Re-Adopting Indigenous Ways In the Modern World: 10 Things I Learned from Robin Wall Kimmerer's “Braiding Sweetgrass”
I’d never thought about it much before: the relationship we have with plants. Or, might I correct myself, the relationship we had with them.
Up until supermarkets came into existence, it was reciprocal…a mutual giving-and-receiving type of relationship. And a beautiful one at that.
But in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s profoundly poetic book, Braiding Sweetgrass, she opened up my numb eyes to 10 core ancestral truths that we must hold near and dear to our anxious hearts.
Take a deep breath, center yourself, and let’s get into it…
1. Plants Need Humans, Humans Need Plants
Humans have caused a lot of harm. Chopping down 20% of the Amazon forest just to have more land for soybeans and cattle. Overharvesting medicinal plants like American Ginseng just to sell to countries overseas. Destroying precious habitats just for more condos and real estate.
We weren’t created for this—using land as capital. As an ATM we rely on for endless amounts of cash.
We were created to care for the land. And as far off as it may seem today, plants were created to care for us.
This is a foundational piece of ancestral wisdom: that plants and humans need each other. That we each have something to give—and gain.
Kimmerer and her graduate student went so far as to prove this scientifically. Their theory: harvesting a plant will not damage its population.
So they began. With two harvesting methods and one control, they set off to discover how human interaction affected a plant’s growth.
The first harvesting method was done by carefully pinching the sweetgrass at the base—one by one. While the other harvesting method was done by yanking up a tuft of sweetgrass. The control was untouched.
Their findings: the sweetgrass that was harvested—whether pinched or tugged—flourished. While the sweetgrass that wasn’t harvested did not.
The science—or might I say, the plants—confirmed their theory: plants need humans. “The question is,” Kimmerer asks, “how do we show respect?” The answer: sustainable harvesting. Which brings us to our next point…
2. Take Only What You Need
We’ve all been to the grocery store when we’re hungry. This ravenous slip in satiety can have us throwing 15 extra food items—that we never needed—into our cart.
Indigenous peoples had cautionary tales of this—the consequences of overconsumption.
So they adopted a set of principles and practices called the Honorable Harvest. Kimmerer describes them as “rules of sorts that govern our taking, shape our relationship with the natural world, and rein in our tendency to consume—that the world might be as rich for the seventh generation as it is for our own.”
That’s what we all want, right? An earth—a home—where we don’t have to worry about the quality of our air, water, soil, and food—things that take a toll when we overconsume?
“The guidelines for the Honorable Harvest are not written down…but if you list them,” Kimmerer says, “they might look something like this:
Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.
Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.
Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last.
Take only what you need.
Take only that which is given.
Never take more than half. Leave some for others.
Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.
Share.
Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.
Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.
So now that we have a bit more wisdom in how we can respect the land, what are some other ways we can show respect and foster healing? Good question—one that we’ll answer in our eight remaining points.
3. Practice Reciprocity
Perhaps the first step in showing respect—to the plants, animals, and resources we cohabitate with—is readopting an old way of thinking: reciprocity.
The Britannica Dictionary describes reciprocity as “a situation or relationship in which two people or groups agree to do something similar for each other, to allow each other to have the same rights.”
Kimmerer describes it like this: “Reciprocity helps resolve the moral tension of taking a life by giving in return something of value that sustains the ones who sustain us. One of the responsibilities as human people is to find ways to enter into reciprocity with the more-than-human world. We can do it through gratitude, through ceremony, through land stewardship, science, art, and in everyday acts of practical reverence.”
This, of course, is much easier to write and talk about than it is to actually do. Some of the ways I practice reciprocity: going to the beach nearby and picking up trash, frequenting my local refill shop to decrease my reliance on single-use plastic, and taking the things that I do still buy in plastic, glass, and aluminum containers to my local recycling center.
4. Vote With Your Dollars
The money in our pockets is a powerful way of practicing reciprocity, too.
Kimmerer talks of a friend who “buys just one green item per week—that’s all she can do, so she does it.”
What if those of us who had those few extra dollars to “buy green,” did so?
What if we looked for coffee beans that had certifications like Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or Shade Grown? What if we supported brands that were certified climate neutral—knowing that they’re doing their part in practicing reciprocity? What if we started buying organic, locally sourced, and seasonal products—all ways that promote soil health and biodiversity while reducing the use of synthetic chemicals?
It may feel like these small changes won’t make an impact. But they do—the more people who take part, the more companies will be forced to change their ways. And luckily, the tides are changing. Accordingly to a recent Stastia report, the market size of global green technology and sustainability is expected to surge from 61 billion in 2023 to 417 billion in 2030 (1).
