Braiding sweetgrass: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Robin Wall Kimmerer blends Indigenous wisdom, botany, and ecology in this beautiful book that explores our relationship with nature through stories and science. Kimmerer, a botanist and Potawatomi woman, emphasizes reciprocity, gratitude, and sustainability in how we interact with the land. She has taught me to see nature as a teacher and cultivate a more respectful, reciprocal connection with the Earth. I am humbled by her words. I’ve recorded an interview with her for my podcast The Almanac of Ireland, that will hopefully air in 2026.~ Manchán Magan
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.
Robin Wall Kimmerer blends Indigenous wisdom, botany, and ecology in this beautiful book that explores our relationship with nature through stories and science. Kimmerer, a botanist and Potawatomi woman, emphasizes reciprocity, gratitude, and sustainability in how we interact with the land. She has taught me to see nature as a teacher and cultivate a more respectful, reciprocal connection with the Earth. I am humbled by her words. I’ve recorded an interview with her for my podcast The Almanac of Ireland, that will hopefully air in 2026.~ Manchán Magan
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.
Robin Wall Kimmerer blends Indigenous wisdom, botany, and ecology in this beautiful book that explores our relationship with nature through stories and science. Kimmerer, a botanist and Potawatomi woman, emphasizes reciprocity, gratitude, and sustainability in how we interact with the land. She has taught me to see nature as a teacher and cultivate a more respectful, reciprocal connection with the Earth. I am humbled by her words. I’ve recorded an interview with her for my podcast The Almanac of Ireland, that will hopefully air in 2026.~ Manchán Magan
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.