Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

Residing at the edges of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common yet inconspicuous element of the natural world. We notice them only occasionally in the cracks of urban asphalt, on tree trunks, or on the surfaces of stones. The book by bryologist Robin Wall Kimmerer is not a guide to identification or a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of interconnected personal essays about the lives of mosses, interwoven with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to fungi, bacteria, and garden cultivators. Kimmerer compellingly explains the biology of mosses while also reflecting on what these remarkable organisms can teach us. Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, Native American, and professional observer, accustomed to looking closely to see something important, Robin Wall Kimmerer tells the varied stories of mosses in scientific terms but also within the ways of knowing characteristic of Indigenous tribal cultures. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for a way of life in the world.