NEW YORK (AP) - Illustrator Michaela Goade became the first Native American to win the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal for best children’s picture story, honored for “We Are Water Protectors.”
Goade is a member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian tribes in Southeast Alaska. “We Are Water Protectors,” written by Carole Lindstrom, is a celebration of nature and a call for environmental protection that was conceived in response to the planned construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline through Standing Rock Sioux territory.
“I am really honored and proud,” the 30-year-old Goade told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I think it’s really important for young people and aspiring book makers and other creative people to see this,” she said.
“I love how it balanced lyricism and poetry with a powerful message,” said Goade, who used everything from watercolors to gouache paint as she conjured moods ranging from the water’s sensual blue waves to the harsh black of the snake-like pipeline and the burning red of the snake’s tongue.
Goade was sent a copy of the manuscript through her agent in 2018 and responded immediately to its political message and lesson of water as a universal force. The book was published last March.
The awards were announced Jan. 25 by the American Library Association. The Caldecott medal was established in 1937.
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