Robin Wall Kimmerer

"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--to ultimately reveal a path toward healing the rift that grows between people and nature. The woven essays that construct this book bring people back into conversation with all that is green and growing; a universe that never stopped speaking to us, even when we forgot how to listen"--

Braiding Sweetgrass

Explains how developing a wider ecological consciousness can foster an increased understanding of both nature's generosity and the reciprocal relationship humans have with the natural world.

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

fvrests

It is not just changes in policies that we need, but also changes to the heart. Scarcity and plenty are as much qualities of the mind and spirit as they are of the economy. Gratitude plants the seed for abundance.

The stories are piling up all around in scraps of land being restored: trout streams reclaimed from siltation, brownfields turned into community gardens, prairies reclaimed from soybeans, wolves howling in their old territories, schoolkids helping salamanders across the road. If your heart isn't raised by the sight of whooping cranes restored to their ancient fly-way, you must not have a pulse. It's true that these victories are as small and fragile as origami cranes, but their power moves as inspiration. Your hands itch to pull out invasive species and replant the native flowers. Your finger trembles with a wish to detonate the explosion of an obsolete dam that would restore a salmon run. These are antidotes to the poison of despair.

When times are easy and there's plenty to go around, individual species can go it alone. But when conditions are harsh and life is tenuous, it takes a team sworn to reciprocity to keep life going forward. In a world of scarcity, interconnection and mutual aid become critical for survival. So say the lichens.

Karolina

Something is broken when the food comes on a Styrofoam tray wrapped in slippery plastic, a carcass of a being whose only chance at life was a cramped cage. That is not a gift of life; it is a theft.

In the settler mind, land was property, real estate, capital, or natural resources. But to our people, it was everything: identity, the connection to our ancestors, the home of our nonhuman kinfolk, our pharmacy, our library, the source of all that sustained us. Our lands were where our responsibility to the world was enacted, sacred ground. It belonged to itself; it was a gift, not a commodity, so it could never be bought or sold.

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on "a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise" (Elizabeth Gilbert). Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings-asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass-offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices.

Wei-Meng Lee

Ceremony focuses attention so that attention becomes intention. If you stand together and profess a thing before your community, it holds you accountable. Ceremonies transcend the boundaries of the individual and resonate beyond the human realm. These acts of reverence are powerfully pragmatic. These are ceremonies that magnify life.

This is our work: to discover what we can give. Isn't this the purpose of education, to learn the nature of your own gifts and how to use them for good in the world.

Being naturalized to place means to live as if this is the land that feeds you, as if these are the streams from which you drink, that build your body and fill your spirit. To become naturalized is to know that your ancestors lie in this ground. Here you will give your gifts and meet your responsibilities. To become naturalized is to live as if your children's future matters, to take care of the land as if our lives and the lives of all our relatives depend on it. Because they do.

'A hymn of love to the world ... A journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise' Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two ways of knowledge together. Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings - asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass - offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Emily Morris

We are no more than the buffalo and no less, governed by the same natural laws.

We set ourselves up as arbiters of what is good when often our standards of goodness are driven by narrow interests, by what we want.

Noreen Farsai

In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top-the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of Creation-and the plants at the bottom. But in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as the younger brothers of Creation." We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn-we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is appar- ent in the way that they live. They teach us by example. They've been on the carth far longer than we have been, and have had time to figure things out. They live both above and below ground, joining Skyworld to the earth. Plants know how to make food and medicine from light and water, and then give it away.

Jamie Neely

Bo Jeanes

Highly recommend the audiobook route for this one. Her writing is beautiful, the content is impactful and important, and her spoken word communicates and underscores that all the more.

momo-reads

Sweetly told stories but at a pace that made it hard to stay engaged. Took nearly a year to finish.

The best book I read on plant life, Native American ways, ecology, and motherhood

Such an important reading for our times. To rediscover the gifts of the earth with an indigenous point of view. Speaks directly to the heart and the spirit. In reciprocity.

Zack

Braiding Sweetgrass reads more like a novel than non-fiction. It carries a critical message describing the relationship with non-human life, but at some points, too it ends up being too repetitive.

Keven Wang

Ivy X

Really enjoyed this.
So many parts touched my soul…but it did get a bit cheesy and repetitive at the end.

conjuction of spirit and matter viewed through the lens of stories. 

didn't think i needed this one as much as i did.

Klára Kováčiková 

conjuction of spirit and matter viewed through the lens of stories. 

didn't think i needed this one as much as i did.

Simply amazing. Every naturalist/nature appreciator should read this book.

Brilliant & perfect in every way. Will continue to re read forever. 

Brianna Santina

Marisel 

If you can only read one book this year, let it be this one.

When reading books about climate change there seems to be a sense of impending doom from the very first page. While the coming destruction of earth is a cause for fear of discomfort these feelings are also accompanied by a residual defeatism. The earth is going to die and there's nothing we can do about it. That’s why Braiding Sweetgrass is such a breath of fresh air. It looks to the future of earth with optimism. This book evaluates the climate crisis and individuals' relationship with the earth through an indigenous perspective.

This book tells us how our relationship with the planet can be mutually beneficial and highlights the need to give as much as we take. Our relationship with earth and nature doesn’t have to be contentious. It can be beautiful, helpful, and educational. Not only is the book beautifully written but gives tangible solutions on how to help the earth and change our view of the climate crisis.

If you’re interested in reading and engaging with information on climate change without all of the doom and gloom this book is perfect for you. It is also a great primer on indigenous sustainability. 

Sydney Alston

When reading books about climate change there seems to be a sense of impending doom from the very first page. While the coming destruction of earth is a cause for fear of discomfort these feelings are also accompanied by a residual defeatism. The earth is going to die and there's nothing we can do about it. That’s why Braiding Sweetgrass is such a breath of fresh air. It looks to the future of earth with optimism. This book evaluates the climate crisis and individuals' relationship with the earth through an indigenous perspective.

 

This book tells us how our relationship with the planet can be mutually beneficial and highlights the need to give as much as we take. Our relationship with earth and nature doesn’t have to be contentious. It can be beautiful, helpful, and educational. Not only is the book beautifully written but gives tangible solutions on how to help the earth and change our view of the climate crisis.

If you’re interested in reading and engaging with information on climate change without all of the doom and gloom this book is perfect for you. It is also a great primer on indigenous sustainability. 

Stefanie  Uwah

This was a mixed bag for me. I really loved the first 10 chapters. If I were rate just off of those, this would be a 5 star read. But the stories and messages grew repetitive and I would lose focus when listening to the audiobook. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I read a chapter or two per week. But trying to finish this before it was due at the library was a struggle. Stretching out the stories would have made the book feel less repetitive.

Stephanie Ridiculous

Phenomenal. 

"If grief can be a doorway to love, then let us all weep for the world we are breaking apart so we can love it back to wholeness again."

Natalie Patino

Deeply educational and moving read that satisfied both the spiritual and scientific sides of my brain. I have learned so much from this book. “Biocultural restoration raises the bar for environmental quality of the reference ecosystem, so that as we care for the land, it can once again care for us. Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise. It is relationship that will endure and relationship that will sustain the restored land.”

Kyle S

3.5 out of 5 really. The book is a really well written book and Kimmerer has proven herself to not only be an exceptional writer and communicator and I've left the book feeling my responsibility as a human on this planet to not only make it better for people but for all of Earth's species. My only complaint with the book is that it needs to be shorter, like 200 pages shorter.

Kimmerer has proven herself to be a wonderful author, educator and environmentalist with this book but I just think she needs a better editor. Perhaps an abridged version of this book should be published? It certainly would help with getting her message out to the masses but can't dedicate their time to a 400ish page book.

Cindy Lieberman

Wow. This book, written by a professor of environmental and forest science, is a revelation. A masterful weaving of her Pottawatomi heritage with her academic work and her passion for nature. Native American lore, biology, and the people in her life are interwoven - braided like sweetgrass -into stories that range from occasionally horrific to hopeful. In addition to all the interesting things I learned, what stood out were these imperatives: we have so much to learn from those who came before us. From the plants and trees. From the algae and invertebrates. And that it may not be too late for humans to start listening and to start giving back to the planet. We must change from a take-take-take (it's mine-mine-mine) mindset to one in which we have a reciprocal relationship with the Earth. Highly recommended listening!

Sabrina B.

This book was transformational and I will definitely have to go through it again. Not just the content but the narration elevated the experience and I felt like I was listening to a relative tell me a story. This has been one of the more pinnacle works that have lead me to reframe my perspective around the living/natural world and my place in it and I am so grateful to have experience it's content!

Mark Stenberg 

Capucine Fachot

I highly recommend the Audible version read by the author, it was incredible to go along her storytelling with her voice, living out her stories and connection with Nature.

Hannah Von Niessen

This book was a suggestion from my loved one who has different reading interests than myself. Originally, I felt that I was going to be uninterested in the topic discussed throughout the book, plants, but was pleasantly surprised. This novel has taught me to re-evaluate my place in this world and the interconnected ways of our lives with that of the plant world. Robins story-telling is beyond what I imagined, with the rich history of her indigenous ancestors to support her profound knowledge in her chosen field of study. This book is a must read for anyone!! It will change the way that you value yourself in a world that is focused on the material, and reconsider the roots of who we are as human beings! 

Jackelyn

As someone who has always felt more connected to nature than other I knew I had to add this to my list, and it did not disappoint. Robin's ability to speak and teach indigenous beliefs and practice is eloquent and awe-inspiring. Be prepared to take months to read this as it's a treasure trove of knowledge and ideas. This book is a keep on your shelf to re-read and reference later kind of book.

Content Warnings: None but get ready to hear some harsh realities on capitalism and the hurt non-indigenous people's brought when we arrived in America. Enter this book with your eyes and heart wide open.

Caitlin

The wisdom and beautiful language of this book are incredible, and as someone who has little knowledge of Indigenous cultures, as well as little to no relationship with plants, I did find this uniquely interesting. The continuing theme of learning to live reciprocally and honoring nonhumans just as much as humans was beautiful and important. (I will say, though, that this point was made enough times and the page count could have been very slimmed down. At some points, I wondered about the flow of the book in that regard.)

Great read!

Ruby Huber

Spectacular!! Emotional, beautiful, spiritual, what can I say this was IT for me. I am grateful that can be the case though because I don’t know how accessible this book would be emotionally to someone without the privilege of proximity/frequent access to natural landscapes and parks etc. This in no way cured my environmental anxiety but it did give me many moments of joy and gratitude for the earth that sustains me even as it is being ATTACKED

Braiding Sweetgrass

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