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. After connection and reflection, we can move our friends into the correct posture of how we can take action to make a difference and bring awareness to problems that are present.We Are Water Protectors, written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade, is a new picture book you need to look out for. This can tie in empathy and reflection as to how i t would make us feel if our own home had the same affects as the people we read about in this book. As children continue to learn about how the world is being changed and affected, this book can provide a great connection of how they can build their understanding on environmental changes that can be helped and prevented by us! A wonderful exercise that I would like to include in my classroom is to research and explore about more information on how pollution and man-made influences can negatively impact our own home, as well as others. This Book paints a great picture of the one of the critical issues that our world is always facing of environmental change.

We are water protectors author