Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Hi Everyone! 

For our next meeting on the 31st January at Avalon Café, we will be discussing Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, it’s such a beautiful book that explores the relationship between humans and the land through both a Native American and Western perspective. 

BRAIDING SWEETGRASS - ROBIN WALL KIMMERER

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two ways of knowledge together. 

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings - asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass - offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

Fortunes of the Green New Deal - Thomas Meaney (ARTICLE)

The Case for the Green New Deal - Ann Pettifor (BOOK)

REVIEW

The last book we read was Robin Wall Kimmerrer's 'Braiding Sweetgrass', a text that explores the intersection of indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge. There were many thoughtful reflections during our meet-up, mainly concerning the relationship between humans and the environment, the importance of reciprocity and gratitude in human-nature relationships, and the power of stories and language to shape our understanding of the world around us. 'Braiding Sweetgrass' emphasises the importance of treating the natural world with respect and humility and offers a vision of a more sustainable and just relationship between humans and the earth.

A question to consider: what is your relationship with nature and how does it show up in your life?