I close my eyes and listen to all the voices in the rain. The leaching of ecological resources is not just an action to be compartmentalized, or written off as a study for a different time, group of scientists, or the like. Why? Kimmerer describes Skywoman as an "ancestral gardener" and Eve as an "exile". What gifts do you feel you can offer Mother Earth? Why or why not? "Witness to the Rain" The Christuman Way 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. Buffs One Read 2022-2023: Braiding Sweetgrass - University Libraries The Blessing of a Swelling Raindrop | Earthling Opinion Exactly how they do this, we don't yet know. White Hawk writes: "As a suite, these works speak to the importance of kinship roles and tribal structures that emphasize the necessity of extended family, tribal and communal ties as meaningful and significant relationships necessary for the rearing of healthy and happy individuals and communities. Every drip it seems is changed by its relationship with life, whether it encounters moss or maple or fir bark or my hair. Skywoman and Her Lessons - Climate Justice is Racial Justice Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of "Braiding Sweetgrass" Sweet Briar College is thrilled to welcome Robin Wall Kimmerer on March 23, 2022, for a special in-person (and livestream) presentation on her book "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.". I appreciated Robin Wall Kimmerers perspective on giving back to the land considering how much the land gives to us. When was the last time you experienced a meditative moment listening to the rain? Adapting Fearlessness, Nonviolence, Anarchy and Humility in the 21st century. Artist Tony Drehfal is a wood engraver, printmaker, and photographer. Despairing towards the end of the trip that she had focused too much on scientific graphing of vegetation and too little on the spiritual importance of land, Kimmerer recalls being humbled as the students began to sing Amazing Grace. Braiding Sweetgrass consists of the chapters In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place, The Sound of Silverbells, Sitting in a Circle, Burning Cascade Head, Putting Down Roots, Umbilicaria: The Belly Button of the World, Old-Growth Children, and Witness to the Rain. Here, Kimmerer delves into reconciling humanity with the environment, dwelling in particular upon the changes wrought between generations upon the way in which one considers the land one lives on. The other chapter that captured me is titled Witness to the Rain. Rather than being historical, it is descriptive and meditative. She thinks its all about restoration: We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world. Braiding Sweetgrass | Milkweed Editions Did you find the outline structure of the chapter effective? My mother is a veteran. Cheers! 4 Mar. Robin Wall Kimmerer Why is the world so beautiful? An Indigenous botanist on the - CBC date the date you are citing the material. 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. If your book club is about to read "Braiding Sweetgrass" and has limited time for discussion, consider sticking with these ten general questions that are intended to instigate conversation about the book as a whole. What ceremonies are important to you, and serve as an opportunity to channel attention into intention? One of my goals this year was to read more non-fiction, a goal I believe I accomplished. It is a book that explores the connection between living things and human efforts to cultivate a more sustainable world through the lens of indigenous traditions. For more discussion prompts and facilitation tips,or to join the conversation, please join the Buffs OneRead community course: Braiding Sweetgrass. Braiding Sweetgrass Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to Enjoy! Then she listens. In this chapter, Kimmerer describes another field trip to the Cranberry Lake Biological Station, where she teaches an ethnobotany class that entails five weeks of living off the land. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. She sees these responsibilities as extending past the saying of thanks for the earths bounty and into conservation efforts to preserve that which humanity values. She has participated in residencies in Australia and Russia and Germany. The last date is today's How do we characterize wealth and abundance? Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Learn how your comment data is processed. Order our Braiding Sweetgrass Study Guide. 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. The chapters reinforce the importance of reciprocity and gratitude in defeating the greed that drives human expansion at the expense of the earths health and plenitude. It left me at a loss for words. I suppose thats the way we are as humans, thinking too much and listening too little. Visualize an element of the natural world and write a letter of appreciation and observation. It gives us knowing, but not caring. How did this change or reinforce your understanding of gifts and gift-giving? Witness to the Rain Robin Wall Kimmerer | Last.fm This was a wonderful, wonderful book. And we think of it as simply time, as if it were one thing, as if we understood it. The second date is today's Many of her arguments rely on this concept of honour, which is what she thinks weve abandoned in our publicpolicies. Robin Wall Kimmerer begins her book Gathering Moss with a journey in the Amazon rainforest, during which Indigenous guides helped her see an iguana on the tree branch, a toucan in the leaves. Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations is a five-volume series exploring our deep interconnections with the living world and the interdependence that exists between humans and nonhuman beings. Her writing about the importance of maintaining indigenous language and culture also elicited feelings of tenderness and sadness from me. She honors the "humility rare in our species" that has led to developments like satellite imagery . The poetry of nature does not escape this writer and she becomes a poet herself at times, as in the following paragraph from this chapter with which I will conclude. I read this book in a book club, and one of the others brought some braided Sweetgrass to our meeting. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. The property she purchases comes with a half acre pond that once was the favorite swimming hole for the community's boys, but which now is choked with plant growth. In Braiding. "Witness to the Rain" is the final chapter of the "Braiding Sweetgrass" section of RWK's beautiful book. . 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. Did you Google any concepts or references? What can we offer the environment that supplies us with so much? Instead, settler society should write its own story of relationship to the world, creating its own. eNotes.com, Inc. Kimmerer reaches a place where shes in tune with nature. Would you consider re-reading Braiding Sweetgrass? Dr. Kimmerer invites us to view our surroundings through a new lens; perhaps a lens we should have been using all along. Braiding Sweetgrass is a nonfiction work of art by Dr. Robin Kimmerer. Then I would find myself thinking about something the author said, decide to give the book another try, read a couple of essays, etc. If so, which terms or phrases? Can anyone relate to the fleeting African violet? . I share delicious vegan recipes (with a few flexitarian recipes from my pre-vegan days). They feel like kindred spirits. Why or why not? Does the act of assigning scientific labels halt exploration? She is Potawatomi and combines her heritage with her scientific and environmental passions. How did the explanation of circular time affect your perception of stories, history, and the concept of time in which you are most familiar? Tragically, the Native people who upheld this sacred tradition were decimated by diseases such as smallpox and measles in the 1830s. I was intimated going into it (length, subject I am not very familiar with, and the hype this book has) but its incredibly accessible and absolutely loved up to the seemingly unanimous five star ratings. Is it possible to stay quiet long enough to hear/learn? I read this book almost like a book of poetry, and it was a delightful one to sip and savor. I would have liked to read just about Sweetgrass and the customs surrounding it, to read just about her journey as a Native American scientist and professor, or to read just about her experiences as a mother. Kimmerer also discusses her own journey to Kanatsiohareke, where she offered her own services at attempting to repopulate the area with native sweetgrass. The author has a flowery, repetitive, overly polished writing style that simply did not appeal to me. Without the knowledge of the guide, she'd have walked by these wonders and missed them completely. Every drip it seems is changed by its relationship with life, whether it encounters moss or maple or fir bark or my hair. In Oregon, on the West Coast of the United States, the hard shiny leaves of salal and Oregon grape make a gentle hiss of "ratatatat" (293). Get help and learn more about the design. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. One thing Ive learned in the woods is that there is no such thing as random. How can we refrain from interfering with the sacred purpose of another being? Alex Murdaugh sentencing: Judge sentences disgraced SC lawyer to life As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In that environment, says Kimmerer, there was no such thing as alone. Does your perception of food change when you consider how food arrived at your table; specifically, a forced removal vs. garden nurturing? "An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative from a distinguished professor of science and a Native American whose previous book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. 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. The story focuses on the central role of the cattail plant, which can fulfill a variety of human needs, as the students discover. I don't know what else to say. The Onondaga Thanksgiving Address - Myth & Moor 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. She asks this question as she tells the stories of Native American displacement, which forever changed the lives of her . I would read a couple of essays, find my mind wandering, and then put the book down for a couple of weeks. Instant PDF downloads. It teaches the reader so many things about plants and nature in general. Do you consider sustainability a diminished standard of living? And, how can we embrace a hopeful, tangible approach to healing the natural world before its too late? Book Arts What did you think of Robins use of movement as metaphor and time? Braiding Sweetgrass explores the theme of cooperation, considering ways in which different entities can thrive by working in harmony and thereby forming a sense of mutual belonging. