The Water Remembers
My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life
Contributors
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- Oct 28, 2025
- Page Count
- 288 pages
- Publisher
- Little, Brown and Company
- ISBN-13
- 9780316568951
Price
$30.00Price
$40.00 CADFormat
Format:
- Hardcover $30.00 $40.00 CAD
- ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $27.99
Buy from Other Retailers:
For the members of the Yurok Tribe in California, the Klamath River and its salmon are the lifeblood of the people—a vital source of food, income, and cultural identity. When a catastrophic fish kill devastates the river, Amy Bowers Cordalis, a Yurok Tribal member, is propelled into action, reigniting her family’s 170-year battle against the U.S. government.
In a moving and engrossing blend of memoir and history, Cordalis propels readers through generations of her family’s struggle, where she learns that the fight for survival is not only about fishing—it’s about protecting a way of life and the right of a species and river to exist. Her great-uncle’s landmark Supreme Court case reaffirming her Nation’s rights to land, water, fish, and sovereignty, her great-grandmother’s defiant resistance during the Salmon Wars, and her family’s ongoing battles against government overreach shape the deep commitment to justice that drives Cordalis forward.
When the source of the fish kill is revealed, Cordalis steps up as General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe to hold powerful corporate interests accountable, and to spearhead the largest river restoration project in history. The Water Remembers is a testament to the enduring power of Indigenous knowledge, family legacy, and the determination to ensure that future generations remember what it means to live in balance with the earth.
-
“A Civil Action meets Braiding Sweetgrass, a story of Indigenous survival and triumph from an Indigenous perspective.”Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring
-
“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
-
"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
-
"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
-
"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
-
"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
-
“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)
You May Also Like
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
