Sarah Hernandez, associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, was awarded honorable mention for the Modern Language Association (MLA) Publication Awards. The MLA is the premier national association for scholars of literatures, cultures and languages.
Her book, “We Are The Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin Literary Tradition”, was awarded honorable mention under “6th Modern Language Association Prize for Studies in Native American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages” category. Published in 2023 by the University of Arizona Press and the University of Regina Press in Canada, recovers the record of Oceti Women who served their tribes’ traditional culture bearers and culture keepers. It also discusses settler colonialism, literature, nationalism, and gender.
"I'm incredibly honored to receive the MLA Prize for Studies in Native American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages for We Are the Stars,” said Hernandez. “This recognition is a testament to the strength of Oceti Sakowin literary tradition and the vital role women and land play in strengthening our tribal nations. This literary recovery project is about reclaiming our rich intellectual traditions, challenging colonial narratives, and pushing back against a history of erasure. I'm grateful to the committee for this recognition and to all who continue the work of preserving and perpetuating our longstanding literary traditions."
In the announcement, the MLA committee cited:
“Sarah Hernandez’s We Are the Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin
Literary Tradition illuminates how settler missionaries, policies, teachers, and writers worked to colonize Oceti Sakowin literary practice by attacking its foundations—Oceti Sakowin women and land. It then reconstructs an Oceti Sakowin literary tradition over a long period of time commonly understood as one of loss and lack. Hernandez first reveals the links between literary colonization and land colonization, showing how 19th-century missionary colonizers gained knowledge of Dakota language and literature, mistranslated stories, and helped translate and ratify treaties to serve their purposes, before turning to how Oceti Sakowin authors—largely women—later revitalized their literary traditions by decolonizing settler land narratives with attention to language, land knowledge, and women’s authority. Hernandez models a powerful method of literary recovery in the context of a colonized literary tradition.”
At UNM, Hernandez is the director of the Institute for American Indian Research (IFAIR). She is also the literature and legacy officer for the Oak Lake Writers Society, which is an Oceti Sakowin-led non-profit for Nakota, Dakota, and Lakota writers. In this position, she assists the society in launching a national reading campaign called “#NativeReads: Great Books from Indigenous Communities.”
Anyone can nominate a book for an MLA prize, but the author must either be an existing member or become a member before the deadline for the prize. There are more than 20,000 MLA members in 100 countries. Since 1883, MLA has provided its members opportunities to share their teaching experiences and scholarly findings with their colleagues within MLA. They sustain one of the finest publication programs in the humanities. For more information, visit the Modern Language Association.
For more information about UNM's Department of English Language and Literature, click here.
