Events, Reading Room

October 2023 – Braiding SweetGrass

October 2023 - Wed., the 11th @ 7PM

Braiding Sweetgrass By: Robin Wall Kimmerer

Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer demonstrated how all living things―from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen―provide us with gifts and lessons every day in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass . Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest the plants around us. With informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults brings Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.
Register here for the book group
About the Author About the Book Book Review Law and Environment with Author Difference in Adult and Young Adult version

Discussion Questions:

1.“Plants tell their stories not by what they say, but by what they do.” What was your favorite plant story in Braiding Sweetgrass and what lesson did you learn from it?

2. Kimmerer challenges us to see a more positive relationship between people and the environment, like the generosity of geese or the gift of strawberries or pecans that nourished her and her family in time of need. We can shift our focus on the negative impacts of people on the land like “brownfields, factory farms, suburban sprawl” to opportunities for reciprocity and renewal. What is your knowledge of positive interactions between people and land?
 
3. How can people living in less proximity to nature practice concepts that Kimmerer introduces like the Honorable Harvest or reciprocity? What might you incorporate into your life?
 
4. Are there practical insights from this book that you would like to incorporate into your daily life? What resonated the most with you? E.g., gift economy, reciprocity, gratitude, ceremony of the mundane to the sacred, etc.? 

 

View past and future books from the Reading Room.