Braiding Sweetgrass into Hope
This book is subtitled: “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.” It’s a wonderful book; one I’ll add to my library. It’s about changing attitudes, rediscovering nature, and learning gratitude. If anyone can save the planet and ameliorate this current crisis, it’s Indigenous teachings and children—coupled together this book creates a lifeline to hope.
My understanding is that Monique Gray Smith took the teachings offered in Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Potawatomi botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer and adapted them for Young Adults. It’s a beautifully written and produced book with gorgeous illustrations by Diné (Navajo) artist, Nicole Neidhardt.
Most of the stories originate in the East. Having grown up alongside the Great Lakes and studied with Anishinaabe Elders and teachers at Trent University, they resonate with me. I well remember the teachings of the Seven Fires. We are now in the time of the Seventh Fire. That prophecy “tells that all the people of the earth will see that the path ahead is divided. Each person must make a choice in their path to the future” (278).
Some teachings I’ve chosen to weave into my life—like planting one corn seed, one pole bean seed, and one squash seed together in my community garden plot in the way of the Haudenosaunee People. This is not only to honour my Tuscarora grandmothers, it makes sense. The corn stalk provides a trellis for the pole beans and the wide squash leaves keep the soil moist and weed free. I also found Pass the Feather, where I can order tobacco seed from a Haudenosaunee woman who says, “You are not paying for tobacco seeds or my time – this is a gift from me to you. Tobacco is not for sale and should not be bought.” You can leave Dawn a donation for her time. I love this concept. Then when I pluck from the wild, after asking the plant if I can take a part of her to use, I can leave some sacred tobacco as a gift.
This idea of changing the way we approach nature and do business is one the author proposes. Engage in a gift exchange rather than purchase and sale. Think potlatch: give rather than take, making gratitude one of those things you give.
It seems a romantic and radical idea to change the way we’ve done business for hundreds of years, but isn’t that what’s needed. I mean, that’s how we lost our old growth trees, isn’t it? The Europeans who arrived here on Turtle Island saw only wood for their houses and ships, rather than sentient beings who’d been part of a thriving ecosystem for thousands of years.
We may not be able to change the world view completely but making gifts rather than flocking to the mall to purchase is one way to proceed. Also, we can buy locally crafted products to support our artists and creators rather than huge corporations from the other side of the world.
There are times as I read that I’m transported back home. I remember collecting maple sap in Ontario and boiling it down on my kitchen stove until it bubbled thick in the bottom of the pot and steam ran down the walls. Oh, that was wonderful syrup. And we always had a garden. I knew all the plant life around my childhood home and learned to use natural remedies. Things are different now that I live in a city on the West Coast, but I’m trying to do whatever I can. It’s not only better for the earth, it feeds and soothes my soul.
What can you do? Learn the old Indigenous ways, appreciate the plants, and show your gratitude. Perhaps buy or borrow this book for your teenagers, or if you’re a teacher, read parts of it in the classroom. Working together and sharing these ways of walking on the Mother Earth creates hope, which lessens anxiety and brings beauty to our world.
P.S. If you’ve never smelled sweetgrass, you must. It’s indescribably sweet and soothing. My grandson loves it.
