Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants was written by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Native American author, biologist, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Kimmer has also written a workbook to go with Braiding Sweetgrass and a young adult version with the same message as the original book.
In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer explores the intersection – some would say “collision” – of the wisdom of the indigenous people of North America and the scientific knowledge in which most Americans, particularly those of European descent, put their trust.
I have always been fascinated by creation myths, not just because I enjoy fairy tales, but because, if you read them carefully, creation myths say more about the creation of their respective cultures than they do about the origins of the planet. Kimmerer starts with the Skywoman creation myth of the Potawatomi people. This is part of a collection of teachings that Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region call “the Original Instructions.”
In this story, the Skywoman fell to Earth from the Skyworld. As she fell, she reached for the branches of the Tree of Life, collecting fruits and seeds which she then planted on Earth. This transformed the world from a dead brown to vibrant green sphere full of life. According to the legend, Sweetgrass was the first plant to grow and is thus considered sacred. In addition to being sacred, Sweetgrass has practical uses in making baskets and other items. But it is the medicinal and spiritual properties of sweetgrass that make it so important. “When we braid sweetgrass,” Kimmerer writes, “we are braiding the hair of Mother Earth, showing her our loving attention, our care for her beauty and well-being, in gratitude for all she has given us.”
The contrast with traditional Western thought is clear. As Kimmerer writes, “On one side of the world were people whose relationship with the living world was shaped by Skywoman, who created a garden for all, while on the other side of the world, another woman in was banished from her garden for tasting the forbidden fruit of another tree. In one story, the woman makes the Earth a home for her and her descendants. In the other, Eve is an exile in an unwelcoming world, doing her best to survive until she and her descendants can reach their real home in Heaven.
These seminal beliefs form the basis of our respective cultures. They are reflected today in our treatment of the environment and one another. Skywoman teaches reciprocity and sustainability. We take from the Earth but we also give back. This reciprocity also applies to cultures. We take from society, but we also give back. Compare this to the traditional Western view of Earth as something to be conquered and subdued. In this narrative, the Earth is not a mother or even a welcoming host. She is our adversary. In this relationship, there is little room for reciprocity or gratitude.
While primarily about environmental concerns like climate change and the ultimate price of greed, Kimmerer also touches on the idea sweetgrass as a metaphor for the treatment of indigenous people through colonization and exploitation of resources. Once as plentiful as it was sacred, native sweetgrass has been choked out by non-native invasive plant species that threaten its existence. The parallel is clear. Like sweetgrass, indigenous cultures around the world are disappearing, their ideas, traditions, and languages lost along with their belief in gratitude and a basic love for the Earth that is their home.
Braiding Sweetgrass is about people’s relationship to the natural world and how we treat plants, the earth, and, ultimately, one another.
For High Plains Public Radio, I’m Bob Seay.
