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Braiding Sweetgrass uses a unique combination of scientific research, Indigenous knowledge, and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s personal experience to examine humanity’s relationship with the earth today and what can be done to repair it. Kimmerer emphasizes that the current climate crisis and other environmental issues are issues not solely of science, but of spirit and emotion as well.

Read about the background Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall Kimmerer.

The first section, Planting Sweetgrass, introduces the concepts Kimmerer will use to make her arguments throughout the book. These include the concepts of reciprocity, gratitude, and gift culture. Chapter 1 introduces the Indigenous peoples’ Creation story and contrasts it with the Western assumption that the earth is a font of resources to be used. This is a stark difference from Indigenous belief, in which nature is seen as a collection of living beings that humanity is to learn from. Because of this, Kimmerer argues that mending the broken relationship between humanity and the earth is key to undoing the damage humanity has already done. Chapter 2 discusses mutualism through the example of displaced Indigenous peoples and the pecan trees that sustained them, and which they sustained in turn. Chapter 3 introduces the idea of a gift economy, as opposed to a market economy, in which gifts are used to forge social bonds that create reciprocal relationships and gratitude between people via their responsibilities to each other. Chapter 4 continues the discussion of gratitude with the concept of ceremonies that give thanks, whether it is an ancient group ceremony or a personal family ceremony. Chapter 5 discusses how neither science nor Indigenous knowledge alone can be used to understand the world, and urges that both be allowed to take complementary roles and provide a more complete understanding of the world. Chapter 6 explains the concept of animacy in Indigenous language, in which all things in nature, from water to animals, are seen as respected beings and not lesser creatures than humans.

Read about Main Idea (#1) of Braiding Sweetgrass: Humanity must repair its relationship with the earth before it can repair the earth.

The next section, Tending Sweetgrass, explores the social bonds between people as well as the bonds between people and the earth. In Chapter 7, Kimmerer tells the story of making maple sugar with her daughters, a process only possible because of their bonds with the earth, but also because of their bonds with each other that allow them to split up the work and share the load, just as Indigenous peoples once did centuries before. Chapter 8 tells the story of Hazel, an old woman who once treated her community with herbal remedies when she was young, and whose community gives back to her in her old age. Chapters 9 and 10 explore Kimmerer’s role as a mother at different times in her life, from when her children were very young and she was cleaning a pond for them to swim in, to when both had left for college and she found peace through nature. Early on, it was she who was feeding nature and helping to restore it, while later, nature fed her. Chapter 11 discusses the idea of allegiance to gratitude for the earth’s many gifts as opposed to allegiance to a political system.

Read about the book’s Main Idea (#2): The unique responsibility of humans is to show gratitude for the earth’s gifts.

The third section, Picking Sweetgrass, explores the relationship between humanity and nature in depth. Chapter 12 discusses the mutual love between plants and people through a story about gardening. Chapter 13 describes how corn, beans, and squash are better grown and eaten together than they are alone. Chapter 14 explores how black ash trees rely on black ash basket makers, and vice versa, and how to keep that relationship balanced in order for both to continue benefiting. Chapter 15 tells a similar story, with sweetgrass and sweetgrass basket makers, but it is told through a more scientific lens, with a student of Kimmerer’s doing an experiment to prove that Indigenous harvesting is key to the sweetgrass’s survival. Chapter 16 discusses the relationship between humanity and nature on a wider scale, highlighting the benefits, such as food, shelter, and carbon absorption that humanity is dependent on, and discussing their disappearance as climate change progresses. Chapter 17 concludes this section with the idea of the Honorable Harvest, in which humans only take what is freely given, appreciate what has been given, and give back to the earth in some way as thanks.

The fourth section, Braiding Sweetgrass, focuses on humanity’s physical relationship to nature and the stewardship of the earth. Chapter 18 discusses the idea of becoming Indigenous to a place, in which immigrants or settlers are able to treat a place as if it is their home and take care of it for future generations. Chapter 19 and 20 both tell the stories of camping trips. In the first story, Kimmerer struggled to relate to her students, but finds that they had related to nature regardless. In the second story, she has much greater personal success, but the effect is largely the same, as both groups of students finish each trip with a greater appreciation for nature. Chapter 21 tells of an Indigenous salmon ceremony that involved controlled burns and controlled fishing to honor the salmon swimming upriver. Kimmerer contrasts it with a story of the settlers and their use of the land, in which they overfished and destroyed the salmon’s breeding grounds. Chapter 22 discusses the challenges of restoring a habitat or a culture as well as the ways one can begin such a restoration. Chapter 23 explains the reciprocal relationship between the two components of lichen, and urges humans to form a similar relationship with nature. Chapter 24 discusses the efficient, reciprocal ecosystems of old growth forests as well as their fragility in the face of invasive pioneer species. Chapter 25 emphasizes the importance of trusting in nature’s wisdom, and not solely humanity’s knowledge.

Read the the unusual style and presentation of Braiding Sweetgrass.

The final section, Burning Sweetgrass, examines how mankind has damaged the world and directly identifies the problems that have led us to this point. Chapter 26 discusses the legend of the ever-hungry Windigo, and compares it to the culture of overconsumption that is perpetuated today. Chapter 27 explores the specific case of the pollution of Onondaga Lake, caused by humanity’s greed, and the complexities involved in restoring it. Chapter 28 warns against the arrogance of assuming that the scientific worldview is the only correct way to view and understand the world. Chapter 29 discusses the prices of human development, both human, animal, and plant. Chapter 30 is a message of encouragement and hope, directing people to return to the old ways and knowledge in order to save the earth. Chapter 31 is a direct answer to Chapter 26, stating that the enemy of overconsumption is abundance. Kimmerer reminds the reader in the epilogue of the abundance the earth has given us, and encourages humanity to now give back.

Read about the book’s Main Idea (#3): Neither science nor Indigenous knowledge alone is enough to understand the world fully.

Previous section Burning Sweetgrass (Chapters 26-31) & Epilogue

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