Braiding Sweetgrass

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

hardcover, 456 pages

Published Oct. 13, 2020 by Milkweed Editions.

ISBN:: 978-1-57131-177-1
OCLC Number:: 1143651514

(5 reviews)

Updated with a new introduction from Robin Wall Kimmerer, the special edition of Braiding Sweetgrass, reissued in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Milkweed Editions, celebrates the book as an object of meaning that will last the ages. Beautifully bound in stamped linen cloth with a bookmark ribbon and a deckled edge, this edition features five brilliantly colored illustrations by artist Nate Christopherson. In increasingly dark times, we honor the experience that more than 350,000 readers in North America have cherished about the book--gentle, simple, tactile, beautiful, even sacred--and offer an edition that will inspire readers to gift it again and again, spreading the word about scientific knowledge, indigenous wisdom, and the teachings of plants.

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, and as 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 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 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.

9 editions

Stephanie Jane reviewed Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Inspirational!

5 stars

I missed out on the opportunity to borrow this book, highly recommended by a beautiful friend, in its original publication a couple of years ago so almost-literally leapt at the chance to review a NetGalley copy of the new Penguin publication. I'm so glad that I did! Robin Wall Kimmerer's life philosophies and the way in which she looks to plant wisdom for answers to human social and environmental problems are exactly what we need to be exploring right now, especially as people want new lifestyle choices in the wake of the epidemic. I began reading Braiding Sweetgrass wondering if this might be too 'hippy' a book for me to really get into. Within a hundred pages I was totally engrossed in every word Kimmerer wrote and frequently found myself nodding in enthusiastic agreement with her.

Kimmerer discusses ancient Native American ideas and practices, showing how the ideas behind them …

Kimmerer discusses ancient Native American ideas and practices, showing how the ideas behind them result in a completely different mindset to that of contemporary capitalist Western culture. I loved how she explains the influence of such basic concepts as our origin myths and was reminded strongly of Nesrine Malik's arguments in We Need New Stories. For the Potawatomi tribe, human life on Earth began with a woman whose fall from the sky was cushioned by geese catching her in their soft feathers and with all the animals helping her to create a home for herself. The Christian story begins in anger with a woman being evicted from paradise to cope as best she can in a lesser place. Our language also makes a huge difference to our worldview. In English, it is acceptable to refer to any nonhuman as 'it', ie. as a thing. For Native Americans, all animals have person status as do plants, rocks, water flows. It's much harder emotionally to mistreat someOne than someThing.

The combination of Kimmerer's philosophical approach together with her scientific knowledge and engaging, chatty tone made Braiding Sweetgrass an amazing read for me. While I was eager to keep reading what Kimmerer has to say, I also found myself frequently setting the book aside to appreciate a beautiful concept or to consider how I could apply a suggestion to my own lifestyle. I think it is generally accepted that humans have to make drastic changes to how we live and consume resources or we soon won't have a planet that's capable of supporting us all. I would highly recommend Braiding Sweetgrass as the perfect guide.

nigini reviewed Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Review of 'Braiding Sweetgrass' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The most soulful book I've read in my life. The beauty of Kimmerer's words, braiding native, scientific, and modern life is an experience I want to keep going back to.

gregorgross reviewed Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Review of 'Braiding Sweetgrass' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A very important book, for it tries to bring together indigenous and scientific knowledge. Indigenous knowledge, rituals and observations lead to sustainable life within nature. Very important is to be gratious for presents, given by nature and other humans, instead of buying and selling and seeing everything as commodities.

Kimmerer has opened my eyes to many differences and problems in our (scientific, non-indigenous) way of living.

TalesFromTheEV reviewed Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Amazing

5 stars

EV1 says: I literally cried at every new chapter. This is one of the best books I have ever read on Nature and a great inspiration for my own pagan journey

Stephanie Jane

rated it

May 10

Braiding Sweetgrass

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