“They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know
we were seeds.”
Dino Christalopoulos
Sweetgrass is considered to be the hair of
Mother Earth in Potawatomi culture, and to braid it is to show loving care for
her well-being. Sweetgrass has medicinal properties and is traditionally used
to make baskets. The fragrance of sweetgrass combines the sweetness of vanilla
with the fresh scent of moist earth.
The author writes, “I could hand you a braid
of sweetgrass as thick and shining as the braid that hung down my grandmother’s
back. But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take. Wingaashk belongs
to herself.”
As an educator, I want to recommend Braiding
Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This specific edition adapted for young
adults by Monique Gray Smith contains questions that spark meaningful
conversations, reflections and a wellspring of ideas to write essays.
This book is an excellent resource to awaken an
interest in how plants are woven into our cultures and how our connection with
animals and plants can teach us how to share the world with others.
I think the content of the book can be
incorporated into the curriculum of science, literature and history, and I hope
Braiding Sweetgrass will be translated into other languages, for it is an invaluable resource for high schoolers and teachers across the world.
I hope
every school library owns one of these books.
The
author is a plant scientist and a poet. Her writing style is irresistible,
poetical and impeccable. Robin Wall Kimmerer had her writing published in
scientific journals as well as literary ones. She is a mother, scientist,
decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She
is a distinguished professor of Environmental Biology and the founder and
director of the Center for Native Peoples and the environment.
Braiding Sweetgrass integrates history and scientific facts about plants and ecosystems. It also shares illustrated stories. Each chapter offers questions that induce readers to muse on our relationships and interactions with one another, Mother Earth and other living beings.
Each
chapter inspires readers to behold the world through fresh eyes,
contemplate their surroundings with empathy and curiosity and make respectful
choices that embody gratitude, reciprocity and the spirit of cooperation.
There are many interesting facts and
historical details that help us to understand that respect for the land is also
about respecting and healing ourselves. In practical terms, her introspective narrative can bring
awareness and lead to constructive solutions on many levels.
It is time for economists to acknowledge that
we should not ignore the limitations of a finite planet. The consequences of
neglecting the ecological dimension of the financial challenges have a cost.
She writes, “Ecological economists argue for reforms. They work to ground economics in ecological principles that are constrained by thermodynamics. If
we want to maintain quality of life, they urge that we must sustain natural
capital and ecosystem services.”
“In
Potawatomi and many other Indigenous languages, it is not possible to speak of
living beings as it. Sure, we still have words for objects—desk,
tractors, phone, but they do not describe anything living. Objects made by
humans are inanimate.” It is different
from the way they refer to living beings. In Potawatomi culture they apply
their own grammar of respect to living beings, which she refers to as the
grammar of animacy. She expresses this clearly, “We use words to
address the living world, just as we use for our family. Because they are our
family.”
She
wonders if there is a way to bring animacy into the English Language. You can
read page 12 for more details on her suggestions and her intention.
The
illustrations by Nicole Neidhart add a charming, amusing touch to the edition
for young adults, and I’m sure they will inspire many students to express
themselves through art as well.
On Indigenous stories and why she chose to
include them
“I am a
listener and I have been listening to stories told around me for longer than I
care to admit. I mean to honor my teachers by passing on the stories that they
have passed on to me and have done my best to give credit to who and where
these stories came from.”
The book offers the opportunity to reflect at the crossroads we are now and to choose a path of collaboration.
Separation
from Mother Nature is a state of loneliness, a detachment from reality that
compromises our health. We see it on a regular basis when we encounter the
arrogance of those who deny the lifesaving nature of this connection, the fact
that we exist as part of a whole. When we kill that sense of belonging from our
awareness, we are deprived of health and harmony in the way we live our lives.
Robin Wall Kimmerer describes this as a
“species loneliness.” She writes, “It is a deep unnamed sadness stemming from
separation from the rest of Creation, from the loss of relationship. As our
human dominance of the world has grown, we have become more and more isolated.”
Yet Mother Earth gives us the chance to heal our relationship with her. When you feel overwhelmed,
take some time outdoors. Infuse the body with the fresh fragrance of the earth…
“Recent research has shown that the smell of
humus exerts a physiological effect on humans. Breathing in the scent of Mother
Earth stimulates within us the production of serotonin. Serotonin is a brain
chemical that plays a role in regulating mood and behavior.”
I
disagree with the author when she attaches the label of “Western” to distorted
views on nature, because she establishes a false dichotomy—Western versus
Eastern-- that does not reflect the truth. The use of those labels is
misleading. If these labels were reflective of the truth, we would not be
witnessing the brutal slaughter of whales by the Japanese government, and
Indonesia would not have destroyed seventy percent of its forests.
There is work to do everywhere. Both
the Western and Eastern worlds need to be part of this movement of solidarity
and respect for the land and her creatures. On the other hand, the use of
labels and generalizations leads to lack of accountability and a pattern of lazy thinking. It sows
prejudices and divisive attitudes that refuse to welcome each individual as a
unique contributor to the forest of life.
The strong foundation of the book lies in
the precious teachings of the Honorable Harvest and the Thanksgiving address.
I will
be returning to Braiding Sweetgrass often to reread parts of it. This unique book
transports the self to a setting of peace and harmony, a land of inspiration
and reunion with one’s intuition and love for nature.
I found a more updated article by Robert Costanza, so I am sharing it here:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/beyond-growth-eu-economy-gdp-sustainable-wellbeing/
