Kimmerer spent a lot of time with her grandmother and the Potawatomi tribe. It seemed the country and her tribe were at constant odds. Kimmerer‘s experience growing up as a Native American in modern America was one of clashing cultures. If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.ĭownload PDF Lesson 1: Native American culture emphasizes respect and care for nature. Ready to learn some lesser-known ideas about caring for our planet? Here we go! To protect our future, we have to start teaching the next generation how to care for the Earth.If we want to have a sustainable environment, we need to start changing our ways to be more reciprocal.The Native American people can teach us a lot about how to interact with our environment.Here are the 3 most valuable lessons I’ve learned from this book: She teaches us to treat the Earth as a beloved family member rather than a resource we can take freely from. As a Native American and environmental biologist, she brings a unique perspective on how to face our environmental challenges. In Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer gives us a unique view on how to care for Mother Nature. But what if the real solution will come by changing the way we look at our environment completely? What can we do about it? People fight to make laws limiting our use of resources and switching to cleaner ones. There’s global warming, species are dying, coasts are rising, and our demand for natural resources never stops increasing. In particular, Onondaga Lake was one water source which was sacred to the people of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the oldest living democratic society, but.1-Sentence-Summary: Braiding Sweetgrass offers some great ways for all of us to take better care of and be more grateful for our planet by explaining the way that Native Americans view and take care of it. “The Sacred and the Superfund” focuses on water as a clear, pure, sacred substance to all cultures. For Kimmerer, today’s ‘Windigo’ is our tendency towards greed and individualism, threatening the concept of community which Ojibwe culture warned centuries ago needed to be held sacred. Windigo is a spirit, devouring mankind, and thus represents any overindulgent, self-destructive habit known to humanity. Kimmerer discusses Windigo’s relevance in today’s America: the myth is intended to strengthen self-discipline and build resistance against greed, or taking too much. Windigo is a monster that comes out in the wintertime, when food is scarce, and eats people. “Windigo Footprints” introduces Windigo, a mythical creature prominent in Ojibwe cautionary tales.

Braiding sweetgrass barnes and noble