Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: book review

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (2013) is a ‘braid of stories’ from Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. It is an intertwining of science, spirit, and storytelling.

The book begins with sweetgrass, believed to be the first plant to grow on Earth – a sacred plant. The author tells us about other important plants too: pecan, strawberry, maple, witch hazel, freshwater green algae (‘the water net’), water lily, corn, and so on.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a plant scientist, and she adds, ‘but I am also a poet and the world speaks to me in metaphor.’

She talks in powerful poetic prose of the ‘communal generosity’ of plants, a ‘mycorrhizal network’ that unites people to land and ancestral responsibility, and the gifts of plants that go beyond food and shelter to songs of wisdom. She tells of the ‘grammar of animacy’ and indigenous words that encapsulate all meaning: such as ‘puhpowee’ meaning ‘the force which causes mushrooms to push up from the earth overnight.’ Puhowee is a word of action, purpose, and process. English has no equivalent.

Robin Wall Kimmerer talks of the potential of photosynthesis, ecological consciousness, balance, and ‘returning the gift.’ She talks of ‘minidewak’ meaning ‘they give from the heart.’ She talks of the power of gratitude.

This is an interesting book, blending sacred and spiritual knowledge with the scientific world of botany in storybook form. It brings people back to poetry and back to nature.

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite

Global Gentlemanliness

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, foreign aid audits and evaluations, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog