Tribal member Aly McKnight illustrates new book 'The Sacred Stone Camp'
Aly McKnight holds the book she illustrated. (Submitted photo)
By LORI ANN EDMO
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — Aly McKnight, Shoshone-Bannock, did the illustrations for “The Sacred Stone Camp” book that Rae Rose wrote and was published by Dial Books and Penguin Random House.
The storybook talks about how the Sacred Stone Camp got its name and is a tribute to the late activist and historian LaDonna BraveBull Allard, tribal historian for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and founder of the Sacred Stone Camp.
Aly explained the story highlights LaDonna and her husband, Miles, as they organize the camp and rally Indigenous resistance against the pipeline. The camp, set up along the Cannonball River in North Dakota and named for large stones created by the confluence of two rivers in the area, signified the start of a resistance movement against Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access Pipeline by opponents of the project, also known as water protectors, in the area, and later from around the world.
She said the watercolor illustrations for The Sacred Stone Camp were created using rich and luminescent watercolors to depict the journey and the emotional depth of the story. “I loved combining the organic, unpredictable watercolor textures with bold graphite to create realistic, powerful, narrative-driven scenes that blend the historical elements with the emotional core of the book.”
Aly said the illustrations are both realistic and emotionally rich, conveying the deep feelings of the characters and the story's themes of love, bravery, fear, and vulnerability.
“With each page of the story I worked to intentionally embrace the organic, sometimes unpredictable nature of watercolor to create a powerful and flowing visual experience that feels both natural and dynamic. This technique is a favorite method that I use to engage the reader that dances them across the pages.”
She worked on illustrations that emphasize community and family. “The illustrations depict the strong bonds between family members, especially between an elder and a grandchild, and the sense of community action at the camp,” she continued. She also illustrated environmental impact — the art work doesn't shy away from showing the environmental destruction and toxic waste caused by the "Black Snakes," grounding the story in real-world issues.
She said, “It’s a story that is for everyone and I hope it speaks to people in the community and all around the world.””
McKnight also created the illustrations for “The Gift of the Great Buffalo” that was written by Carole Lindstrom (Caldecott winning author) that was released in February of this year.
She also just completed illustrations for another children’s picture book that scheduled to be released in 2026 called, “The Fire in your Belly” written by Rebecca Lafond. In addition, she’s in the midst of sketching the artwork for here next children’s book.
