Land Acknowledgement: Surviving Displacement through Reclamation of Querencia in Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Short Stories “Sugar Babies” and “Ghost Sickness” published in her collection Sabrina & Corina (2019)

Abstract

Abstract:Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s writing affirms her Land Acknowledgement because she honors her querencia, place of origin, and elders. Her collection of short stories Sabrina & Corina (2019) gives voice to Chicana-Amerindian women and girls whose lives are affected by displacement, cyclical poverty, and the challenge to reclaim traditional knowledges. Fajardo-Anstine confronts her people’s trauma through writing strong female characters who inspire others and create a path for seven generations to come. Specifically in her inaugural story “Sugar Babies,” it is the younger generation who reconnects with their multicultural heritages where their parents’ generation suffers the susto of displacement. Whereas “Ghost Sickness,” the closing story of the collection, addresses the consequences of displacement but chooses to lift up life rather than fall into the abyss caused by multigenerational trauma.The analysis herein considers place-based querencia as a means to reclaim what was lost due to trauma caused by displacement. I use querencia as defined in the anthology Querencia: Reflections on the New Mexico Homeland (2020), as well as Raúl Homero Villa’s Barrio-Logos: Space and Place in Urban Chicano Literature and Culture on the effects of displacement, and Priscilla Solis Ybarra’s Writing the Good Life: Mexican American Literature and the Environment (2016), which explains the importance of Chicana-Amerindian writing as a means of emphasizing multicultural heritages and connection to the land. Hence, Fajardo-Anstine’s work embodies the intent of stressing Land Acknowledgement as a means to honor traditional teachings, one’s elders, and origin.