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 describes Braiding Sweetgrass as ' 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.' Īmerican Indian Quarterly writes that Braiding Sweetgrass is a book about traditional ecological knowledge and environmental humanities. The series of essays in five sections begins with 'Planting Sweetgrass', and progresses through 'Tending,' 'Picking,' 'Braiding,' and 'Burning Sweetgrass.' Environmental Philosophy says 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.'

She also presents the history of the plants and botany from a scientific perspective. Kimmerer, who is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, writes about her personal experiences working with plants and reuniting with her people's cultural traditions. Kimmerer is known for her scholarship on traditional ecological knowledge, ethnobotany, and moss ecology.īraiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is about botany and the relationship to land in Native American traditions. The book received largely positive reviews, appearing on several bestseller lists.

'Council of the Pecans' in Orion Magazine in 2013īraiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is a 2013 nonfiction book by Potawatomi professor Robin Wall Kimmerer, about the role of Indigenous knowledge as an alternative or complementary approach to Western mainstream scientific methodologies.īraiding Sweetgrass explores reciprocal relationships between humans and the land, with a focus on the role of plants and botany in both Native American and Western traditions. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses Olson Nature Writing Awardĩ78-1-57131-335-5 (hardback alkaline paper)

Book braiding