Plant Medicine, Reciprocity & Indigenous Futurism with Robin Wall Kimmerer
Host Shayla Oulette Stonechild speaks with renowned author Robin Wall Kimmerer, best known for writing Braiding Sweetgrass.
In this enlightening conversation, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild and renowned author Robin Wall Kimmerer explore the profound connections between Indigenous wisdom, language, and the natural world. You Robin shares her journey understanding the strength of the earth through plants and the importance of intergenerational knowledge. They discuss the responsibility we have towards the land, the healing power of nature, and the significance of curiosity in fostering relationships with the environment. The conversation also touches on the challenges of urban living, the importance of rituals for resilience, and the concept of two-eyed seeing, which integrates Indigenous and Western knowledge systems. Robin emphasizes the need for a grassroots movement to support the environment and advocates for the idea of 'land back' as a means of healing and restoration.
More About Robin and Her Work:
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Bud Finds Her Gift, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. 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. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us.
Her website: robinwallkimmerer.com
Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinwallkimmerer/
Her movement Plant, Baby, Plant: plantbabyplant.com
Photo credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction to Indigenous Wisdom and Healing
(03:22) The Power of Language and Medicine
(05:14) Childhood Connections to Nature
(08:01) Responsibility Towards the Land
(11:33) Intergenerational Knowledge and Healing
(14:24) Embodied Healing Through Nature
(17:53) Curiosity and Connection with the Natural World
(20:30) Finding Grounding in Urban Spaces
(24:42) Rituals for Resilience and Service
(27:07) Two-Eyed Seeing and Indigenous Knowledge
(29:24) Indigenous Futurism and Land Back
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