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My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life
by Amy Bowers Cordalis
The Yurok Tribe and an Indigenous family share a moving multigenerational story of their fight to undam the Klamath river—the largest river restoration project in history—and save the planet.
The Water Remembers is the story of Indigenous resistance and an American family's fight to preserve its legacy. For more than half a century, between 1905 and 1962, the Federal government constructed one of the largest reclamation projects in the country at the headwaters of the Klamath River, comprised of four dams. They did not include salmon ladders and this denied fish access to hundreds of miles of historical habitat. This oversight and other decisions not to release water for the endangered species of fish and Tribal water rights led to increased water temperatures and toxic algae pollution, which killed hundreds of thousands of salmon. This ecocide destroyed the fishing, hunting, and gathering lifestyle of the Yurok Tribe—the largest in Northern California—preventing them from making a dignified living.
A blend of memoir and history, The Water Remembers speaks passionately to environmental justice and conservation, as well as responsible stewardship. Engrossing, Amy Bowers Cordalis recounts her twenty-year fight against the United States government, chronicling how she evolved from a naïve Westernized 22-year-old to an advocate for her people. As General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe, she ensured the removal of the dams in December 2024.
This is a story that should be in American history books. Cordalis shares her family's generational fight for Indigenous respect that resulted in federal recognition of their cultural and ceremonial water rights. Her great uncle sued the State of California for the Yurok people to retain fishing rights and jurisdiction to regulate its own fishery. A case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court and involved the federal government putting a moratorium on all Yurok fishing, and physical enforcement from federal marshals.
The Water Remembers involves genocide, assimilation, and oppression, but victory, in protecting one's home, environment, and way of life.
"Her tribe's resistance is rendered here in potent prose. Bowers Cordalis moves fluidly between her own story, personal accounts of her family and tribe, and the mighty river itself. A moving and empowering account of an Indigenous tribe's tenacity in the face of injustice." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A remarkable story... Bowers Cordalis eloquently describes her people's deep connection to the river." ―LA Times
"The Water Remembers is a powerful, poetic testament to Indigenous resilience and reverence for the natural world. Amy Bowers Cordalis weaves history, activism, and sacred connection into a compelling narrative of communities fighting to protect what is most vital. This book is not just a call to action; it's a song of survival and restoration." ―Leah Thomas, environmental educator and author of The Intersectional Environmentalist
"A brightly written, driving narrative of tribal voices and many other people... this important book is a joyous and uplifting story." ―Charles Wilkinson, author of Blood Struggle
This information about The Water Remembers was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Amy Bowers Cordalis is a mother, fisherwoman, attorney, and a member and former General Counsel of the Yurok Tribe—the largest tribe in California. Formerly a staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, she is the currently the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Ridges to Riffles Conservation Indigenous Group, a nonprofit representing Native American tribes in natural and cultural resource matters where she works on advancing tribal sovereignty, water rights, fisheries, and the undamming of the Klamath River. She is also the recipient of the UN's highest environmental honor, Champion of the World Laureate and has been named to the second annual TIME100 Climate list (2024), featuring the 100 most influential leaders driving business to real climate action.
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