Readers' Advisory: Braiding Sweetgrass: Home

Readers’ Advisory
Shelley Marcus, Professor, Reference Librarian, Chaffey College

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.  Milkweed. 2013.

Welcome to Readers’ Advisory!  Did you know that reading for pleasure increases student and all-around success? 

If you're in the mood for a mellow read, enjoyable as it is informative, you might try this unique book.

The author, a member of the Potawatomi Nation, a botanist and an environmental biology professor, has a unique eye for the natural world, and is a master storyteller. 

She describes her book as “an invitation to celebrate the gifts of the earth.” 

Knowledgeable in science as much as she is in Native American ways, Kimmerer writes with a spirit that is simultaneously practical, ethical and awe-inspiring.

She explains the theme of the book as a braid woven from three stands: “Indigenous ways of knowing, scientific knowledge, and a story of an Anishinabekwe scientist trying to bring them together in service to what matters most. It is an intertwining of science, spirit and story…”

There are points to ponder in every chapter.  For example, in the Western tradition, human beings are placed at the top of a hierarchy, and plants at the bottom. In the Native tradition, humans are referred to as “the younger brothers of Creation” with a lot to learn from other species.

Nature comes alive from her pen, as she transmits a feeling of wonder and connectedness.

This book is one of the 250,000 eBooks in our library collection, available 24/7.

Here is a brief video that will introduce the book and show how to access all eBooks.

Here is the permalink to Braiding Sweetgrass.

Questions?  Contact me at shelley.marcus@chaffey.edu