A review by intertidalkendy
Medicine Wheel for the Planet: A Journey Toward Personal and Ecological Healing by Jennifer Grenz

emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I cannot emphasize strong enough how important this book is for anyone working in environmental conservation, ecology, or biology. Everyone can learn something from this book, but I believe this should be required reading for the groups listed above. 

“Medicine Wheel for the Planet” is a phenomenal book that challenges readers to analyze the colonial connections in the field of ecology and understand the utter importance and need of Indigenous Knowledge in ecology. Humans must remember we are a part of ecosystems and I loved how the author regularly reminds us of this, and how we are a relation to the ecosystem. 

I absolutely love how the author defines and describes “Eden ecology”, it was illuminating to read and how she put it into words perfectly captured how I have reflected on issues in much of Western conservation work. The author illustrates how Indigenous Knowledge and Western science can, and should, work together for ecosystem healing work. 

A quote from this book that I loved:

“Our very existence is inside the ecosystem as an equal relation, meaning we are just as important as the grasshoppers, worms, birds, and soils are. Yet we find ourselves living in a world hampered by colonial legacies that continue to force us outside the ecosystem.”

I received a free ARC via NetGalley for this book. Thank you to the publisher and author!