Braiding Sweetgrass

“[Braiding Sweetgrass] is simultaneously meditative about the abundance of the natural world and bold in its call to action on ‘climate urgency.’ Kimmerer asks readers to honor the Earth’s glories, restore rather than take, and reject an economy and culture rooted in acquiring more. She invites us to learn from plants and other species, nature’s teachers. ‘If we use a plant respectfully, it will flourish. If we ignore it, it will go away,’ she writes. Her work is ‘an invitation into reciprocity.’”

“Robin Wall Kimmerer is writer of rare grace. She writes about the natural world from a place of such abundant passion that one can never quite see the world the same way after having seen it through Kimmerer’s eyes. In Braiding Sweetgrass, she takes us on a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise. She is a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.”

“Robin Wall Kimmerer has written an extraordinary book, showing how the factual, objective approach of science can be enriched by the ancient knowledge of the indigenous people. It is the way she captures beauty that I love the most—the images of giant cedars and wild strawberries, a forest in the rain and a meadow of fragrant sweetgrass will stay with you long after you read the last page.”

“In Braiding Sweetgrass, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer tackles everything from sustainable agriculture to pond scum as a reflection of her Potawatomi heritage, which carries a stewardship ‘which could not be taken by history: the knowing that we belonged to the land.’ … It’s a book absorbed with the unfolding of the world to observant eyes—that sense of discovery that draws us in.”

“Botanist, professor of plant ecology, and Potawatomi woman Robin Wall Kimmerer merges her experiences within each of these identities and communities to explore nature through scientific, cultural, and philosophical lenses. She urges readers to examine their relationship with the natural world, and open themselves up to the idea that plants and animals have valuable lessons to teach us.”

“The author’s 2013 book of essays on Native folkways concerning plants and their roles in human life is reissued here with new illustrations and design, a handsome production that well serves her engaging text, which will be of interest to readers schooled in the work of writers such as Wendell Berry, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Joy Harjo … A smart, subtle overlay of different systems of thought that together teach us to be better citizens of Earth.”

“Kimmerer’s book is a beautiful blend of scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom that reads like poetry, testimony and essay, bringing hard facts about our dying natural world to surface, and with a gentle hand, she motivates and stirs something deep within us. Milkweed Editions published a special hardback edition this year; it is a treasure that will stay in my personal library and will be passed down to family. I love it that much.”

“[Kimmerer] has given us a profound perspective of history, restoration, reciprocity, responsibility and hope. If we take only what we need and find ways to restore what we do take, we can take care of the earth and she will take care of us.”

“Professor and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer knows that the answer to all forms of ecological unbalance have long been hidden in plain sight, told in the language of plants and animals, minerals and elements. She draws on her own heritage … pairing science with Indigenous principles and storytelling to advocate for a renewed connection between human beings and nature.”

“The gift of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book is that she provides readers the ability to see a very common world in uncommon ways, or, rather, in ways that have been commonly held but have recently been largely discarded. She puts forth the notion that we ought to be interacting in such a way that the land should be thankful for the people.”

“Caring for plants is important. Published in 2013, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer is about just that. Seen through the eyes of a botanist and Native American, this non-fiction book asks many questions about botany, while looking to Native American traditions and Western science for the answers.”

“In this time of intense grief, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s work resonates with the wisdom of the entire plant world, its past and present and future. Plants are not simply of the world, passively shaped by external forces—they are world-builders, and they make it possible for the rest of us to exist. Through Kimmerer, I have learned to be more present with plants, with mosses—to learn from and with them. I am reminded that the verb ‘to be’ can be thought of as ‘to make world’; that we cannot separate ourselves from the matter of the rest of the world, and that each and every encounter changes us.”

“With deep compassion and graceful prose, Robin Wall Kimmerer encourages readers to consider the ways that our lives and language weave through the natural world. A mesmerizing storyteller, she shares legends from her Potawatomi ancestors to illustrate the culture of gratitude in which we all should live.”

“Braiding Sweetgrass is instructive poetry. Robin Wall Kimmerer has put the spiritual relationship that Chief Seattle called the ‘web of life’ into writing. Industrial societies lack the understanding of the interrelationships that bind all living things—this book fills that void. I encourage one and all to read these instructions.”