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

Description

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 lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).

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.

Duncan Murdoch

CERTIFIED NATURE & FOREST THERAPY GUIDE Duncan is a Certified Nature & Forest Therapy guide living and working in Vermont. He grew up on the shores of Lake Champlain where his deep connection to Nature was formed. Following his passion for art, he moved to NYC where he lived and worked as a professional actor for 14 years. Nature called him to become a horticulturist so he transitioned to become a NYC parks department gardener which lead him to a life of nature (re) connection. After receiving his Nature & Forest Therapy Guide Certification from the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) in 2015, he began his practice in New York City guiding the first forest bathing groups in Central Park. He then moved back to his home state in Vermont in 2015 and began his work with the Intervale Center growing and planting native trees where he now serves as the Land Stewardship Coordinator. As a wellness practitioner, he is part of the UVM Integrative Health Practitioner Network and frequently conducts forest bathing experiences throughout Vermont and the world, in-person and online with his organization, Nature Connection Guide.