The land grew and grew as she danced her thanks, from the dab of mud on Turtle's back until the whole earth was made. Moved by the extraordinary gifts of the animals, she sang in thanksgiving and then began to dance, her feet caressing the earth. Turtle said, "Here, put it on my back and I will hold it." Skywoman bent and spread the mud with her hands across the shell of the turtle. But then the others noticed that his paw was tightly clenched and, when they opened it, there was a small handful of mud. He had given his life to aid this helpless human. They waited and waited for him to return, fearing the worst for their relative, and, before long, a stream of bubbles rose with the small, limp body of the muskrat. His small legs flailed as he worked his way downward and he was gone a very long time. He volunteered to go while th e others looked on doubtfully. Soon only little Muskrat was left, the weakest diver of all. They returned gasping for air with their heads ringing. One by one, the other animals offered to help-otter, Beaver, Sturgeon-but the depth, the darkness, and the pressures were too great for even the strongest of swimmers. Loon dove first, but the distance was too far and after a long while he surfaced with nothing to show for his efforts. The deep divers among them had heard of mud at the bottom of the water and agreed to go find some. The others understood that she needed land for her home apd discussed how they might serve her need. Gratefully, she stepped from the goose wings onto the dome of his shell. A great turtle floated in their midst and offered his back for her Adapted from oral tradition and Shenandoah and George, 1988.Ģ 4 Planting Sweetgrass to rest upon. Resting on their wings, she saw them all gather: loons, otters, swans, beavers, fish of all kinds.
The geese could not hold the woman above the water for much longer, so they called a council to decide what to do. Far from the only home she'd ever known, she caught her breath at the warm embrace of soft feathers as they gently carried her downward. She felt the beat of their wings as they flew beneath to break her fall. The geese nodded at one another and rose together from the water in a wave of goose music. As it grew closer, they could see that it was a woman, arms outstretched, long black hair billowing behind as she spiraled toward them. They saw there a small object, a mere dust mote in the beam. But in that emptiness there were many eyes gazing up at the sudden shaft of light. Hurtling downward, she saw only dark water below. In fear, or maybe hope, she clutched a bundle tightly in her hand. She fell like a maple seed, pirouetting on an autumn breeze." A column of light streamed from a hole in the Skyworld, marking her path where only darkness had been before. The storytellers begin by calling upon those who came before who passed the stories down to us, for we are only messengers. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.1 In winter, when the green earth lies resting beneath a blanket of snow, this is the time for storytelling. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow.Īs a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim.
…is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
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