I really enjoyed this. It left me at a loss for words. The questionssampled here focus on. Braiding Sweetgrass addresses a tapestry of relationships that represent a larger, more significant relationship between humans and the environment we call home. Dr. Kimmerer does a fantastic job of shining a spotlight on the intersectionality of traditionally divergent spheres; most specifically, Western scientific methods and Indigenous teachings. Maybe there is no such thing as rain; there are only raindrops, each with its own story. Dr. Kimmerer invites us to view our surroundings through a new lens; perhaps a lens we should have been using all along. Here, Kimmerer delves into reconciling humanity with the environment, dwelling in particular upon the changes wrought between generations upon the way in which one considers the land one lives on. Mediums and techniques: linoleum engravings printed in linen on both sides. What literary devices are used in Braiding Sweetgrass? What aspects did you find difficult to understand? Kimmerer occupies two radically different thought worlds. Inside looking out, I could not bear the loneliness of being dry in a wet world. Was there a passage that struck you and stayed with you after you finished reading? But they're gifts, too. . Get help and learn more about the design. The actual practice of science often means doing this, but the more general scientific worldview of Western society ignores everything that happens in these experiences, aside from the data being collected. This makes the story both history, ongoing process, and prophecy of the future. Just read it. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants and Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. Dr. Did you note shapes as metaphor throughout the book? Sign In, Acknowledgements text to use in a publication. This book contains one exceptional essay that I would highly recommend to everyone, "The Sacred and the Superfund." Complete your free account to request a guide. Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerers "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants,". Elsewhere the rain on . Do you feel we have created an imbalance with our symbiotic relationship with Earth? You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. Then I would find myself thinking about something the author said, decide to give the book another try, read a couple of essays, etc. Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerers "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants," is a beautiful and thoughtful gift to those of us even the least bit curious about understanding the land and living in healthy reciprocity with the environment that cares for us each day. I close my eyes and listen to the voices of the rain. Which were the most and least effective chapters, in your opinion? Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Please enter your email address to subscribe to this blog if you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email. Does anything in your life feel like an almost insurmountable task, similar to the scraping of the pond? 2023 . As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. For more reflective and creative activity prompts, please join the Buffs OneRead community course: Braiding Sweetgrass. When you have all the time in the world, you can spend it, not on going somewhere, but being where you are. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); To live in radical joyous shared servanthood to unify the Earth Family. Drew Lanhamrender possibilities for becoming better kin and invite us into the ways . She isnt going for a walk or gathering kindling or looking for herbs; shes just paying attention. After reading the book do you feel compelled to take any action or a desire to impact any change? Do you have any acquaintances similar to Hazel? This passage also introduces the idea of. Summary/Review: "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. Does embracing nature/the natural world mean you have a mothers responsibility to create a home? Robin Wall Kimmerer posed the question to her forest biology students at the State University of New York, in their final class in March 2020, before the pandemic sent everyone home. Maples do their fair share for us; how well do we do by them? Otherwise, consider asking these ten questions in conjunction with the chapter-specific questions for a deeper discussion. I'm Melanie - the founder and content creator of Inspired Epicurean. We've designed some prompts to help students, faculty, and all of the CU community to engage with the 2021 Buffs OneRead. This is an important and a beautiful book. How would you describe the sensation when you did or did not? Not what I expected, but all the better for it. . Refine any search. Written from a native American point of view, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) is one of the most unusual books Ive read. I must admit I had my reservations about this book before reading it. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. The chapters therein are Windigo Footprints, The Sacred and the Superfund, People of Corn, People of Light, Collateral Damage, Shkitagen: People of the Seventh Fire, Defeating Windigo, and Epilogue. These chapters paint an apocalyptic picture of the environmental destruction occurring around the world today and urge the reader to consider ways in which this damage can be stemmed. In Old-Growth Children Kimmerer tells how Franz Dolp, an economics professor, spent the last part of his life trying to restore a forest in the Oregon Coastal Range. This was a wonderful, wonderful book. A Profile of Robin Wall Kimmerer - Literary Mama What was the last object you felt a responsibility to use well? Where will they go? It also greatly touches upon how humans and nature impact one another and how we should appreciate the journey that food and nature have taken to get to our tables and backyards. All rights reserved. Give them a name based on what you see. For more discussion prompts and facilitation tips,or to join the conversation, please join the Buffs OneRead community course: Braiding Sweetgrass. What was most surprising or intriguing to you? Instead, settler society should write its own story of relationship to the world, creating its own. Braiding Sweetgrass Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to We need to restore honor to the way we live, so that when we walk through the world we dont have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earths beings.. But I'm grateful for this book and I recommend it to every single person! A graceful, illuminating study of the wisdom of the natural world, from a world-renowned indigenous scientist. Braiding Sweetgrass Quotes by Robin Wall Kimmerer - Goodreads As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. Kimmerer combines these elements with a powerfully poetic voice that begs for the return to a restorative and sustainable relationship between people and nature. What can we offer the environment that supplies us with so much? Kimmerer who recently won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant used as an example one successful project at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Despairing towards the end of the trip that she had focused too much on scientific graphing of vegetation and too little on the spiritual importance of land, Kimmerer recalls being humbled as the students began to sing Amazing Grace. Braiding Sweetgrass. Witness to the Rain 293-300 BURNING SWEETGRASS Windigo Footprints 303-309 . In areas where it was ignored, it came back reduced in quantity, thus bearing out the Native American saying: Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.. Did the Depression-era reference hit home with you? Director Peter Weir Writers William Kelley (story by) Pamela Wallace (story by) Earl W. Wallace (story by) Stars Harrison Ford How Braiding Sweetgrass became a surprise -- and enduring -- bestseller a material, scientific inventory of the natural world." It invokes the "ancient order of protocols" which "sets gratitude as the highest priority." She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants and Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.She lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental . These people are beautiful, strong, and clever, and they soon populate the earth with their children. Kinship With The More Than Human World - To The Best Of Our Knowledge Overall Summary. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Want more Water Words of Wisdom? Braids plated of three strands, are given away as signs of kindness and gratitude. When Kimmerer moves herself and her daughters to upstate New York, one of the responsibilities that she decides to take is to provide her daughters with a swimmable pond. How can we have a relationship if we lack thorough understanding, an ability to listen, and ideas to give back to the natural world? Braiding Sweetgrass: Fall, 2021 & Spring, 2022 - New York University These qualities also benefited them, as they were the only people to survive and endure. How will they change on their journey? The series Takes Care of Us honors native women and the care, protection, leadership and love the provide for their communities. The second date is today's By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive the One Water blog newsletter and acknowledge the Autodesk Privacy Statement. Follow us onLinkedIn,Twitter, orInstagram. And, when your book club gets together, I suggest these Triple Chocolate Chickpea Brownie Bites that are a vegan and more sustainable recipe compared to traditional brownies. As water professionals, can we look closely enough at the raindrops to learn from them and respect the careful balance of these interactions when we design and build the infrastructure we rely on? We are discussing it here: Audiobook..narrated by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Powerful book with lots of indigenous wisdom related to science, gratitude, and how we relate to the land. Sweetgrass, as the hair of Mother Earth, is traditionally braided to show loving care for her well-being. I appreciated Robin Wall Kimmerers perspective on giving back to the land considering how much the land gives to us. From Braiding Sweetgras s by author, ethnobotanist, and biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation: "Our old farm is within the ancestral homelands of the Onondaga Nation, and their reserve lies a few ridges to the west of my hilltop. In this chapter, Kimmerer discusses the legacy of Indian boarding schools, such as Carlisle, and some of the measures that are being taken to reverse the damage caused by forcible colonial assimilation. Yes, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Dr. Robin Kimmerer arrived on the New York Times Paperback Best Sellers list on January 31, 2020, six years after its publication. Rain on Leaves on a Forest Road in Autumn - YouTube In thinking through the ways the women in our lives stand guard, protect, and nurture our well-being, the idea for this set of four was born. Robin Wall Kimmerer begins her book Gathering Moss with a journey in the Amazon rainforest, during which Indigenous guides helped her see an iguana on the tree branch, a toucan in the leaves. First, shes attracted by the way the drops vary in size, shape, and the swiftness of their fall, depending on whether they hang from a twig, the needles of a tree, drooping moss, or her own bangs. The author does an excellent job at narration. What are your thoughts regarding the democracy of species concept? White Hawk earned a MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2011) and BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico (2008). She's completely comfortable moving between the two and their co-existence within her mind gives her a unique understanding of her experience. Her writing blends her academic botantical scientific learning with that of the North American indigenous way of life, knowledge and wisdom, with a capital W. She brings us fair and square to our modus operandi of live for today . Kimmerer hopes that with the return of salmon to Cascade Head, some of the sacred ceremonies of gratitude and reciprocity that once greeted them might return as well. LitCharts Teacher Editions. . Tending Sweetgrass includes the chapters Maple Sugar Moon, Witch Hazel, A Mothers Work, The Consolation of Water Lilies, and Allegiance to Gratitude. This section more closely explores the bounty of the earth and what it gives to human beings. Braiding Sweetgrass - Google Books