We Are Water Protectors

    “We come from water.” We Are Water Protectors, author Carole Lindstrom, illustrator Michaela Goade, won the Caldecott Medal, which was the first time in 83 years that a Native American illustrator won the award. We Are Water Protectors was inspired by the many indigenous-led movements across North America, “it issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguarding the Earth’s water from harm and corruption”. 

    The colors used in the book alternated from cool colors, blues and greens that brought a more tranquil feeling, then to warm colors such as red, oranges, and yellows to give off a sense of urgency and danger. When a black snakes threatens to destroy the Earth and poison the water, the colors used were read, orange, and yellow. The words in this book were written complementary with the images, interdependent. The images advance the story of the snake threatening the water supply to connecting the legend to the present-day threat of oil pipelines being built on Native lands. The snake was drawn to look like pipelines killing the Earth.  The illustrations in We Are Water Protectors are very powerful, connecting the people, legend, animals, and the fight to protect our water. The last illustration, taking over two complete pages, show many people, allies, from different tribes, fighting and standing up to protect our sacred water supply.