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

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Jul 2016 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Robin Wall Kimmerer

About this audiobook

As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as "the younger brothers of creation." As she explores these themes, she circles toward a central argument: The awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world. Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return.

Ratings and reviews

Put simply, every time I opened this book (or opened my ears to the audiobook) my perspective cracked wide open. Admittedly this took me much longer to finish than I'm willing to admit, but I know this is because I wanted to let every single word and concept to work their way into my being. I know this will be a resource I'll return to again and again, and will continually find new nuggets of knowledge. This book is a warm, prolonged hug for the heart, mind, and soul. Thank you.

A meandering but grounded reflection of living life with gratitude to other forms of nonhuman life that sustain us. Art within scientific analysis, culture within art. A beautiful and poetic expression of seeing the world and our place within it.

Such a beautiful telling of Indeginous ways of life. We could all benefit from reading this book, so remember the importance of giving, not taking from Mother Earth, and yo love the land we have. There are many lessons in here to help our nation defeat the Windigo if only we would listen.

About the author

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology.