Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith and illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt, is a nonfiction work that weaves together Indigenous teachings, ecological science, and personal narrative in a format accessible to young readers.
The book centers on the idea that plants and the natural world are our teachers, deserving of respect and reciprocity. Drawing from Kimmerer's experiences as a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The book explores how science and Indigenous knowledge can work together to foster a more sustainable and ethical relationship with the Earth.
- Published: 2022
- 304 pages (I read the electronic version that had 555 pages--caveat for excerpts cited)
- Genre: Biography
Recognition
- Green Earth Book Award, Longlist
- Kirkus Reviews, Best Teen Books of the Year
- NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12
- Parents Magazine, Best Kids' Books
- Publishers Weekly, Best Book of the Year
- Riverby Award
- Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award for Children's Literature
- New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times Bestseller
- Literary Hub, Best Essay Collection of the Decade
- Book Riot, Favorite Summer Read of 2020
Classroom Considerations
Monique Gray Smith's adaptation of Kimmerer's original Braiding Sweetgrass seems to take into consideration a variety of learning styles through the Newland's illustrations, sidebar definitions, and discussion questions weaved throughout.
As with all books blogged about here, I feel that a safe space for reflection and discussion--and disagreement or feelings of confusion or ignorance--need to be present in order for students to have the abilities to reach their own understanding and comprehension for a text. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults can teach many of us about indigenous knowledge, practice, and culture and help us bridge modern science with traditional ways of doing. But many of us are, unfortunately, unaware and uninformed--even unexposed--to these beautiful practices, cultures, and histories. Therefore, I also think there should be lots of opportunities for students to build background knowledge into indigenous practices, cultures, and histories and that the conversations derived from Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults shouldn't just come from Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults but from a variety of other sources.
I think that with the maturity and readiness taken into account for a class, group, or individual student, most middle school-aged students could benefit and learn from Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults.
Classroom Ideas
Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults includes discussion questions, prompts for journaling, and beautiful illustrations that bring the concepts to life. Students/readers are invited to consider how they live in relationship with the environment and how they can contribute to healing both the land and their communities.
Another idea would be for students to analyze Skywoman as she is a metaphor for reciprocity and a Gift Economy that is contrasted by capitalism. Her actions, such as scattering seeds and planting sweetgrass can also be analyzed. On this note, capitalism and Gift economy can also be compared and contrasted with larger discussions about consumerism.
Opportunities for personal connections to nature are aplenty when using Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults with students! Students can research and create nature art such as plant painting and braiding of materials such as sweetgrass, other grasses, yarn or twine.
Students can also create an Indigenous land acknowledgement through researching Native lands, cultures, and histories in their local area. I found a great resource to help guide this process that can be found using this link. Indigenous land acknowledgement. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults emphasizes the importance of respecting the land and acknowledging Indigenous knowledge, cultures, and history. The book encourages readers to understand their relationship with the natural world and to learn from the wisdom of other living beings.
Possible Read Aloud Excerpts*
* I just loved the Kimmerer's writing throughout this book! It was written so beautifully and she was able to explain the science of nature in such a way that I was able to understand all of the more complex scientific happenings more clearly. Therefore, I had trouble picking just a few excerpts for read alouds but here are some of my favorites.
1. "A grammar of animacy could lead us to completely new ways of living in the world. A world with an equality of species, not a domination of one. A world where we have relationships with and a responsibility to water and wolves and one another. A world that recognizes the importance of other species. It's all in the pronouns" (pg. 24, Kimmerer, 2022).
Possible discussion question: What did you automatically think of in terms of our modern ways of living and interacting with one another after I read this excerpt?
2. "Some studies of mast fruiting suggest that the mechanism for synchrony comes underground. The roots of trees in a forest are often interconnected by networks of mycorrhizae and fungal strands. The fungi search for mineral nutrients in the soil and deliver them to the tree in exchange for carbohydrates. The mycorrhizae form fungal bridges between individual trees, connecting all the trees in the forest. These fungal networks appear to share carbohydrates from tree to tree. A kind of Robin Hood, they take from the rich and give to the poor so that all the trees arrives at the same carbon surplus at the same time" (pg. 60-61, Kimmerer, 2022).
Possible discussion question: How do you visualize this excerpt? Draw a sketch. Share outs are encouraged.
3. "We are all part of the problem. We've allowed the 'market' to define what we value. We seem to be living in an era of Windigo economics. A time of fake demand and compulsive overconsumption where the common good seems to depend on wasteful lifestyles that enrich the sellers while impoverishing the soul and the earth" (pgs. 449-450, Kimmerer, 2022). This excerpt brings to legendary monster of the Anishinaabe people, the Windigo, to current times for students to better understand the consequences of actions.
Possible discussion questions: How does the Windigo monster's unsatisfied hunger reflect the way consumerism can make us feel like we always need more? In what ways does the Windigo myth warn against unchecked desire and its potential consequences?
Final Thoughts
More literature about and by Indigenous people and cultures
Recently, I had added a few Native American/Indigenous literature (nonfiction and fiction) to my students' Epic! online reading accounts. During a choice reading period, many students selected a historical fiction, I Am Not a Number by Kathy Kacer, Jenny Kay Dupuis and illustrated by Gillian Newland; I Am Not a Number. The story ended up being so engaging for many of those who read it that we ended up using it as a whole-group guided reading text. The students had so many questions related to their shock that government agents and officials really removed children from their homes as they had never heard of any such events before. A caveat is that my students are nine years old and mostly from white, affluent households; however, their shock, concerns, and urge to want to know more about such events was a really powerful reminder to me about the capacity literature has to open minds and develop deeper empathy.
Reading Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults reminded me that I need to offer more books to my younger students that tell them stories about real and fictional characters along with nonfiction texts that teach them about past events and cultures that often seem so far removed from the ones they experience most often.
Land acknowledgement
Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults gave me lots to ponder about my actions, my place in the world, and what my hopes are for my children throughout the reading. Providing an Indigenous land acknowledgement may be one step in the right direction so here is my first draft with plans to continue to revise and add to this statement in the future.
Riverton/Cinnaminson, located in Burlington County, New Jersey, occupies land that has long been part of Lenapehoking—the ancestral homeland of the Lenni-Lenape people. The Lenni-Lenape, also known as the Delaware, have inhabited this region for over 14,000 years, serving as its original stewards and caretakers.
In the 18th century, colonial pressures led to the establishment of the Brotherton Reservation in what is now Indian Mills, Burlington County. This was New Jersey's only Indian reservation and the first in the United States, created for the Lenni-Lenape people. Despite such efforts, many Lenape were forcibly displaced, with some relocating to areas like Stockbridge, New York, and later to Green Bay, Wisconsin. However, not all Lenape left New Jersey; some remained and their descendants continue to live in the region today.
Today, the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, based in Bridgeton, New Jersey, represents descendants of the Lenape who remained in or returned to their ancestral lands. They are recognized by the state of New Jersey and continue to preserve their cultural heritage and traditions.
In acknowledging the land on which Riverton/Cinnaminson stands, I honor the Lenni-Lenape people—past, present, and future—and recognize their enduring relationship with this territory. I pay respect to their history, culture, and contributions, and commit to supporting the sovereignty and rights of Indigenous communities.
References
Kacer, K., Dupuis, J.K., and Newland, G. (2016). I Am Not a Number. Second Story Press, Toronto, ON.
Kimmerer, R. W., Smith, M. G., and Neidhardt, N. (2022). Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Zest Books.
Native Governance Center. (Oct. 22, 2019). A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgement. A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgment https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/
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