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

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A graceful, illuminating study of the wisdom of the natural world, from a world-renowned indigenous scientist. I can't blame her for recommending the book to me at that point, however upon finishing it, I spared her the time I wasted and told her there is no sense finishing the book. Based on the anecdotes she shares about her background, she definitely comes across as not growing up Indian, as much of what she recounts signifies an abundance of white privilege. 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. If you've never heard of the Indian Removal Act Braiding Sweetgrass may do some good by providing a third-hand account of some of its consequences, but for the most part it's just an aggravating waste of time.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is a 2013 nonfiction book by Potawatomi professor Robin Wall Kimmerer, about the role of Indigenous knowledge as an alternative or complementary approach to Western mainstream scientific methodologies. While I was listening to it on my daily walks, it caused me to see the world in a new light, which is something I think all good books will do. The texts interpret the theme broadly - from the ways that humans mind and unmind plants to the mindedness or unmindedness of plants themselves. The worst is that there's really nothing to object on the content of the book, one would have to be an asshole to be against appreciating nature and indigenous knowledge.

on the New York Times Best Sellers paperback nonfiction list; at the beginning of November 2020, in its 30th week, it was at No.

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. Numerous times, I found myself thinking, “if I were reading this, I’d be highlighting this passage”. Those who value the indigenous teachings of gratitude to the earth for all it provides would also find this book worthwhile. It definitely makes me more aware of my impact on the earth and to consider what I give and take from my environment.The emphasis here is on gratitude and learning from plants, animals and the natural world as a whole. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Israel Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Sri Lanka Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U.

Most of it is just random anecdotes from her very middle-class life, mixed with some "traditional" stories in which all Native American peoples in North America are blended into one homogeneous Noble Savage, who obviously has a unique and more meaningful connection to nature than anyone else does. 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.

She is the author of the New York Times bestselling collection of essays Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. He was like one of those little withered seeds you find in the bottom of a seed packet, the one who never touched the earth.

She does state that "Ecological economists argue for reforms that would ground economics in ecological principals" and that "Governments still cling to the notion that human consumption has no consequences". Speaking for myself—not for my students, who were quite eloquent in their numerous criticisms of this book and can speak for themselves—I found the first two parts of this five-part book to be insufferable. I think this chapter best embodies the more peaceful, hopeful tone I anticipated from this book, leaving behind, for a while, the tone that I disliked elsewhere in her writing. Instead, Kimmerer tends to conflate her references to Potawatomi—mostly she refers more broadly to the Algonquin tradition, sometimes Ojibwe—with her life in Upstate New York. This does nothing other than make her feel better about herself (and in fact, is probably worse than nothing, since the tobacco farming required to make this offering is so harmful to soil health).But I believe it is my job to walk as close to this latter world as I can without destroying my relationship with the former world. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awkening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.