In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer's elegant stories are bundled into six sections: planting sweetgrass, tending sweetgrass, picking sweetgrass, braiding sweetgrass, and burning sweetgrass. Here, you may explore more about the book, Kimmerer's inspiration, related works, and more.
From the many possible themes for discussion, we’ve offered a few prompts by chapter to foster conversation and hope that you’ll engage with these. Undoubtedly, the richness of Kimmerer's work will prompt you to take the conversation further. You'll find these, chapter summaries, and other activities in our Buffs OneRead community course: Braiding Sweetgrass.
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Planting Sweetgrass Themes: Ways of knowing, Relationship with the natural world, Origin story |
Braiding Sweetgrass Themes: Ways of knowing, Original Instructions, Immigrant to the land |
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Themes: Ways of knowing, Relationship with the natural world, Interdependence |
Themes: Attention, Ways of knowing, Wonder |
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Themes: Gift economy, Attention, Relationship with the natural world |
Themes: Plants as teachers, Teaching, Experience |
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Themes: Gratitude, Relationship with the natural world, Ceremony |
Themes: Renewal, Ceremony |
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Themes: Ways of knowing, Relationship with the natural world, learning |
Themes: Skywoman, Thanksgiving Address, Renewal |
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Learning the Grammar of Animacy Themes: Language, Animacy, Ways of knowing Read a chapter summary, discussion questions, and more.
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Themes: Climate Change, Mutualism, Balanced reciprocity |
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Tending Sweetgrass Themes: Reciprocity, Attention, Children, Motherhood |
Themes: Old-growth forests, Restoration, Cedar |
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Themes: Friendship, Plants as teachers, home, place |
Themes: Attention, Rain, Time |
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Themes: Restoration, Water, Motherhood |
Burning Sweetgrass Themes: Overconsumption, Destruction, Greed |
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Themes: Attention, Water, Generations, Ancestry |
Themes: Restoration, Water, Responsibility |
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Themes: Thanksgiving Address, Gratitude, Ritual |
People of Corn, People of Light Themes: Ways of knowing, Stories, Reciprocity |
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Picking Sweetgrass Themes: Gardens, Reverence, Connection |
Themes: Reciprocity, Attention, Species loneliness |
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Themes: Ways of knowing, Cooperation, Plants as teachers |
Themes: Choice, Fire, Trust, Hope |
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Themes: Original instructions, Gratitude, Honorable Harvest |
Themes: Action, Reciprocity, Gratitude |
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Themes: Ways of knowing, Reciprocity, Sustainable harvest |
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Themes: Community, Citizenship, Responsibility |
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Themes: Reciprocity, Sustainable practices, Consumption |
Works Cited
Recommended Collections
Works Inspired by Braining Sweetgrass
I must return the gift
"Woven together with excerpts from Robin Wall Kimmerer's seminal "Braiding Sweetgrass," this immersive short film grounds viewers into concepts of indigenous wisdom, the power of spending uninterrupted time in nature, the spiritual dimension of environmental work, and how joy is an essential ingredient to our activism."
Visual artist Jenny Holzer projected dozens of quotes from the book on the buildings of Glasgow during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
