Meet the Artist - Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
By Brandon Frye
Choctaw Nation
Durant, Okla. - Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 29-year-old Choctaw author with four published titles under her belt, recently visited the Choctaw Nation to publicize her newest novel, “The Executions,” the first book in a series.
She took the opportunity to reconnect with her tribal roots in Oklahoma. Sawyer stopped in to take part in the monthly Heritage Monday at the Choctaw Nation Tribal Complex, molded some clay at a traditional pottery class, and spent June 27 at the Choctaw Welcome Center in Colbert during her Meet the Artist event.
Sawyer was born and raised in Texas and has been creatively writing since she was five. Her father was born in Mead, and her Choctaw heritage comes from her mother, Lynda Kay Sawyer.
“My mother is my biggest fan, my harshest critic, and my most enthusiastic cheerleader,” Sawyer said. “I dedicated my first novel to her and my great-aunt Evelyn. ‘The Executions’ is dedicated to the two women who taught me the importance of preserving the past for the future.”
She said she had always wanted to write Choctaw stories, and when she did, one of them won a small competition. This was a jumping board for Sawyer’s career and would lead her to meet other Choctaw artists and storytellers.
Her first experience with other Native writers and storytellers was at the Five Tribes Story Conference in 2010. Tim Tingle and Greg Rodgers showed her what it meant to tell the traditional stories of a tribal people.
“At the same time, they showed the value of telling and writing our own stories,” Sawyer said. “I credit them for lighting that fire. Because of their work, I can connect the writing I do with the tradition of storytelling that is so much a part of our heritage.”
Sawyer sees being Choctaw as an honor, opportunity, and responsibility. She said she is a descendant of people who forged a path through their own pain and injustice to give her a heritage. She feels a responsibility to remember, preserve, and share their legacy of faith and endurance.
Her “Choctaw Tribune Series” deals with times of injustice and bitter fights over cultural, racial, and legal issues. “The Executions” is book one in the series, with an expected three parts.
Sawyer said, with “The Executions,” she followed her characters along on their journey through a Choctaw execution, whiskey running, a witch-hunt, and meeting an Irish mail-order bride before finding an end at a lynching across the Red River in Texas. She added, the heroine of the story Ruth Ann concludes her journey with the discovery of her place as a young Choctaw woman in an increasingly white Indian Territory.
To learn more about Sawyer and her written work, visit her website at here.