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A review by dominic_t
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
This was a really fascinating book. The author did a great job of weaving together stories and plant teachings. The stories really made the plant teachings come alive. This book got me thinking a lot more deeply about nature and my relationship to the world.
I had heard about the Three Sisters (squash, beans, and corn), and I loved learning about why they grow so well together. The beans' vines wrap around the corn, which lifts their pods off the ground so that they don't get eaten by predators. The beans also provide nitrogen, which helps the corn and squash. The squash reduces weeds. I really hope I have enough space someday to grow a Three Sisters garden.
I also loved the chapter "Wisgaak Gokpenagen: A Black Ash Basket." The author talks about the process of weaving black ash baskets, starting from picking out a tree to cut down. It was really fascinating hearing about every step of the process.
The chapter "Sitting in a Circle" talked about foraging in a cattail marsh. It was fascinating to hear all the ways that you can use cattails and other marsh plants. I had no idea that you could eat cattails or that pollen had nutritional value.
"Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass" was another great chapter. One of her students was studying the best way to harvest sweetgrass to protect the population. The faculty committee thought she was wasting her time because they thought that harvesting sweetgrass would damage the population regardless of the harvesting method. She ran an experiment where she tried out different harvest methods, and she found that harvesting sweetgrass stimulated more growth, regardless of the method of harvest. It was a cool way to see how traditional knowledge is backed up by science.
I had heard about the Three Sisters (squash, beans, and corn), and I loved learning about why they grow so well together. The beans' vines wrap around the corn, which lifts their pods off the ground so that they don't get eaten by predators. The beans also provide nitrogen, which helps the corn and squash. The squash reduces weeds. I really hope I have enough space someday to grow a Three Sisters garden.
I also loved the chapter "Wisgaak Gokpenagen: A Black Ash Basket." The author talks about the process of weaving black ash baskets, starting from picking out a tree to cut down. It was really fascinating hearing about every step of the process.
The chapter "Sitting in a Circle" talked about foraging in a cattail marsh. It was fascinating to hear all the ways that you can use cattails and other marsh plants. I had no idea that you could eat cattails or that pollen had nutritional value.
"Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass" was another great chapter. One of her students was studying the best way to harvest sweetgrass to protect the population. The faculty committee thought she was wasting her time because they thought that harvesting sweetgrass would damage the population regardless of the harvesting method. She ran an experiment where she tried out different harvest methods, and she found that harvesting sweetgrass stimulated more growth, regardless of the method of harvest. It was a cool way to see how traditional knowledge is backed up by science.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Colonisation