We welcome your reviews of books that • were published within the past three years • do not advocate for a political party or politician • do address issues supported by the League, and • intrigued you enough that you want to share them. Please submit your review at any time to Margan and Thad Zajdowicz (Margan.Zajdowicz [at] gmail.com)

Braiding Sweetgrass
Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

By Robin Wall Kimmerer

Have you ever pondered whether different cultures regard the giving of gifts in the same way? In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer discusses the fundamental nature of gifts from the perspective of the Potawatomi people. The fundamental nature of gifts is that they move, and “their value increases with their passage…. The more something is shared, the greater its value becomes.” Is a gift free because it is given free of charge? Gift giving creates a set of relationships.

Kimmerer fell in love with plants as a child and was excited to be studying forestry when she entered college. However, her adviser quickly let her know that she was wrong to think there should be an answer to why asters and goldenrod flowers looked beautiful together. She was told to forget about her question. It “is NOT science! I’ll enroll you in General Botany so you can learn what it is!” So began her college education: “plants were reduced to objects; they were not subjects.”

Years later, after receiving a master’s degree, a PhD, and a prestigious faculty position, Kimmerer’s aha moment came when she heard the story of a guide who was complimented because he knew extensive facts about specific plants. The guide replied sadly, “Yes, I have learned the names of all the bushes, but I have yet to learn their songs.” This book encourages us to slow down and smell the roses and take time to ponder questions such as how to collect syrup from maple trees.

In Western thought there is a recognized hierarchy of beings. Westerners typically believe that humans are on top and plants are at the bottom. Indigenous people see this differently. “Human people are often referred to as ‘the younger brothers of Creation.’… [H]umans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn.” We humans have a lot to learn from the natural world around us.

The author doesn’t insist that we switch to “organic, free-range, fair-trade gerbil milk…. A friend [of the author] says she buys just one ‘green’ item a week—that’s all she can do, so she does it. ‘I want to vote with my dollar,’ [her] friend says!” But the author does advance an interesting thought: “Cautionary stories of the consequences of taking too much are ubiquitous in Native cultures, but it’s hard to recall a single one in English.” It is possible that this perspective helps explain our culture of overconsumption, which is “as distractive to ourselves as to those we consume.”

Few books have inspired me to write down so many quotations and encourage so many others to read the book. In fact, I purchased and gave away ten copies, even to people to whom I don’t usually give gifts. In turn, several of them have shared that they bought copies to give to others. Although published in 2013, Braiding Sweetgrass has developed an extensive and current following. For the last three months Vroman’s bookstore has displayed copies of the book at both of their locations.

Happy reading—but keep your email or a notebook handy so that so you, too, can share quotes and stories with friends.

—Marilynne Wilander, LWV-PA Board member