we are water protectors by carole lindstrom

The protests expanded, attracting indigenous people, not just from North America, but around the world, including Sami from Lapland. Carole Lindstrom reads ‘We Are Water Protectors’ at the Wood County District Public Library.

The protest started with one woman sitting in the path of the construction to protect the graves of her family. Then it was rerouted through land occupied by the Sioux and under Lake Oahe, which is sacred to native people.

The pipeline was originally supposed to run from North Dakota, through an area just north of Bismarck, North Dakota, a region predominantly populated by White residents. Not enough attention was being paid to the conflict, she told an audience at the Wood County District Public Library Saturday morning. A citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe who grew up in Nebraska, the writer, now living in Maryland, was hearing reports of the increasing tensions between indigenous people at the Standing Rock Reservation and the crews cutting though the land to construct the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline. The art incorporates details of Ojibwe culture while also representing “a diverse group of Indigenous Nations and allies.Carole Lindstrom was concerned in fall 2016 about the news coming back from the region where she was raised. The gorgeous illustrations in overall vibrant hues convey the disruption and menace of the snakelike pipeline as it traverses some pages. In their notes, the author and illustrator tell more about Indigenous views, the Standing Rock Water Protectors, and their belief in the importance of this environmental activism to all. We are still here.” A book by an Ojibwe/Métis author and Tlingit artist was inspired by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. “We stand / With our songs / and our drums. They fight for the water, for the earth and its creatures, to defend all those who cannot fight. The arrival of a black snake whose venom is threatening to poison the water leads the girl and her people to take action, standing together against the snake. Runs through my people’s veins.” Water, Nokomis tells her, has a spirit of its own, and also connects the present generation to the ancestors and the past. We come from water … The river’s rhythm runs through my veins. “Water is the first medicine, Nokomis told me. Illustrated by Michaela GoodeĪ young girl describes how water is viewed among her people.

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom.

We are water protectors by carole lindstrom