In her talk, she references another scientist and naturalist weve covered before,Aldo Leopold. As water professionals, can we look closely enough at the raindrops to learn from them and respect the careful balance of these interactions when we design and build the infrastructure we rely on? Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Both seek to combine their scientific, technical training with the feeling of connectedness and wholeness they get from being immersed by nature to bring about a more balanced way of living with the land. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Written from a native American point of view, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) is one of the most unusual books Ive read. Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants / Robin Wall Kimmerer. She lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental . online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. "Witness to the Rain" is the final chapter of the "Braiding Sweetgrass" section of RWK's beautiful book. Fougere's comment relates to Kimmerer's quote from his Witness To The Rain chapter in which he says, "If there is meaning in the past and in the imagined future, it is captured in the moment. The belly Button of the World -- Old-Growth Children -- Witness to the Rain -- Burning Sweetgrass -- Windigo Footprints -- The Sacred and the Superfund -- People of Corn, People of . It is hyporheic flow that Im listening for. Instant PDF downloads. Kimmerer who recently won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant used as an example one successful project at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on They are wise enough to be grateful. Out of all the gods experiments, only the corn people respect the world that sustains themand so they were the people who were sustained upon the earth.. What did you think of the Pledge of Interdependence? He did so in a forty-acre plot of land where the old-growth forests had been destroyed by logging operations since the 1880s. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. I would read a couple of essays, find my mind wandering, and then put the book down for a couple of weeks. What's a summary of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. These people are compassionate and loving, and they can dance in gratitude for the rest of creation. Each raindrop will fall individually, its size and. But they're gifts, too. For example, Kimmerer calls a spruce tree strong arms covered in moss (p.208) and describes vine maples as a moss-draped dome (296). Already a member? What are your thoughts regarding the concepts of: The destruction resulting from convenience, Do you agree with the idea that killing a who evokes a different response from humans than killing an it?. Cold, and wishing she had a cup of tea, Kimmerer decides not to go home but instead finds a dry place under a tree thats fallen across a stream. Specifically, this chapter highlights how it is more important to focus on growing a brighter future for the following generations rather than seeking revenge for the wrongs suffered by previous generations. The reflecting surface of the pool is textured with their signatures, each one different in pace and resonance. On his forty acres, where once cedars, hemlocks, and firs held sway in a multilayered sculpture of vertical complexity from the lowest moss on the forest floor to the wisps of lichen hanging high in the treetops, now there were only brambles, vine maples, and alders. "As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. So let's do two things, please, in prep for Wednesday night conversation: 1) Bring some homage to rainit can bea memory of your most memorable experience ever walking in the rain, listening to rainfall, staying inside by a fire while it rained, etc.or a poem or piece of prose that captures something you feel about rainor a haiku you write tomorrow morning over your coffeeor best of all, a potent rain dance! to explore their many inspiring collections, including the artist we are highlighting in complement to the Buffs One Read Braiding Sweetgrass. Why or why not? Does anything in your life feel like an almost insurmountable task, similar to the scraping of the pond? What gifts do you feel you can offer Mother Earth? Begun in 2011, the project, called Helping Forests Walk, has paired SUNY scholars with local Indigenous people to learn how to . Do you feel a connection to the Earth as reciprocal as the relationships outlined in this chapter? When you have all the time in the world, you can spend it, not on going somewhere, but being where you are. Its about pursuing the wants and needs of humans, with less concern for the more-than-human world. One of the most beautiful books I've ever read. We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth, gifts we have neither earned nor paid for: air to breathe, nurturing rain, black soil, berries and honeybees, the tree that became this page, a bag of rice and the exuberance of a field of goldenrod and asters at full bloom. Dr. Kimmerer has taught courses in botany, ecology, ethnobotany, indigenous environmental issues as well as a seminar in application of traditional ecological knowledge to conservation. (Siangu Lakota, b. As for the rest of it, although I love the author's core message--that we need to find a relationship to the land based on reciprocity and gratitude, rather than exploitation--I have to admit, I found the book a bit of a struggle to get through. We are approaching the end of another section inBraiding Sweetgrass. