This piece is part of a series called Downeast, which chronicles my initial experiences sailing in Downeast Maine. When I first arrived in Maine in 1996 seeking reclamation, I was a single mother embarking on a new chapter as an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer with the Maine Coalition for Food Security. In that role, I gained valuable insight into how economic insecurity impacted families and rural communities throughout the state.
During my service, I learned about the troubling contamination of the Penobscot River with carcinogens, a legacy of paper mills and shoe factories along its banks. I listened to stories from locals whose lives were forever changed by these pollutants. The river, once a vital source of food, had become a symbol of loss. People who had depended on its waters for sustenance began falling ill with cancer, and these narratives left a profound impression on me, shaping my understanding of poverty and deeply affecting my soul.
Several years later, I had the opportunity to sail Downeast and experience the grandeur of Penobscot Bay firsthand. As I traveled along the bay, I reached the confluence where Penobscot Bay meets the Penobscot River. Experiencing this convergence of saltwater and freshwater—these life-giving waters—for the first time, I was filled with awe and a giddy sense of fascination. Witnessing my first estuary marked a significant turning point and informed my approach to my work: Water, Life, Flow.
The Water Guardians: Art, Ancestry, and Advocacy The Water Guardians project developed organically over several years. It began with simply collecting treasures found while anchored along the shoreline—pieces of driftwood, shells, and other remnants left by the tide. Each item, carrying its own story, was gathered and eventually transformed into pieces of art. Assembling these objects became more than an artistic endeavor; it evolved into a meaningful process of healing and integration.
As each fragment found its place, a deeper story began to emerge, one that felt guided from within my soul. During this work, I experienced vivid moments where I could almost hear the prayers of grandmothers—both Maine settlers and indigenous—mourning the loss of the Penobscot River’s vital life force. Their prayers, filled with hope and sorrow, called for the protection of their families, neighbors, and loved ones who were suffering from illnesses caused by the river’s pollution. These stories resonated deeply with me, echoing the accounts I encountered when I met and interviewed the Chocoe people in August 2006 alongside Penobscot Representative Donna Lorring, while coordinating the University of Southern Maine Multicultural Center and directing Culture Beat Live
Radio (later called the Mama Afrika Show) on WMPG Community Radio. The Chocoe, who built and sailed their 92-foot wooden ketch, Pajaro Jai, from the jungles of Panama to the Americas, connected with other indigenous communities, sharing wisdom and seeking advice on protecting their homelands and sustainable ways of life from industrial logging companies that threatened their natural resources and polluted their waters.
The Water Guardians also includes the prayers of The Water Protectors at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests—individuals united in their resolve to defend sacred waters that preserve the health and heritage of their neighbors and communities.
The Water Guardians is a unified memoir—an ode that elevates the prayers of all grandmothers as defenders of water. This piece stands as a silent yet powerful act of observation and collective vigilance. It serves as a reminder that we are all interconnected and that every individual matters as part of a greater whole. Ultimately, it teaches us how to be good ancestors.
About the Artist
Keita Annie Whitten is an interdisciplinary artist, Somatic Liberation Dance DJ, and Sacred Spaces Designer whose creative journey is deeply rooted in a process she calls Soul Mapping. This approach is characterized by a profoundly felt, experiential knowing that shapes her artistic practice on a visceral level. Through her art, Keita honors the transformative capacities of beauty, ritual, sacred space, and embodiment, striving to create works that reflect and celebrate the intricate complexity of life.
Central to Keita’s practice is the integration of the wisdom of womainism and somatic abolitionism. These guiding principles empower her to embrace every aspect of existence, ensuring that her work honors the embodied experience in all its forms. In doing so, she invites others to engage authentically with her art, offering it as a means for healing, liberation, and transformation.
For those interested in experiencing her creative expressions firsthand, Keita performs live creative adaptations as DJ Lady Soulshine at Sacred Rebels at the Ballroom in Harrison on Fridays, where she spins sacred flows and cultivates immersive, transformative environments.