Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a botanist, trained to engage with the environment using the tools of science however, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. “Drawing on her life as an Indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.” She has written scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge, and restoration ecology.
Kimmerer discusses alternative forms of Indigenous knowledge outside of traditional scientific methodologies. Focusing on plants, she compares a Traditional Ecological approach and a Western science approach. This book has popped up for me in many areas lately, and I think the timing is perfect to engage with this text and learn from an Indigenous scientist about my research paper. Continuing to learn about sustainable land stewardship by interweaving TEK and Western science has been an interesting journey and I beleive will better me as an educator.
Kimmerer said about the book that “I wanted readers to understand that Indigenous knowledge and Western science are both powerful ways of knowing, and that by using them together we can imagine a more just and joyful relationship with the Earth.”
References
Kimmerer, R. W. (n.d). Robin Wall Kimmerer [webpage]. Retrieved July 3, 2021. https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/books
Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass; Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions.