Synopses & Reviews
An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative from a distinguished professor of science and a Native American whose previous book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as the younger brothers of creation.” As she explores these themes she circles toward a central argument: the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world. Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return.
Review
"Robin Wall Kimmerer is writer of rare grace. She writes about the natural world from a place of such abundant passion that one can never quite see the world the same way after having seen it through Kimmerer's eyes. In Braiding Sweetgrass, she takes us on a journey that is every bit as mystical as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise. She is a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world."
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed: A Love Story
Review
"Her book of wisdom, knowledge and teachings celebrates life that is both ordinary...and magical."
Minneapolis Star Tribune"It's rare to find a book that teaches you scientifically and also nurtures you philosophically." Hans Weyandt, Micawber Books, St. Paul, Minnesota
"A beautiful important work." Jack Hannert, Brilliant Books, Traverse City, Michigan
"Robin Wall Kimmerer is writer of rare grace." Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things
"An extraordinary book." Jane Goodall
"A great writing and beautiful work."Oren Lyons, Onodaga Nation Faithkeeper
"Beautifully written
. Anyone who enjoys reading about natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love this book." Library Journal
"A mesmerizing storyteller.” Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
With incredible grace and inspiring attention to the natural world, Robin Wall Kimmerer takes readers on a a field trip through ancient forests and backyard ponds, sacred sites and urban wastelands. Plants become powerful metaphors for healing our relationship with the natural world, and guides in the process of becoming indigenous to place ourselves. Through a unique combination of science, Native American teachings, and memoir, she shows us in the most subtle of ways how plants are our indigenous teachers, ultimately revealing a path toward healing the rift that grows between people and nature. As a leading researcher in the field of biology, Robin Wall Kimmerer understands the delicate state of our world. But as an active member of the Potawatomi nation, she senses and relates to the world through a way of knowing far older than any science. In
Braiding Sweetgrass, she intertwines these two modes of awareness--the analytic and the emotional, the scientific and the cultural. Her writing crosses boundaries between indigenous and dominant culture, between science and literature, between matter and spirit, bringing readers back into conversation with all that is green and growing--a universe that never stopped speaking to us, even if we neglected to listen.
About the Author
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, a scientist, a decorated professor, and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her first book,
Gathering Moss was awarded the 2005 John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. Her writings have appeared in
Orion,
Whole Terrain, and
Stone Canoe amongst many others. She lives in Fabius, NY where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and where she is also the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.
Table of Contents
Preface
Planting Sweetgrass
Skywoman Falling
The Pecan Grove
An Offering
The Gift of Strawberries
Asters and Goldenrod
Learning the Grammar of Animacy
Tending Sweetgrass
Maple Sugar Moon
Witch Hazel
The Water Net
The Condolence of Water Lilies
Allegiance to Gratitude
Picking Sweetgrass
Epiphany in the Beans
The Three Sisters
Wisgaak Gokpenagen: A Black Ash basket
Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass
Maple Nation: A Citizenship Guide
The Honorable Harvest
Braiding Sweetgrass
In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place
The Sound of Silverbells
Sitting in a Circle
Burning Cascade Head
Putting Down Roots
Umbilicaria: The bellybutton of the World
Old Growth Children
Witness to the Rain
Burning Sweetgrass
Windigo Footprints
The Sacred and the Superfund
Collateral Damage
People of Corn, People of Light
Shkitagen: People of the Seventh Fire
Defeating Windigo
Epilogue: Returning the Gift