My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. I close my eyes and listen to all the voices in the rain. Your email address will not be published. The Earth is but ONE country and all living beings her citizens. Kimmerer has often pointed out the importance of direct experience with the land and other living things. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on These questions may be posed to an entire class, to small groups, to online communities, or as personal reflective prompts. She speaks about each drops path as completely different, interacting with a multitude of organic and inorganic matter along the way, sometimes becoming bigger or smaller, sometimes picking up detritus along the way or losing some of its fullness. "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. Kimmerer describes how the lichen unites the two main sources of nourishment: gathering and hunting. And we think of it as simply time, as if it were one thing, as if we understood it. Do offering ceremonies or rituals exist in your life? I refrain from including specific quotes in case a reader does take a sneak peak before finishing the book, but I do feel your best journey is one taken page-by-page. She is wrong. We've designed some prompts to help students, faculty, and all of the CU community to engage with the 2021 Buffs OneRead. How often do we consider the language, or perceptions, of those with whom we are trying to communicate? The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. The way of natural history. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive the One Water blog newsletter and acknowledge the Autodesk Privacy Statement. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. She invites us to seek a common language in plants and suggests that there is wisdom and poetry that all plants can teach us. Can you identify any ceremonies in which you participated, that were about the land, rather than family and culture? Consider the degree of attention you give to the natural world. It left me at a loss for words. At Kanatsiohareke, he and others have carved out a place where Indigenous people can gather to relearn and celebrate Haudenosaunee culture. In the story, the first divine beings, or gods, create plants and animals to fill the emptiness. As a social scientist myself, I found her nuanced ideas about the relationship between western science and indigenous worldviews compelling. That's why Robin Wall Kimmerer, a scientist, author and Citizen Potawatomi Nation member, says it's necessary to complement Western scientific knowledge with traditional Indigenous wisdom. Throughout his decades-long journey to restore the land to its former glory, Dolp came to realize the parallel importance of restoring his personal relationship to land. How do we characterize wealth and abundance? Was the use of animals as people in various stories an effective use of metaphor? [], If there is meaning in the past and the imagined future, it is captured in the moment. We are grateful that the waters are still here and meeting their responsibility to the rest of Creation. Braiding Sweetgrass consists of the chapters In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place, The Sound of Silverbells, Sitting in a Circle, Burning Cascade Head, Putting Down Roots, Umbilicaria: The Belly Button of the World, Old-Growth Children, and Witness to the Rain. Here, Kimmerer delves into reconciling humanity with the environment, dwelling in particular upon the changes wrought between generations upon the way in which one considers the land one lives on. For more discussion prompts and facilitation tips,or to join the conversation, please join the Buffs OneRead community course: Braiding Sweetgrass. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. If you only read one science or nature book this year, this comes with my highest recommendations. We are approaching the end of another section inBraiding Sweetgrass. Do you believe in land as a teacher? Were you familiar with Carlisle, Pennsylvania prior to this chapter? As stated before, an important aspect of culture is its creation myths. How would you describe the sensation when you did or did not? date the date you are citing the material. A wonderfully written nonfiction exploring indigenous culture and diaspora, appreciating nature, and what we can do to help protect and honor the land we live upon. These writing or creative expression promptsmight be used for formal assignments or informal exercises. I choose joy. What creates a strong relationship between people and Earth? 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! Not what I expected, but all the better for it. Kimmerer again affirms the importance of the entire experience, which builds a relationship and a sense of humility. The book is simultaneously meditative about the. 1976) is a visual artist and independent curator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Braiding Sweetgrass addresses a tapestry of relationships that represent a larger, more significant relationship between humans and the environment we call home. Dr. Kimmerer does a fantastic job of shining a spotlight on the intersectionality of traditionally divergent spheres; most specifically, Western scientific methods and Indigenous teachings. I must admit I had my reservations about this book before reading it. How much do we love the environment that gives of itself despite our misuse of its resources? The series Takes Care of Us honors native women and the care, protection, leadership and love the provide for their communities. This book has taught me so much, hopefully changed me for the better forever. Through this anecdote, Kimmerer reminds us that it is nature itself who is the true teacher. These qualities also benefited them, as they were the only people to survive and endure. I think it has affected me more than anything else I've ever read. What have you worked hard for, like tapping maples? I appreciated Robin Wall Kimmerers perspective on giving back to the land considering how much the land gives to us. 