We Are Water Protectors is narrated by a young, unnamed girl. Given the background of the book, Lindstrom has big shoes to fill, and she truly succeeds with her touching and beautiful work. “An oil spill would permanently contaminate the reservation’s water supply and that construction of the pipeline would destroy sacred sites where many of their ancestors are buried” (Medina, 2016). It is important to also remember these pipes are a twofold threat of the environment and the culture of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s homeland.

Lindstrom takes this popular quote, “we are water protectors”, to invite readers into an important project and movement taking place in the United States. Mapes’ article continues: “The fight isn’t only about one pipeline, but the larger battle for clean energy in a world in grave jeopardy because of emissions from fossil fuels that are heating the planet.” Sampson concludes, “How can anyone look into the eyes of grandchildren and say, we did nothing.” Although popularized protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline have passed, the fight to protect water and the legacy of the protests continue. Photo from Dakota Access Pipeline protests in October of 2016 (NBC.com) Sampson and his family fought with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe during the Standing Rock protest against the pipeline. Sampson is both the head of the climate change program from the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI), and a traditional chief of the Walla Walla Tribe of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (Seattle Times). Don Sampson says “we are water protectors” to tribes opposed to the movement protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The phrase “we are water protectors” may sound familiar. A popular blog, Book Riot, lists the book under “Ten Picture Books for the Budding Environmentalists”, and Lindstrom’s book is also featured on CBC, The New York Times, and Publisher’s Weekly. This book has not gone unnoticed by book bloggers. Lindstrom also published the children’s book Girls Dance, Boys Fiddle in 2013.

She identifies as Anishinaabe (also known as Nishnaabe or Anishinabe)/Metis and is tribally enrolled with the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe ().

The author, Carole Lindstrom, writes the books from passion and experience. It is a book full of vibrant, eye-catching images and powerful prose to match. We Are Water Protectors, written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade, is a new picture book you need to look out for.

We are water protectors author