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. She is the author of numerous scientific articles, and the book Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. This idea has been mentioned several times before, but here Kimmerer directly challenges her fellow scientists to consider it as something other than a story: to actually allow it to inform their worldviews and work, and to rethink how limited human-only science really is. This nonfiction the power of language, especially learning the language of your ancestors to connect you to your culture as well as the heartbreaking fact that indigenous children who were banned from speaking anything from English in academic settings. Witness to the Rain. This book contains one exceptional essay that I would highly recommend to everyone, "The Sacred and the Superfund." Her first book, published in 2003, was the natural and cultural history book Gathering . Against the background hiss of rain, she distinguishes the sounds drops make when they fall on different surfaces, a large leaf, a rock, a small pool of water, or moss. What have you overlooked or taken for granted? During times of plenty, species are able to survive on their own but when conditions become harsh it is only through inter-species reciprocity that they can hope to survive. This quote from the chapter "Witness to the Rain", comes from a meditation during a walk in the rain through the forest. Skywoman Falling - Emergence Magazine Braiding Sweetgrass Summary and Analysis - eNotes.com Kimmerer describes how the lichen unites the two main sources of nourishment: gathering and hunting. She is wrong. The book is simultaneously meditative about the. All rights reserved. Listening to rain, time disappears. PDF Allegiance to Gratitude - Swarthmore College However, there is one plant, the broadleaf plantain, sometimes known as the White Mans Footstep, that has assimilated and become somewhat indigenous to place, working with the native plants in symbiosis in order to propagate. 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. Do offering ceremonies or rituals exist in your life? How does one go about exploring their own relationship with nature? Its not about wisdom. In part to share a potential source of meaning, Kimmerer, who is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a professor at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science . How has your view of plants changed from reading this chapter? How would you describe the sensation when you did or did not? The drop swells on the tip of the of a cedar and I catch in on my tongue like a blessing. Her writing blends her academic botantical scientific learning with that of the North American indigenous way of life, knowledge and wisdom, with a capital W. She brings us fair and square to our modus operandi of live for today . She is the co-founder and past president of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge section of the Ecological Society of America. Visit the CU Art Museum to explore their many inspiring collections, including the artist we are highlighting in complement to the Buffs One Read Braiding Sweetgrass. The author does an excellent job at narration. Will the language you use when referencing plants change? I think that moss knows rain better than we do, and so do maples. Kimmerer's claim with second and even third thoughts about the contradic-tions inherent in notions of obligation that emerge in the receiving of gifts. The second is the date of What concepts were the most difficult to grasp, if any? In the story, the first divine beings, or gods, create plants and animals to fill the emptiness. Braiding Sweetgrass Summary & Study Guide - www.BookRags.com That is the significance of Dr. Kimmerers Braiding Sweetgrass.. Braiding Sweetgrass - By Robin Wall Kimmerer : Target By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive the One Water blog newsletter and acknowledge the Autodesk Privacy Statement. Quote by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Did you note shapes as metaphor throughout the book? In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer . Braiding Sweetgrass. Wall Kimmerer draws on her own life experiences and her half North American Indian and half white settler ancestry. Five stars for introducing me to Sweetgrass, its many Native American traditions, and her message of caring for and showing gratitude for the Earth. Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the In her talk, she references another scientist and naturalist weve covered before,Aldo Leopold. 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. Book Synopsis. How can we create our own stories (or lenses) to view sacred relationships? (LogOut/ Consider the degree of attention you give to the natural world. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. -Graham S. Immigrant culture should appreciate this wisdom, but not appropriate it, Kimmerer says. Traditional knowledge represents the outcome of long experimentation . As stated before, an important aspect of culture is its creation myths. Not what I expected, but all the better for it. 2023