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. Kimmerer describes the entire lifecycle of this intriguing creature to emphasize how tragic it is when their lives are ended so abruptly and randomly by passing cars. Was there a passage that struck you and stayed with you after you finished reading? Dr. Kimmerer invites us to view our surroundings through a new lens; perhaps a lens we should have been using all along. This was a wonderful, wonderful book. Why or why not? Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass. Did this chapter change your view on the inner workings of forests? I was intimated going into it (length, subject I am not very familiar with, and the hype this book has) but its incredibly accessible and absolutely loved up to the seemingly unanimous five star ratings. What can you do to promote restoration over despair? Listening to rain, time disappears. It teaches the reader so many things about plants and nature in general. It was not until recently that the dikes were removed in an effort to restore the original salt marsh ecosystem. She is Potawatomi and combines her heritage with her scientific and environmental passions. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original 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. Robin Wall Kimmerer is an American author, scientist, mother, professor, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. moments of wonder and joy. Did you recognize yourself or your experiences in it? The questionssampled here focus onreader experience and connection. Do you have any acquaintances similar to Hazel? Kimmerer hopes that with the return of salmon to Cascade Head, some of the sacred ceremonies of gratitude and reciprocity that once greeted them might return as well. Five stars for introducing me to Sweetgrass, its many Native American traditions, and her message of caring for and showing gratitude for the Earth. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants and Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. The reflecting surface of the pool is textured with their signatures, each one different in pace and resonance. Her book of personal observations about nature and our relationship to it,Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants,has been on theNYTimes bestseller list as a paperback for an astounding 130 weeks. In In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place, Kimmerer compares Nanabozhos journey to the arrival of immigrant plants carried from the Old World and rehabilitated in American soil. What did you think of Robins use of movement as metaphor and time? Hundreds of thousands of readers have turned to Kimmerer's words over the decades since the book's first publication, finding these tender, poetic, and respectful words, rooted in soil and tradition, intended to teach and celebrate. Book Synopsis. What about the book resonated the most with you? Witness to the rain Published December 15, 2017 Title Witness to the rain Authors: Kimmerer, Robin W. Secondary Authors: Fleischner, Thomas L. Publication Type Book Section Year of Publication: 2011 Publisher Name: Trinity University Press Publisher City: San Antonio, TX Accession Number: AND4674 URL What is the significance of Braiding Sweetgrass? In this chapter, Kimmerer discusses the legacy of Indian boarding schools, such as Carlisle, and some of the measures that are being taken to reverse the damage caused by forcible colonial assimilation. In Witness to the Rain, Kimmerer gives uninterrupted attention to the natural world around her. Otherwise, consider asking these ten questions in conjunction with the chapter-specific questions for a deeper discussion. Robin Kimmerer, Potawatomi Indigenous ecologist, author, and professor, asks this question as she ponders the fleeting existence of our sister speciesspecies such as the passenger pigeon, who became extinct a century ago. As a botanist and indigenous person you'd think this would be right up my alley, but there was something about the description that made it sound it was going to be a lot of new-age spiritual non-sense, and it was a bit of that, but mostly I was pleasantly surprised that it was a more "serious" book than I thought it'd be. Her work is in the collections of the Denver Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Tweed Museum of Art, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Akta Lakota Museum among other public and private collections. Burning Sweetgrass Windigo Footprints The Sacred and the Superfund Collateral Damage .

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