Plants and animals have plenty to teach, if only we would listen.

This is one of the overriding messages of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Kimmerer is a botanist and college professor. She is also a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. As an indigenous scientist her being, her training, her life is about melding what at times can be contradicting elements.

I listened to this book. It was long. At times the book was in need of an editor to shorten segments, move things a long faster, and curtail some of the tangents.

However, with so many nuggets of wisdom, stories of how native people understand the land and the plants and animals that call it home, and the hope for the future I kept listening. At times I was thoroughly captivated by Kimmerer’s knowledge.

What’s most frustrating is how we seem to keep destroying Mother Earth instead of collectively trying to make her healthier. We seem to forget or not understand that her health and wellbeing directly affects us individually and collectively.

The book is not wonky. It’s real. It tells us how we can do better without being preachy. The stories show what works and what doesn’t.