Reading Reflection 5

  In Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer, Kimmerer discusses humans’ interactions and relationships with nature, specifically through her own experiences. This reading made me realize that a lot of the things I do regarding nature are more in line with caring for and respecting the land than I had thought. In the chapter “An Offering”, Kimmerer writes about how ceremonies build connections between humans and nature. She discusses how when her family would spend summers in the Adirondacks, they would start every day the same, with the same ceremony in which her father would pour coffee into the ground. 

She writes, “I imagined that this place knew my true name as well, even when I myself did not” (34). This concept of “ceremony” made me think of my habits with nature that I suppose aren’t really habits, but rather ceremonies themselves. For example, back home, every day when I wake up, I first walk outside on our deck and look at the mountains. I take it in for a few seconds before I go back in and make coffee. Occasionally, I will make the coffee first, but something always feels off about that. I think I developed this subconscious belief that I need to go outside first to pay respect to the mountains before I start my day, even though going outside is the real start of my day. The quote I mentioned earlier feels very applicable here. When I was growing up, whenever I felt lost or misunderstood, going outside and connecting with the mountains every morning sort of anchored me back to my roots and helped me stay calm during whatever was happening at the time.

Another interesting idea the Kimmerer brings up is that Western societies view land ownership as a “bundle of rights,” while the indigenous group she is talking about views land ownership as a “bundle of responsibilities”. I believe this sentiment perfectly encapsulates the disconnect between indigenous and colonial perspectives on the environment. This statement also made me reflect on how I view the things that I own. Often, I fall into a materialistic cycle of only thinking about what I have instead of thinking about what I need to do to maintain my “property” and respect it the way that it respects me by being a means to my ends. Overall, Kimmerer’s ideas are very valuable, and I look forward to applying them more this summer when I’m spending more time outside.