Amy Bowers Cordalis, "The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life" (Little Brown, 2024)

Dec 23, 2025

Amy Bowers Cordalis, a Yurok attorney and author, shares her family's 170-year fight to save the Klamath River, crucial to their identity. She discusses the devastating 2002 fish kill that motivated her advocacy, including landmark legal battles and the successful removal of four dams, revitalizing salmon populations. Bowers Cordalis emphasizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge in restoring ecosystems and recounts her family's resilience during the Salmon Wars, highlighting the ongoing struggle for rights and justice in the face of governmental challenges.

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INSIGHT

Reciprocity As Environmental Framework

The Yurok worldview centers on living in balance with the natural world through reciprocal stewardship.
Amy Bowers Cordalis argues that this Indigenous framework enabled practical restoration strategies for the Klamath River.

INSIGHT

Salmon Defined A People’s Economy

The Klamath River historically produced massive salmon runs and shaped Yurok lifeways for generations.
Amy uses that historical abundance to show why restoring salmon habitat is central to cultural survival.

ANECDOTE

The 2002 Fish Kill That Sparked Action

In 2002 Amy counted salmon as a fisheries intern and witnessed over 70,000 adult salmon die on the Klamath River.
That fish kill propelled her to dedicate her career to protecting and restoring the river.

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For the members of a Northern California tribe, 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 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, Bowers 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 Bowers Cordalis forward.

When the source of the fish kill is revealed, Bowers 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: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life (Little, Brown and Company, 2025) 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.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

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