Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

I could hand you a braid of sweetgrass as thick and shining as the braid that hung down my grandmother’s back. But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take. Wiingaashk belongs to herself. I offer, in her place, a braid of stories meant to heal our relationship with the world. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer is trained to use the tools of science to ask questions of nature. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces plants and animals as our oldest teachers. Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, Kimmerer demonstrated how when we listen to the languages of other beings―from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen―we are capable of understanding the generosity of the earth and learn to give our own gifts in return in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. With informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults highlights how acknowledging and celebrating our reciprocal relationship with the earth results in a wider, more complete understanding of our place and purpose.