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

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.