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Braiding Sweetgrass
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This book’s cover is emblazed with the declaration that Braiding Sweetgrass is “a hymn of love to the world”— lovely praise by Elizabeth Gilbert which is a succinct and accurate description of this poetic collection of essays on the omniscient knowing of nature.
Braiding Sweetgrass is a compilation of First Nation stories interwoven with ecological research to show that the natural world can be better understood and preserved when we live closer to the land. It’s a poignant mix of native life ethos and modern ecology but instead of the two being in juxtaposition, Kimmerer layers the lessons so flawlessly that we, the readers, can revel in the symbiotic genius of sacred knowledge with the natural world.
I believe this resource by a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a testament to the value and necessity of raising marginalized voices across the literary world. If you read this book, you too will surely attest to the depth of passionate wisdom handed to readers with grace.
"Stories are among our most potent tools for understanding the land as well as our relationship to land. We need to unearth the old stories that live in a place and begin to create new ones, for we are storymakers, not just storytellers. All stories are connected, new ones woven from the threads of the old." p. 341
