Book Summary | Braiding SweetGrass (2013)

What is it about? In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, Professor of Environmental biology Robin Wall Kimmerer talked about how we can learn from Potawatomi traditions to create a sustainable environment for our future generations to enjoy. 

Why bother? To sustain ourselves, we need to learn how to build a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. 

Key Ideas 

• Reciprocity is a mutually beneficial relationship between human and nature that come out of love, not a bond or an agreement. The loving and caring relationships make the Potawatomi people take an honorable harvest that only takes half of the crop. The other half is left enough for nature to regenerate, and nature continues to provide back food. The lesson is simple: only by giving back in the present will we be able to continue taking in the future.
• Gratitude and respect: when we gratify what's given to us: the food, the fresh air, the clean water, we respect nature more and are more willing to give back and protect it. 
• Sustainable approach: we don't have to spray toxic insecticide but grow core, beans, and squash together. Corns provide vertical support for beans, bean leaves trap corn's moisture, and squash keeps harmful insects away with its shortly pointed leaves. ​

Favorite Quotes

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"In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us." -Robin Wall Kimmerer, ​Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants