This forest is textured with different kinds of time, as the surface of the pool is dimpled with different kinds of rain. -Graham S. Immigrant culture should appreciate this wisdom, but not appropriate it, Kimmerer says. Do you consider sustainability a diminished standard of living? The last date is today's How did this change or reinforce your understanding of gifts and gift-giving? What have you overlooked or taken for granted? Director Peter Weir Writers William Kelley (story by) Pamela Wallace (story by) Earl W. Wallace (story by) Stars Harrison Ford Five stars for introducing me to Sweetgrass, its many Native American traditions, and her message of caring for and showing gratitude for the Earth. Do you consider them inanimate objects? However alluring the thought of warmth, there is no substitute for standing in the rain to waken every sensesenses that are muted within four walls, where my attention would be on me, instead of all that is more than me. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Braiding Sweetgrass. Maples do their fair share for us; how well do we do by them? Book Synopsis. The chapters reinforce the importance of reciprocity and gratitude in defeating the greed that drives human expansion at the expense of the earths health and plenitude. What did you think of the concept of the journey of plants relating to the journey of people? Last Updated on March 23, 2021, by eNotes Editorial. This quote from the chapter Witness to the Rain, comes from a meditation during a walk in the rain through the forest. In this chapter, Kimmerer considers the nature of raindrops and the flaws surrounding our human conception of time. This nonfiction the power of language, especially learning the language of your ancestors to connect you to your culture as well as the heartbreaking fact that indigenous children who were banned from speaking anything from English in academic settings. Her writing blends her academic botantical scientific learning with that of the North American indigenous way of life, knowledge and wisdom, with a capital W. She brings us fair and square to our modus operandi of live for today . Burning Sweetgrass is the final section of this book. Yet, this list of qualities could go on and on and each person carries multiple roles. Braids plated of three strands, are given away as signs of kindness and gratitude. I think that moss knows rain better than we do, and so do maples. We will discuss it more soon on their podcast and in the meantime I'll try to gather my thoughts! The motorists speeding by have no idea the unique and valuable life they are destroying for the sake of their own convenience. tags: healing , human , nature , relationship , restoration. I felt euphoric inhaling the intense fragrance, and truly understood why the author would name a book after this plant. Next they make humans out of wood. Copyright 2020 The Christuman Way. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling collection of essays Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. If you're interested in even more Braiding Sweetgrass book club questions, I highly recommend these discussion questions (best reviewed after reading the book) from Longwood Gardens. What are your thoughts on the assertion of mutual taming between plants and humans? Kimmerer also brings up how untouched land is now polluted and forgotten, how endangered species need to be protected, how we can take part in caring for nature, especially during the climate crisis that we are currently experiencing and have caused due to our carelessness and lack of concern for other species. These questions may be posed to an entire class, to small groups, to online communities, or as personal reflective prompts. And we think of it as simply rain, as if it were one thing, as if we understood it. They are wise enough to be grateful. Out of all the gods experiments, only the corn people respect the world that sustains themand so they were the people who were sustained upon the earth.. Without the knowledge of the guide, she'd have walked by these wonders and missed them completely. I wish that I could stand like a shaggy cedar with rain seeping into my bark, that water could dissolve the barrier between us. "As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. Yes, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Dr. Robin Kimmerer arrived on the New York Times Paperback Best Sellers list on January 31, 2020, six years after its publication. But they're gifts, too. If you embrace the natural world as a whole from microscopic organisms to fully-fledged mammals, where do you draw the line with sacrificing life for your greater good?. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. But just two stars for the repetitive themes, the disorganization of the book as a whole, the need for editing and shortening in many places. As immigrants, are we capable of loving the land as if we were indigenous to it? I read this book almost like a book of poetry, and it was a delightful one to sip and savor. LitCharts Teacher Editions. The questionssampled here focus on. Otherwise, consider asking these ten questions in conjunction with the chapter-specific questions for a deeper discussion. Finally, the gods make people out of ground corn meal. Rain on Leaves on a Forest Road in Autumn - 10 Hours Video with Sounds for Relaxation and Sleep Relax Sleep ASMR 282K subscribers 4.6M views 6 years ago Close your eyes and listen to this. Planting Sweetgrass includes the chapters Skywoman Falling, The Council of Pecans, The Gift of Strawberries, An Offering, Asters and Goldenrod, and Learning the Grammar of Animacy. Kimmerer introduces the concepts of reciprocity, gratitude, and gift-giving as elements of a healthy relationship with ones environment which she witnessed from her indigenous family and culture growing up. Kimmerer describes Skywoman as an "ancestral gardener" and Eve as an "exile". Visit the CU Art Museum to explore their many inspiring collections, including the artist we are highlighting in complement to the Buffs One Read Braiding Sweetgrass. Rather than seeing the forest as a commodity to be harvested for profit, the Salish Indians who had lived in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years preserved the forest intact. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants.She has BS in Botany from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as well as a MS and PhD from the University of Wisconsin. How does the story of Skywoman compare to the other stories of Creation? . Your email address will not be published. They make the first humans out of mud, but they are ugly and shapeless and soon melt away in the rain. In 2013, Braiding Sweetgrass was written by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. If your book club is about to read "Braiding Sweetgrass" and has limited time for discussion, consider sticking with these ten general questions that are intended to instigate conversation about the book as a whole. In this chapter, Kimmerer discusses Franz Dolps attempts to regenerate an old-growth forest. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. I suppose thats the way we are as humans, thinking too much and listening too little. Kimmerer begins by affirming the importance of stories: stories are among our most potent tools for restoring the land as well as our relationship to land. Because we are both storytellers and storymakers, paying attention to old stories and myths can help us write the narrative of a better future. The author does an excellent job at narration. What do you consider the power of ceremony? Kimmerer, Robin W. 2011. Do you feel we have created an imbalance with our symbiotic relationship with Earth? In Old-Growth Children Kimmerer tells how Franz Dolp, an economics professor, spent the last part of his life trying to restore a forest in the Oregon Coastal Range. Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerers "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants,". In this chapter, Kimmerer recounts a field trip she took with a group of students while she was teaching in the Bible Belt. Was there a passage that struck you and stayed with you after you finished reading? Quote by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Listening to rain, time disappears. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. The fish-eye lens gives me a giant forehead and tiny ears. And, how can we embrace a hopeful, tangible approach to healing the natural world before its too late? This book contains one exceptional essay that I would highly recommend to everyone, "The Sacred and the Superfund." As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. Not what I expected, but all the better for it. The Andrews Forest Programprovides science on multiple themes and provides a broader foundation for regional studies. After reading the book, what do you find yourself curious about? These qualities also benefited them, as they were the only people to survive and endure. date the date you are citing the material. Note what the gods valued most in the people of corn: their ability to be grateful and to live in community with each other and the earth itself. Enjoy! My mother is a veteran. Word Count: 1124. Witness to the Rain In this chapter, Kimmerer considers the nature of raindrops and the flaws surrounding our human conception of time. What is the significance of Braiding Sweetgrass? So let's do two things, please, in prep for Wednesday night conversation: 1) Bring some homage to rainit can bea memory of your most memorable experience ever walking in the rain, listening to rainfall, staying inside by a fire while it rained, etc.or a poem or piece of prose that captures something you feel about rainor a haiku you write tomorrow morning over your coffeeor best of all, a potent rain dance! How does Kimmerer use myths to illustrate her ideas in Braiding Sweetgrass? Robin Wall Kimmerer posed the question to her forest biology students at the State University of New York, in their final class in March 2020, before the pandemic sent everyone home. After reading the book do you feel compelled to take any action or a desire to impact any change? On the other hand, Skywoman falls to Earth by accident, and lives in harmony with the animals she meets there. In fact, these "Braiding Sweetgrass" book club questions are intended to help in the idea generation for solutions to problems highlighted in the book, in addition to an analysis of our own relationship with our community and the Earth. I can see my face reflected in a dangling drop. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. The way of natural history. How did the explanation of circular time affect your perception of stories, history, and the concept of time in which you are most familiar? Copyright 20112022 Andrews Forest Program. When you have all the time in the world, you can spend it, not on going somewhere, but on being where you are. 2) Look back over the introductory pages for each section"Planting Sweetgrass", "Tending Sweetgrass", Picking Sweetgrass", "Braiding Sweetgrass"for each of these sections Kimmerer includes a short preface statement. We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth, gifts we have neither earned nor paid for: air to breathe, nurturing rain, black soil, berries and honeybees, the tree that became this page, a bag of rice and the exuberance of a field of goldenrod and asters at full bloom. Our lifestyle content is crafted to bring eco-friendly and sustainable ideas more mainstream. Does anything in your life feel like an almost insurmountable task, similar to the scraping of the pond? All rights reserved. The story focuses on the central role of the cattail plant, which can fulfill a variety of human needs, as the students discover. Many of her arguments rely on this concept of honour, which is what she thinks weve abandoned in our publicpolicies. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants and Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.She lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental . Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. As she says: We are all bound by a covenant of reciprocity: plant breath for animal breath, winter and summer, predator and prey, grass and fire, night and day, living and dying. If not, what obstacles do you face in feeling part of your land? Pull up a seat, friends. It was not until recently that the dikes were removed in an effort to restore the original salt marsh ecosystem. Each raindrop will fall individually, its size and destination determined by the path of its falls and the obstacles it encounters along its journey. She wonders what our gift might be, and thinks back on the people of mud, wood, and light. Did you recognize yourself or your experiences in it? Overall Summary. This idea has been mentioned several times before, but here Kimmerer directly challenges her fellow scientists to consider it as something other than a story: to actually allow it to inform their worldviews and work, and to rethink how limited human-only science really is. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. "I close my eyes and listen to the voices of the rain. Through storytelling and metaphor, Braiding Sweetgrass is a nonfiction work that reads as a love letter to the natural world. Tragically, the Native people who upheld this sacred tradition were decimated by diseases such as smallpox and measles in the 1830s. Kimmerer writes about a gift economy and the importance of gratitude and reciprocity. Praise and Prizes What was most surprising or intriguing to you? She puts itwonderfully in this talk: Its not the land which is broken, but our relationship to the land.. Witness to the Rain Robin Wall Kimmerer | Last.fm Search Live Music Charts Log In Sign Up Robin Wall Kimmerer Witness to the Rain Love this track More actions Listeners 9 Scrobbles 11 Join others and track this song Scrobble, find and rediscover music with a Last.fm account Sign Up to Last.fm Lyrics Add lyrics on Musixmatch Kimmerer occupies two radically different thought worlds. In: Fleischner, Thomas L., ed. Kimmerer also discusses her own journey to Kanatsiohareke, where she offered her own services at attempting to repopulate the area with native sweetgrass. Traditional knowledge represents the outcome of long experimentation . We've designed some prompts to help students, faculty, and all of the CU community to engage with the 2021 Buffs OneRead. Reflecting on the book, have your perspectives, views, or beliefs shifted? Learn more about what Inspired Epicurean has to offer in theabout mesection. The artists' books made in a concertina format, bear witness to the events observed, as visual scales. Because she made me wish that I could be her, that my own life could have been lived as fully, as close to nature, and as gratefully as hers. 1) Bring some homage to rainit can be a memory of your most memorable experience ever walking in the rain, listening to rainfall, staying inside by a fire while it rained, etc.or a poem or piece of prose that captures something you feel about rainor a haiku you write tomorrow morning over your coffeeor best of all, a potent rain dance! Just read it. Similarly, each moment in time is shaped by human experience, and a moment that might feel long for a butterfly might pass by in the blink of an eye for a human and might seem even shorter for a millennia-old river. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Get help and learn more about the design. 1976) is a visual artist and independent curator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. It teaches the reader so many things about plants and nature in general. She asks this question as she tells the stories of Native American displacement, which forever changed the lives of her .