspect of these stories differ from, say, Isaac Bashevis Singer's tales of the residents of benighted Chelm? I guess a partial answer would be: while Singer's neo-folklore depicts regular (if foolish enough to feel archetypal) folks in a not-too-distant past, Sarris's stories are creation/origin stories, which always have at least a whiff of religion about them. Is it okay to invent religion and implicitly ascribe it to people of the past but also claim it as your own?

Sarris also uses modern, imperialist place names throughout the book which I found jarring, seeing as the stories take place in long-ago times. Perhaps this choice was to emphasize the stories' timelessness, or maybe it was to give the modern local readers a sense of immediacy and ownership by using names to which they have personal connection. There was probably no good way to do this.

While I was uncomfortable with several aspects of this book, I will probably be reading the recent follow-up, The Forgetters which, I gather, carries this storytelling into the time of settlement.

[Pj Gaumond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book that I've read by Greg Sarris. I love reading about Question Woman and Answer Woman and hearing the questions and answers, the answers being the stories. The stories are incredible teaching and learning opportunities. They are in the vein of Aesop's Fables where the story stays with you long after you put the book down. I highly recommend this book and others by Greg Sarris.

[NormaJean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drop into the mythology of this culture. My tears are still wet on my face, so touching is this Cycle. Probably how Greeks or Egyptians today might feel about their cultural inheritance. Knowing the area where these tales are based makes them seem intimate. Sonoma, Copeland Creek, Cotati. And our dear friend, Coyote. ❤️❤️❤️

[Theodora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really reinforced the message that stories & songs are sources of knowledge. I loved reading about the origin stories of things like the Big Dipper and rainbows and animals. And how much abalone pendants featured as precious gifts in the stories. And about stories with Fog and Tomales Bay and Mt. Tam and wildflowers I had recently learned.

[Daniel O-W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Native American stories about the interconnections of nature.

[Christianne]

Modern retelling of traditional Native American stories based around Sonoma. I wanted to love this book but I just don't enjoy the writing style. It's me; so I am not going to rate this book.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these stories that were inspired by CA Native creation stories. Highly recommend!

[Barbara Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting native stories about Sonoma Mountain. Charming and very readable. It’s good to read some traditional stories about our area. I’m glad they’re being wr.

[Sandi Funke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meaningful, fun soulful book by Greg Sarris. So wonderful to learn the stories of the place I call home. Loved it!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you told me I’d love a world where birds have conversations and a coyote invented the world — and it wasn’t satire — I would have thought, “You are sadly mistaken” and inwardly rolled my eyes.

Not so! This book hooked me on p. 1. The world and writing are beautiful and lyrical. It was hard to put down. (“Just one more story…”)

One of the best books I’ve read this year. ❤️

[Mills College Library]

Fiction S2472h 2017