Philosophy:Braiding Sweetgrass

Short description: 2013 nonfiction book by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass

Author	Robin Wall Kimmerer
Audio read by	Robin Wall Kimmerer
Cover artist	Gretchen Achilles
Language	English
Subject	Traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous American philosophy, Plant ecology, Botany
Genre	Non-fiction Indigenous American philosophy Philosophy of Nature
Set in	North America
Publisher	Milkweed Editions
Publication date	2013
Pages	408
Awards	2014 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award
ISBN	ISBN:978-1-57131-335-5 (hardback; alkaline paper)
OCLC	829743464
LC Class	E98.P5K56 2013
Preceded by	Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
Followed by	"Council of the Pecans" in Orion Magazine in 2013
Website	Official site

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is a 2013 nonfiction book by American professor Robin Wall Kimmerer and published by Milkweed.

The book is about alternative forms of Indigenous knowledge outside of traditional scientific methodologies. The book reframes the relationship between land and humans by exploring themes of reciprocity. Braiding Sweetgrass focuses on plants and botany as seen through Native American traditions and Western scientific traditions. The book received largely positive reviews, appearing on several bestseller lists. Robin Wall Kimmerer is known for her scholarship on traditional ecological knowledge, ethnobotany, and moss ecology.

Contents

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is a 2013 nonfiction book written by Indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer and published by Milkweed. The book is about the world of botany as described and explored through Native American traditions. Kimmerer, who is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, also shares stories about her own experiences working with plants and learning to become reunited with her own people's cultural traditions. She also gives a background on history in relation to plants and also discusses botany through a scientific perspective.

The book is composed of a series of essays in five sections, starting with "Planting Sweetgrass" and progressing through "Tending," "Braiding," "Picking," and "Burning Sweetgrass." Environmental Philosophy notes that this progression of headings "signals how Kimmerer's book functions not only as natural history but also as ceremony, the latter of which plays a decisive role in how Kimmerer comes to know the living world."

Kimmerer describes Braiding Sweetgrass as "[A] braid of stories...woven from three strands: indigenous ways of knowing, scientific knowledge, and the story of an Anishinabeckwe scientist trying to bring them together in service to what matters most." She also calls the work "an intertwining of science, spirit, and story."

American Indian Quarterly writes that Braiding Sweetgrass is a book about traditional ecological knowledge and environmental humanities. Kimmerer combines her training in Western scientific methods and her Native American knowledge about sustainable land stewardship to describe a more joyful and ecological way of using our land in Braiding Sweetgrass.

Kimmerer said about the book that "I wanted readers to understand that Indigenous knowledge and Western science are both powerful ways of knowing, and that by using them together we can imagine a more just and joyful relationship with the Earth." Plants described in the book include squash, algae, goldenrod, pecans and the eponymous sweetgrass. She describes the book as “an invitation to celebrate the gifts of the earth.”

Honors and awards

Kimmerer received the 2014 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award for her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. The book has also received best-seller awards amongst the New York Times Bestseller, theWashington Post Bestseller, and the Los Angeles Times Bestseller lists. It was named a “Best Essay Collection of the Decade” by Literary Hub and a Book Riot “Favorite Summer Read of 2020”

Reception

Native Studies Review writes that Braiding Sweetgrass is a "book to savour and to read again and again."

Heather Sullivan writes in the Journal of Germanic Studies that "one occasionally encounters a text like an earthquake: it shakes one’s fundamental assumptions with a massive shift that, in comparison, renders mere epiphanies bloodless: Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass is one of these kinds of books.”

Sue O'Brien in Library Journal wrote "Kimmerer writes of investigating the natural world with her students and her efforts to protect and restore plants, animals, and land. A trained scientist who never loses sight of her Native heritage, she speaks of approaching nature with gratitude and giving back in return for what we receive." O'Brien expresses that anyone "who enjoys reading about natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love this book".

The Appalachian Review notes that Kimmerer's writing does not fall into "preachy, new-age, practical bring-your-own-grocery-bags environmental movement writing" nor "the flowing optimism of pure nature writing." The reader is compelled to act and change their view of the environment as the book "challenges the European immigrant ecological consciousness" through "Native American creation stories and details of sustainable, traditional, ecological management practices of Native Americans."

Kathleen D. Moore in The Bryologist says that Braiding Sweetgrass "is far more than a memoir or a field guide. I would call it a wisdom book, because I believe that Robin has something world-changing to pass along, an ethos she has learned by listening closely to plants".

The Tribal College Journal wrote "Each chapter is an adventurous journey into the world of plants." Publishers Weekly call Kimmerer a "mesmerizing storyteller" in Braiding Sweetgrass.

The Star Tribune writes that Kimmerer is able to give readers the ability to see the common world in a new way. Kirkus Reviews calls Braiding Sweetgrass a "smart, subtle overlay of different systems of thought that together teach us to be better citizens of Earth."

On Feb. 9, 2020, the book first appeared at No. 14 on the New York Times Best Sellers paperback nonfiction list; at the beginning of November 2020, in its 30th week, it was at No. 9.