Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

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In Braiding Sweetgrass, she takes 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. She has a strong voice (the audiobook is read by the author and very well done) and a story worth listening to. 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. I realize there is value in repetition, but the author used the word reciprocity at least 50 times as she told our responsibilities to nature over and over.

J. Clifton, a psychologist studying human response to catastrophe: “Suppression of our natural responses to disaster is part of the disease of our time. She takes us through the woods with a class, where she is not the all-knowing teacher, but rather the intermediary for the real teacher, the woods, the marsh, the earth. I really would've loved this book if it had just stopped 100 pages in, the points had already been beautifully made. And you may want to mark it up; I bought it a few pages into a library copy because the impulse was overwhelming. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance.

With deep compassion and graceful prose, botanist and professor of plant ecology Kimmerer (Gathering Moss) encourages readers to consider the ways that our lives and language weave through the natural world. At the beginning I was genuinely pleased with this book, it is poetic, it is beautifully written, it mixes science, and auto-biography, and botany and it was a pleasant read. I am so glad I bought this book, because though I seldom re-read I can see myself picking this book up and reading a chapter, pretty much any chapter, and reminding myself of all I have.

I’m all about synthesis, and there’s much work to do with connecting the gifts here with political economy, geopolitics and strategies for systemic change.

She accepts that the leeks are not thriving, puts them back, leaves with thanks, and the gift of replanting and care-giving.

My grandfather passed away and I wonder who has the knowledge of the herb that cured my mother's asthma.My favorite part was the chapter on linguistics and how the difference in seeing the world plays out in language. The descriptions of Native American myths and traditions as well as the beauty of nature are beautiful. Robin Wall Kimmerer presents a perhaps radical view to those of us living so single-mindedly in the modern world. The Written Review This is a gorgeous book all about nature and science - what more can a girl ask for? The author’s journey to relearn her Potawatomi heritage and synthesize it with her scientific/teaching career in plant ecology was the perfect format for a reader even more disconnected from the land and culture.

It has been a challenge balancing this deconstruction with the social imagination for healing and reconstruction. Olson Nature Writing Award for her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Here is someone who drives a car, presumably a lot, because she lives in a rural area, complaining about oil companies, chemical runoff, and road kill, preaching that we should realign our lifestyle with that of the indigenous Americans who gave and took with respect for the world around them. I give detailed breakdowns of nonfiction, but this is a book of stories for you to experience… I dream of a world guided by a lens of stories rooted in the revelations of science and framed with an indigenous worldview—­stories in which matter and spirit are both given voice. Speaking of race, when Kimmerer recounts the story about Hazel in the Witch Hazel chapter, I noticed that Hazel is never referred to as a white woman.Beautiful examples of symbiosis between plants, animals, and humans are revealed through the author's poetic dance between indigenous stories and ecological science. Occasionally I felt she was long-winded, but her message had to be made clear so we all really understand. She doesn't do what many of us would do, that is, take them anyway and complain about how the leeks are bad this year. Those who value the indigenous teachings of gratitude to the earth for all it provides would also find this book worthwhile. They bring home a huge deer for everyone to eat saying "I don't even know how to shoot an arrow -- this just accidentally happened.