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.Kimmerer lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples . Kimmerer's words to your own sense of place and purpose at Hotchkiss. If so, which terms or phrases? Its author, an acclaimed plant scientist born and raised in the U.S., has been conditioned by the Western European culture were all heir to, and writes in full awareness that her audience will consist mainly of non-natives. Robin Kimmerers relation to nature delighted and amazed me, and at the same time plunged me into envy and near despair. Where will they go? How did the explanation of circular time affect your perception of stories, history, and the concept of time in which you are most familiar? Here in the rainforest, I dont want to just be a bystander to rain, passive and protected; I want to be part of the downpour, to be soaked, along with the dark humus that squishes underfoot. Do you believe in land as a teacher? Science is a painfully tight pair of shoes. Its not as big as a maple drop, not big enough to splash, but its popp ripples the surface and sends out concentric rings. The various themes didn't braid together as well as Sweetgrass itself does. A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Bestseller Named a Best Essay Collection of the Decade by Literary Hub As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. In this chapter, Kimmerer recounts the journey of Nanabozho as he walks across the earth for the first time. Link to other LTER Network Site Profiles. I read this book in a book club, and one of the others brought some braided Sweetgrass to our meeting. Kimmerer, Robin W. 2011. Today were celebrating Robin Wall Kimmerer, Professor of Environmental Science and Forestry at State University of New York College and citizen of the Potawatomi Nation. Dr. Kimmerer weaves together one of the most rich resources to date in Braiding Sweetgrass, and leaves us with a sense of hope rather than paralyzing fear. The Skywoman story, shared by the original people's throughout the Greak Lakes, is a constant star in the constellation of teachings we call the Original Instructions. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Throughout his decades-long journey to restore the land to its former glory, Dolp came to realize the parallel importance of restoring his personal relationship to land. Just read it. In that environment, says Kimmerer, there was no such thing as alone. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. What fire within you has proven to be both good and bad? These are not 'instructions' like commandments, though, or rules; rather they are like a compass: they provide an orientation but not a map. A deep invisible river, known to roots and rocks, the water and the land intimate beyond our knowing. . Planting Sweetgrass includes the chapters Skywoman Falling, The Council of Pecans, The Gift of Strawberries, An Offering, Asters and Goldenrod, and Learning the Grammar of Animacy. Kimmerer introduces the concepts of reciprocity, gratitude, and gift-giving as elements of a healthy relationship with ones environment which she witnessed from her indigenous family and culture growing up. Tragically, the Native people who upheld this sacred tradition were decimated by diseases such as smallpox and measles in the 1830s. After reading the book do you feel compelled to take any action or a desire to impact any change? Word Count: 1124. In Old-Growth Children Kimmerer tells how Franz Dolp, an economics professor, spent the last part of his life trying to restore a forest in the Oregon Coastal Range. How does Kimmerer use plants to illustrate her ideas in Braiding Sweetgrass? Kimmerer often muses on how we can live in reciprocity with the land, and gratitude, as our uniquely human gift, is always an important part of this. In 2013, Braiding Sweetgrass was written by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Last Updated on March 23, 2021, by eNotes Editorial. She relates the idea that the, In Witness to the Rain, Kimmerer noted that everything exists only in relationship to something else, and here she describes corn as a living relationship between light, water, the land, and people. When was the last time you experienced a meditative moment listening to the rain? everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Braiding Sweetgrass. This quote from the chapter "Witness to the Rain", comes from a meditation during a walk in the rain through the forest. As a botanist and indigenous person you'd think this would be right up my alley, but there was something about the description that made it sound it was going to be a lot of new-age spiritual non-sense, and it was a bit of that, but mostly I was pleasantly surprised that it was a more "serious" book than I thought it'd be. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. . What did you think of the concept of the journey of plants relating to the journey of people? Maybe there is no such thing as rain; there are only raindrops, each with its own story. Do you consider them inanimate objects? In this chapter, Kimmerer discusses the legacy of Indian boarding schools, such as Carlisle, and some of the measures that are being taken to reverse the damage caused by forcible colonial assimilation. "As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent . Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Will the language you use when referencing plants change? I also loved learning about the plants she mentions, and feel quite relieved to know that the proper pronunciation of pecan is peh-cahn, and not at all related to a way one might relieve themselves in the woods. Log in here. What do you consider the power of ceremony? She then relates the Mayan creation story. Note what the gods valued most in the people of corn: their ability to be grateful and to live in community with each other and the earth itself. She is a gifted speaker and teacher. 380 Words2 Pages Summary The article "Returning the Gift" that written by Robin Kimmerer has discussed the importance of having our appreciations for nature. Kimmerer believes that the connections in the natural world are there for us to listen to if were ready to hear them. . It also means that her books organizational principles are not ones were accustomed to, so instead of trying to discern them in an attempt to outline the book, I will tell you about the two chapters that left the deepest impression. I close my eyes and listen to the voices of the rain. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on "a journey that is every bit . This chapter centers around an old Indigenous tradition wherein the people greeted the Salmon returning to their streams by burning large swathes of prairie land at Cascade Head. They feel like kindred spirits. It left me at a loss for words. Kimmerer lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. How do you feel about solidity as an illusion? The last date is today's You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. Learn how your comment data is processed. She served as Gallery Director and Curator for the All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis from 2011-2015. Many of the pants have since become invasive species, choking or otherwise endangering native species to sustain their own pace of exponential growth. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. What have you worked hard for, like tapping maples? Follow us onLinkedIn,Twitter, orInstagram. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. 1) Bring some homage to rainit can be a memory of your most memorable experience ever walking in the rain, listening to rainfall, staying inside by a fire while it rained, etc.or a poem or piece of prose that captures something you feel about rainor a haiku you write tomorrow morning over your coffeeor best of all, a potent rain dance! In the Indigenous worldview, however, humans are seen as the younger brothers of Creation who must learn from those who were here before us: the plants and animals, who have their own kinds of intelligence and knowledge. Book Synopsis. What are your first thoughts when you hear the word environmentalism?. Consider the degree of attention you give to the natural world. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. How can species share gifts and achieve mutualism? As Kimmerer writes, "Political action, civic engagement - these are powerful acts of reciprocity with the land." This lesson echoes throughout the entire book so please take it from Kimmerer, and not from me. A wonderfully written nonfiction exploring indigenous culture and diaspora, appreciating nature, and what we can do to help protect and honor the land we live upon. All rights reserved. Kimmerer describes the entire lifecycle of this intriguing creature to emphasize how tragic it is when their lives are ended so abruptly and randomly by passing cars. We've designed some prompts to help students, faculty, and all of the CU community to engage with the 2021 Buffs OneRead. In this way, the chapter reflects that while Western immigrants may never become fully indigenous to Turtle Island, following in the footsteps of Nanabozho and plantain may help modern Americans begin their journey to indigeneity. I suppose thats the way we are as humans, thinking too much and listening too little. In Witness to the Rain, Kimmerer gives uninterrupted attention to the natural world around her. It gives us knowing, but not caring. Teachers and parents! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); To live in radical joyous shared servanthood to unify the Earth Family. At Kanatsiohareke, he and others have carved out a place where Indigenous people can gather to relearn and celebrate Haudenosaunee culture. Milkweed Editions, 2013. 1976) is a visual artist and independent curator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. How does Kimmerer use myths to illustrate her ideas in Braiding Sweetgrass? Visualize an element of the natural world and write a letter of appreciation and observation. Different animals and how the indigenous people learned from watching them and plants, the trees. Witness to the Rain. How do you feel community strength relates to our treatment of the environment? She is wrong. What problems does Kimmerer identify and what solutions does she propose in Braiding Sweetgrass? In the world view that structures her book the relations between human and plant are likewise reciprocal and filled with caring. Rather, we each bear a responsibility to gain understanding of the land in which we live and how its beauty is much greater than a blooming tree or manicured lawn. The reflecting surface of the pool is textured with their signatures, each one different in pace and resonance. To Be In ReceptiveSilence (InnerCharkha), RestorativeJustice & NonviolentCommunication, Superando la Monocultura Interna y Externa / Overcoming Inner & OuterMonoculture, En la Oscuridad con Asombro/ In Darkness with Wonder. OK, this book was a journey and not a precisely pleasant one. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. I felt euphoric inhaling the intense fragrance, and truly understood why the author would name a book after this plant. Her first book, published in 2003, was the natural and cultural history book Gathering . This book contains one exceptional essay that I would highly recommend to everyone, "The Sacred and the Superfund." We are discussing it here: Audiobook..narrated by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Powerful book with lots of indigenous wisdom related to science, gratitude, and how we relate to the land. Kimmerer muses on this story, wondering why the people of corn were the ones who ultimately inherited the earth. Kimmerer traces this theme by looking at forest restoration, biological models of symbiosis, the story of Nanabozho, her experiences of teaching ethnobotany, and other topics. In the Bible Eve is punished for eating forbidden fruit and God curses her to live as Adam's subordinate according to an article on The Collector. She is the co-founder and past president of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge section of the Ecological Society of America. The book the President should read, that all of us who care about the future of the planet should read, is Robin Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two . Vlog where I reflected daily on one or two chapters: Pros: This non-fiction discusses serious issues regarding the ecology that need to be addressed. Kimmerer hopes that with the return of salmon to Cascade Head, some of the sacred ceremonies of gratitude and reciprocity that once greeted them might return as well. I wish Robin Wall Kimmerer had written three short books instead of one long book. Your email address will not be published. If tannin rich alder water increases the size of the drops, might not water seeping through a long curtain of moss also pick up tannins, making the big strong drops I thought I was seeing?