5. Acknowledge Its Life
Stop and take a moment to look around you. What’s the first thing you see? Have you ever thought back to the origins of that thing—where it came from, what it was made out of, what its past life looked like?
Kimmerer wondered the same thing, raising the question: “What would it be like to live with that heightened sensitivity to the lives given for ours?”
“To consider the tree in the Kleenex, the algae in the toothpaste, the oaks in the floor, the grapes in the wine; to follow back the thread of life in everything and pay it respect? Once you start, it’s hard to stop, and you begin to feel yourself awash in gifts.”
6. Pay Attention
Perhaps my favorite part of Braiding Sweetgrass was the story of how Nanabozho—a spiritual messenger and teacher in Anishinaabe traditions—learned from the nature around him.
“Heron taught him to gather wild rice…Beaver showed him how to make an ax; Whale gave him the shape for his canoe…Grandmother Spider’s web became a fishnet.”
I always wondered how humans came to invent these things. How naive I was…
Our neighbors—the Plants and the Animals—were our teachers. They showed us how to survive.
How different would our earth be if we started paying attention again—admiring the animals of the wild rather than the animals held captive behind the plexiglass of a zoo?
Oh the things we would learn…“Paying attention acknowledges that we have something to learn from intelligences other than our own.”
7. Become Naturalized
“Each of us comes from people who were once Indigenous,” reflects Kimmerer. But “immigrants cannot by definition be Indigenous. Indigenous is a birthright word. No amount of time or caring changes history or substitutes soul-deep fusion with the land.”
So what can we do?
We can “strive to become naturalized to a place, to throw off the mind-set of the immigrant,” says Kimmerer.
“Being naturalized to place,” she goes on, “means to live as if this is the land that feeds you, as if these are the streams from which you drink, that build your body and fill your spirit. To become naturalized is to know that your ancestors lie in this ground. Here you will give your gifts and meet your responsibilities. To become naturalized is to live as if your children’s future matters, to take care of the land as if our lives and the lives of all our relatives depend on it. Because they do.”
This is something we can all practice a little more each day. But what gifts do we have to give?
8. Use Your Gifts
Every living thing has a gift. What’s different about this type of gift is that it’s also a responsibility. “If the bird’s gift is song, then it has a responsibility to greet the day with music. It is the duty of birds to sing and the rest of us to receive the song as a gift.”
“Other beings can fly, see at night, rip open trees with their claws, make maple syrup. What can humans do?”
Simple. We can use our words.
“Language is our gift and our responsibility,” says Kimmerer.
So how can we use words to promote life, reciprocity, and restoration of land? Here are a few ideas:
Storytelling & Storymaking: Tell stories, myths, and histories that celebrate the land, its biodiversity, and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Highlight the ecological significance, cultural importance, and role of indigenous communities in preserving the land. Don’t be afraid to make new stories!
Poetry & Creative Writing: Express your love for the land, its beauty, and its healing qualities through poetry, essays, or creative pieces that evoke a sense of connection, reverence, and stewardship towards the natural environment.
Environmental Education & Advocacy: Raise awareness about environmental issues, conservation, and sustainable practices through blogs, social media, or our workplace. Promote a sense of responsibility and encourage actions that protect and restore the land.
Gratitude & Prayers: Offer prayers or express gratitude through words for the land, the elements, the plants, and the animals that support and sustain life. Recognize their inherent value and the gifts they provide.
Activism and Community Engagement: Use your words to advocate for environmental justice, land rights, and the protection of sacred sites. Support initiatives that empower indigenous communities, promote land conservation, and adopt sustainable practices.
Collaboration and Dialogue: Engage in conversations with indigenous communities, land stewards, and local organizations to understand their perspectives, traditional ecological knowledge, and wisdom. Foster respectful dialogue that promotes mutual learning and exchange of ideas.
9. Grieve, and Then Choose Joy
Kimmerer shares the perspective of philosopher, Joanna Macy—that “until we can grieve for our planet we cannot love it—grieving is a sign of spiritual health.”
“But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes;” Kimmerer challenges, “we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”
10. Restore the Land
“Restoration is a powerful antidote to despair,” says Kimmerer. So how can we do our part in restoring the land?
We can plant native species in our yards. We can consume less. We can pick that piece of trash off the ground. There are endless ways to restore the land—and in turn, our relationship with it.
Joanna Macy refers to this time we live in as the “Great Turning—the shift from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization.”
“Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal,” Macy says, “it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
Keep these 10 pieces of wisdom at the forefront of your mind and you’ll be well on your way to respecting and restoring this precious earth we inhabit.