• 1996

    Scholar in Residence. Greg Sarris Week. Santa Rosa Junior College.

  • 1996

    Required reading for all English 1A courses.

  • 1996

    Work of Literary Merit. Grand Avenue. Santa Rosa Junior College English Department.

  • 1996

    Humanitarian Award. Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce.

  • 1996

    Best Picture. Grand Avenue. Native American Film Exposition.

  • 1996

    Best Screenplay. Grand Avenue. Native American Film Exposition.

  • 1996

    Best Picture. Grand Avenue. American Indian Film Festival.

  • 1996

    Best Story. Grand Avenue. American Indian Film Festival.

  • 1996

    Writer in Residence. PEN Programs.

  • 1997

    Best Screenplay. Outstanding Achievement in Writing. Grand Avenue. First Americans in the Arts.

  • 1997

    Best Picture. Grand Avenue. First Americans in the Arts.

  • 1997

    Producer's Award. Grand Avenue. First Americans in the Arts.

  • 1997

    Emmy Nomination. Grand Avenue. Best Casting.

  • 1997

    Cable-Ace Nomination. Grand Avenue. Best Editing.

  • 1997

    California Independent Booksellers Award. Best Read. Fiction. Grand Avenue.

  • 1997

    Distinguished Alumnus Award. Santa Rosa Junior College.

  • 1997

    Greg Sarris Scholarship Fund (for Native American Students). Santa Rosa Junior College.

  • 1997

    Writer in Residence. Dallas College.

  • 1997

    Writer in Residence. Humboldt State University.

  • 1997

    Adlai Stevenson Scholar in Residence. Stevenson College. UC Santa Cruz.

  • July 1998

    Best Picture. Grand Avenue. London Native American Film Festival.

  • July 1998

    Best Screenplay Nomination. Grand Avenue. London Native American Film Festival.

  • September 26, 1998

    Award for Outstanding Service from California Indian Legal Services.

  • October 2000

    California Indian Writer of the Year from the 15th Annual California Indian Conference.

  • 2001

    Bay Area Theatre Critics Award for Best Script. Mission Indians.

  • 2003

    Hugo Award for Best Documentary. American Passages.

  • December 2012

    "Working Class Hero Award", North Bay Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

  • September 2013

    "I Made a Difference Award", Sunday Best, Gray Foundation. Santa Rosa, California.

  • March 2018

    Western Business Alliance LGBT Economic Summit, Honoring 2017 Fire Relief Efforts. San Francisco, California.

  • March 2018

    North Bay Business Journal 2018 Community Philanthropy Awards. Santa Rosa, California.

  • June 2018

    Certificate of Recognition for Sonoma County Conservation Action Dick Day Community Activist Award.

  • April 2019

    Independent Publisher Book Bronze Award for How a Mountain Was Made.

  • October 2020

    Heyday Lifetime Achievement Award.

  • May 2021

    North Bay Business Journal's Pride Business Leadership Award.

  • August 2022

    Sonoma State University Distinguished Chair Emeritus Award.

  • April 2023

    San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Visionary Award.

  • September 2023

    University of Utah Award in the Environmental Humanities.

  • February 2024

    Sonoma County Democratic Party Trowbridge Lifetime Achievement Award.

  • May 2024

    Asian American Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Heritage Month Honoree.

  • June 2024

    Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Sonoma State University.

  • 2024

    Arts & Humanities Dean's Teaching Award. Sonoma State University.

  • 2024

    Induction to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

  • 2024

    EqualityCA Community Leadership Award.

  • October 2024

    Los Angeles Equality Awards, Community Leadership Award. Los Angeles.

  • November 2024

    AFP National Philanthropy Day Outstanding Grantmaker Award.

  • April 2026

    Fred W. Schuster and Margaret C. Schuster Distinguished Visiting Lectureship in Literature. Carleton College.