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

I found this book when searching for something that covered indigenous wisdom. I couldn’t have been luckier. Robinson writes so poetically and insightfully. Thank you, Robin for sharing this with me. It’s profound.

One of my all time favourite books. Thank you!

Such a lovely insight into a culture we can learn so much from - a delightful book.

Good read

I half expected to be disappointed in this book, and I was so wrong. The author is a both a scientist and a poet. The indigenous wisdom belongs here.

It’s hard to put it into words what this book has given me so far, unlocks a world that we might have forgotten, a world of connection, reciprocity, deep reverence toward nature in a way I’ve never seen before. My mind and heart is cracked open. Very grateful that this book exists, thank you!

Told with a mixture of emotions from the author, the book challenges our perception of how we live with each other and the natural world around us. Drawing on lessons from science and tribal upbringing, infused with both stories from the heart it challenges our perception of our impact on the world and how we can learn to live better. It's not an answer type book although many solutions and approaches are given but more reflective, soul searching. A reflective approach bringing science and folk law together and giving hope and inspiration. It also causes one to reflect on how wrong some of our forefathers views approaches to living on the land and sea were wrong in dismissing native viewpoints. If there is one book to read to inspire the year ahead coming out of the pandemic this is it. It's simply beautifully written.

This is a truly exceptional book. It is a letter of love, respect and gratitude to our Mother Earth. It is a prescription for how to restore our world and take the right path and turn back from the brink of our own destruction. The author puts her message across with gentleness and grace; this by no means lessens its impact. Wall Kimmerer draws on her own life experiences and her half North American Indian and half white settler ancestry. 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 who cares about tomorrow, our throwaway society and our greed that can never be sated. It is clear that by comparison with our indigenous brotherhood we are absolutely the younger brother; the loafing teenager with no respect for anything their elders have to tell them, but rather thinking they know everything and they know best. The author, rightly in my opinion, says that all of the messages that we receive, practically on a daily basis, about the destruction that we have so far wrought to our home planet do not in fact spur us into action, but rather send those that care into a frozen state of despair. Her idea is rather to take relative baby steps to try to restore landscapes local to us. She gives an example of a wrecked landscape local to her that people are gradually trying to rescue and bring back to life with some success. It is also about developing a creed of gratitude and reciprocal relationship to our environment, only taking what is needed and never more. Wall Kimmerer gives plenty of examples of how this can be done. She is never sanctimonious and is the first to acknowledge that it is far easier to write about the correct way to live than to actually live it. For all who care about our planet and nature and for all who wish to learn about the balanced life that the North American Indians lived before the white settlers destroyed their culture and way of being, I would highly recommend this book to you.

This is Wisdom. Love this book! 5 stars!

About our place within the living ecosystem, this is a book profound in its reach that reminds us about right relationship with the natural world and each other. By shifting paradigms of community through indigeneous memories and with its emphasis on balance and humility, it is a book that offers a healing gift to a toxic world.

Es un libro bellísimo

El libro es una combinación de filosofíade los nativos americanos, botánica y poesía. Es una hermosa explicación y tributo a la Tierra y su generosidad.

I am still reading this wonderful book, which has already given me a sense of belonging. Every immigrant should read it, because no matter how other people treat you, Mother Nature is always there to make you feel at home and nourish your body and soul. Learn from THE NATIVES about the natives. What people there have planted and grow, what their relationship with nature is like, what the plants are called in their language. What connects us all and makes us feel related to each other is NATURE. I hope that after reading this book, people will be as grateful and appreciative as I am. It reminds you of your true instincts and makes you feel like a normal person who wants to pick berries and sit in the sun. At the same time, I have underlined the scientific information so that I can come back to it, and I thank the author for her gift of education and her gentle reminder.