Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall ll Kimmerer

 I read the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I remember being excited but also nervous to read this book as I have very little understanding of Native American culture and how their culture influenced their connection to nature. Braiding Sweetgrass is a combination of memoir, science writing, and Indigenous American philosophy and history. The book opens with a retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story, in which Skywoman falls to earth and is aided by the animals to create a new land called Turtle Island. Robin Wall Kimmerer explains how this story informs the Indigenous attitude towards the land itself: human beings are “the younger brothers of creation” and so should humbly learn from the plants and animals that were here first. At the same time, the world is a place of gifts and generosity, and people should give gifts back to the earth as well. I found this to be interesting, our Western culture has programmed us to take and take for the benefits for profit, and in doing so we have lost the ability to take care of the earth and give gifts in return. By incorporating both science and indigenous spirituality we can learn to heal our connection to Mother Earth. I enjoyed reading this book, it gave me a sense of peace that I could just dive into. I learned a lot about indigenous culture and beliefs while reading this book and honestly, I found myself agreeing with most of them. Their way of life is not “simple” they form complex relationships with their environment but in simple terms to continue giving back and receiving from Mother Earth. I found it hard to get through sections of the book that talked about the schools that native children were sent to, it broke my heart to read about what they went through just because the colonists believed that were “savage” and needed to be converted to save their souls. I think this book is an important piece of literature that everyone should have the opportunity to read and explore I think it would help build that bridge between societal development and the issues surrounding the climate crisis. 


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