Book
Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer
TL;DR
Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, writes about what plants can teach us when science and Indigenous knowledge are read together. A #1 New York Times bestseller.
Quick Facts
- Pages
- 391
- Published
- 2013
Braiding Sweetgrass is a collection of essays by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a plant ecologist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She writes as both a trained scientist and an Indigenous woman, and the book moves between those two ways of knowing the natural world.
The essays treat plants and animals as teachers rather than resources, and they build toward a single idea. The earth is generous with us, and we can learn to be generous back. Published by Milkweed Editions, the book became a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Why OGSP Recommends It
This book shares the connection between us and nature, indigenous culture and what plants can teach us. Kimmerer writes science that reads like storytelling. Braiding Sweetgrass is a perfect complement with our films about healing outdoors.
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Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- Kimmerer is both a botanist and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the book reads nature through both lenses at once.
- The essays range from the creation story of Turtle Island to what threatens the land today.
- Its central idea is reciprocity. The earth gives, and we owe gifts in return.
- It became a #1 New York Times bestseller, and New York Times readers voted it one of the 100 best books of the 21st century.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Braiding Sweetgrass?
Robin Wall Kimmerer, a plant ecologist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She teaches and writes about how science and Indigenous knowledge can be read together.
What is Braiding Sweetgrass about?
Essays that treat plants as teachers. Kimmerer writes as a scientist and as an Indigenous woman, and the book keeps returning to one idea, that the earth is generous and we can be generous back.
Is Braiding Sweetgrass a bestseller?
Yes. It reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and New York Times readers later voted it one of the 100 best books of the 21st century.
Who published Braiding Sweetgrass?
Milkweed Editions. You can get the book through the Get the Book link on this page.