Overview

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 one oversight led to increased water temperatures and toxic algae pollution, which killed hundreds of thousands of salmon while negatively impacting the ecosystem. It also destroyed the fishing, hunting, and gathering lifestyle of the Yurok Tribe-the largest in Northern California-preventing them from making a dignified living. A perfect 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 naive 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. She also 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 the arrival of federal Marshalls to enforce. The Water Remembers involves genocide, assimilation, and oppression, but victory, in protecting one's home, environment, and way of life.

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9780316568951

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Reviews

""Amy Bowers Cordalis story tells us how Yurok values are lived. The Water Remembers details how and why she assumed her responsibility to protect our homelands and all that we value. Her story can guide us all to meet our shared responsibilities to the world we have been gifted.""--Judge Abby Abinanti, Yurok Tribal Court Judge (and first Indigenous woman licensed to practice law in California) ""Water is family and activism is generational in Amy Bowers Cordalis's moving account of the Yurok Nation's long battle to save the Klamath River and enable unprecedented environmental restoration. Her own role in that story is bravely fought and beautifully told in The Water Remembers, which is a summons for more courage, connection, and community to save the places we hold dear."" --Tara Lohan, environmental journalist and author of Undammed ""Like Amy Bowers, I grew up learning the stories and values that have sustained my community for generations. In the high desert of New Mexico, we know water is precious, but nationwide, the exploitation of lands and waters and sidelining Indigenous Knowledge throughout history have dealt a heavy blow to the resources that sustain us. Our future requires a drastic shift to the generational world view like the one Amy Bowers presents in The Water Remembers. Her personal story intertwines with the river, the salmon, history, and the present moment in a beautiful narrative that invites us all into the mission of protecting our waters and lands.""--Deb Haaland, Former United States Secretary of the Interior ""A Civil Action meets Braiding Sweetgrass, a story of Indigenous survival and triumph from an Indigenous perspective.""--Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring ""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 ""A powerful interweaving of memory, history, and activism, The Water Remembers is a lyrical and uncompromising account of Amy Bowers Cordalis's fight to protect the Klamath River and the sovereignty of the Yurok Nation. Told through a Yurok storytelling lens, this book traverses ancestral knowledge, ecological devastation, and legal resistance, revealing the sacred bond between people and river. Bowers Cordalis, an attorney and lifelong fisherwoman, writes with the clarity of lived experience and the heart of a riverkeeper. This is a vital work of Indigenous resurgence and environmental justice, brimming with spirit, truth, and unstoppable resolve.""--Terese Marie Mailhot, author of Heart Berries ""Amy's writing sings with urgency and purpose.""--Josh ""Bones"" Murphy, Filmmaker/Director of Patagonia's Artifishal ""In this moving memoir, Amy Bowers Cordalis shows what happens when ancestral memory joins forces with the law. The fight for the Klamath River is an important fight for tribal and environmental justice in the American West.""--David Owen, author of Where the Water Goes ""Triumphant story and ever widens the awareness of the dangers that threaten Indigenous people and their historic lands.""--Congressman Jared Huffman

""A Civil Action meets Braiding Sweetgrass, a story of Indigenous survival and triumph from an Indigenous perspective.""--Ash Davidson, DAMNATION SPRING (National Bestseller) ""Amy's writing sings with urgency and purpose.""--Josh ""Bones"" Murphy, Filmmaker/Director of Patagonia's ARTIFISHAL ""Triumphant story and ever widens the awareness of the dangers that threaten Indigenous people and their historic lands.""--Congressman Jared Huffman

Author Information

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.

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