By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
A Sitka artist who illustrated a children’s book has become the first Indigenous person ever to receive the Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association.
Local Tlingit artist Michaela Goade won the award for her illustrations in “We are Water Protectors,” a 2020 book that depicts the struggle to prevent the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and maintain access to clean water.
Goade told the Sentinel Monday that the award was a win for Indigenous representation.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” she said. “I’m incredibly honored by the award – the recognition is really affirming and rewarding, and, that being said, I think it’s really important to recognize that there is a glass ceiling being broken… Representation is so important. Look to the future, this is for the kids. I just try to remember that there are little kids that see this.”
Michaela Goade. (Photo from michaelagoade.com)
In recent years, she added, the publishing industry has taken great strides toward inclusivity.
“I feel really fortunate to be newer to this industry right now… There is a greater emphasis on diversity, the need and importance of that,” she said.
When she was working on the illustrations for the book, such a high accolade seemed out of reach.
“I’m still in shock a bit. It’s mind-boggling in a way; even just a year ago when we were prepping for the release of the book this is just some far-fetched dream that never seemed to be in reach,” Goade said.
Awarded since 1937, the Randolph Caldecott Medal honors “the most distinguished American picture book for children,” the ALA says. The award focuses on illustrations, and has never before gone to an Indigenous artist.
Goade learned that she had broken this particular glass ceiling via Zoom conference on Sunday, though the public announcement was withheld until Monday.
“I was like a deer in the headlights,” she said.
The book also was a finalist for a 2020 Kirkus Prize. With the benefit of hindsight, Goade noted that when the book released in March 2020 as coronavirus lockdowns enveloped the country, she was uncertain how much attention the book would receive.
This cover image released by Roaring Brook Press shows “We Are Water Protectors,” written by Carol Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. Goade became the first Native American to win the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal for best children’s picture story. (Roaring Brook Press via AP)
In a write-up for National Public Radio, author Cynthia Leitich Smith gave the book high marks.
“It’s not only one of the all-time best Native children’s books, but it’s one of the most beautiful and important picture books ever published – period,” Smith wrote. The book also won praise from the Washington Post and Booklist.
Acclaim for her work in “We are Water Protectors” is not Goade’s first time in the national spotlight. Back in December, she composed artwork for google.com in honor of Elizabeth Peratravich, a Tlingit leader who was instrumental in the passage of anti-discrimination legislation in Alaska in 1945.
With vibrant watercolor images that evoke a sense of fluidity and offer sharp contrast between the Water Protectors, depicted in bright colors, and the pipeline, shown as a black snake poisoning the land and water, Goade’s artwork carries the story.
The message of Indigenous peoples’ rights and environmental conservation found a universal audience.
“The message really resonated with a lot of people, Native and non-Native alike,” she said. “I knew it would be really well received within certain communities, I just had no idea it would reach so far. There is always a risk with subject matter like this that it could be a little politicized.”
She noted that at the protests against the construction of the pipeline on the Standing Rock Reservation in South and North Dakota, the diverse group of protesters highlighted the universal nature of the message.
“It was Standing Rock that brought so many people together from around the world… There is such diversity within that huge community there. So at the core right there it tells you that there is something universal,” Goade said.
The protests peaked in 2016 and 2017, though efforts to fight the pipeline continue today. The protests were peaceful except for the actions of a militarized police force and private contractors that employed attack dogs, tear gas, rubber bullets, fire hoses and more to assail the demonstrators.
“Local law enforcement agencies, led by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, aggressively deployed militarized gear and weapons – designed for use in war – to intimidate peaceful protesters and violently crack down on a historic, Indigenous-led movement,” stated an American Civil Liberties Union report penned by Jamil Dakwar in 2017.
But rather than focus on the brutality of the response to the protests, Goade emphasized the role of the water protectors themselves.
“I wanted to bring it back to the water protectors and land defenders and environmental justice issues around the world. We have a lot within our own community here in Sitka, those who are doing the hard work. Activism takes a lot of shapes, for me it is often art,” Goade said.
Carole Lindstrom, who is Ojibwe, composed the written text of the book and mirrored Goade’s art by telling the story in a lyrical manner that creates a sense of magical realism.
Goade said that her favorite written line in the book is “We fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.”
For her, this summed up much of the message.
“Just with the overall focus with the natural world, whether it’s books or my personal work, just showing our connections to the natural world to each other, to animal and plant life. It’s at the core of what I like to do. I think I wanted everything to sing with life, whether it’s the water or the animals or plants. I wanted the water to be a main character itself. It changes shape and form, it changes color. Like the ocean it’s never static,” Goade said.
Using the freedom given to her by the watercolor medium, she created a sense of motion on the pages.
“My premier medium was already watercolor before this book, but it’s a no-brainer for a book about water so it was fun to really experiment and let watercolors do their own things. That’s one of the fun things about water colors,” Goade said. “I love the magical with a little bit of creepy, like Tim Burton.”
Following a difficult year, Goade said, her work seems more relevant than ever.
“As a country, as a world we had such a time of coping last year. And there was a lot of talk about the environment and a lot of other important things,” she said. “In a way that unprecedented year, I think it made more people maybe pick up the book.”
On a personal note, Goade added that the award reaffirms that her art is headed in the right direction.
“It feels a little bit more personal in that it tells me a little bit that I’m on the right track… It just affirms your artwork, your creative output, it’s a good feeling,” she said.
Her next published work will be in “I Sang You Down From the Stars,” written by Cree-Trinidadian poet Tasha Spillet. That book is set to release in April.
Goade also has begun work on a Southeast Alaska-themed book, though she has not yet settled on a title. “We are Water Protectors” is on the shelves at Sitka Public Library.
Speaking to younger artists hoping to move into professional work, Goade recommended starting with local opportunities.
“It can be really helpful to look for local opportunities. One of the harder, more debilitating things is to look at the top and say, ‘I want to get there, how do I get there?’ It seems impossible and daunting but it can be broken down into small opportunities,” Goade said.
In a Tweet written on Monday, Goade thanked the water protectors.
“And to water protectors everywhere, at Standing Rock and beyond, aatlein gunalchéesh,” she wrote. “Water is life!”
