Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer weaves together Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge to reveal what plants have to teach us. Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, brings her dual perspective as scientist and Indigenous knowledge holder to explore the gifts of the earth and our responsibilities in return. A New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Readers Pick, #1 New York Times Bestseller, and Washington Post and Los Angeles Times Bestseller, the book has been reissued in a special edition with a new introduction from Kimmerer in honor of Milkweed’s fortieth anniversary. As Richard Powers writes, “I give daily thanks for Robin Wall Kimmerer for being a font of endless knowledge, both mental and spiritual.”
Why it matters: It offers a way of knowing the world that Western science alone cannot provide—one grounded in reciprocity, gratitude, and relationship with the living earth. By braiding Indigenous wisdom with scientific knowledge, Kimmerer demonstrates that these ways of knowing are not opposed but complementary, each revealing truths the other cannot see alone. The book transforms how readers understand their relationship to plants, land, and all of life, showing that the earth gives us gifts and asks something of us in return. In a time of ecological crisis rooted in extractive worldviews, Kimmerer offers both diagnosis and medicine through teachings that are practical, beautiful, and profoundly needed.
