Dialogue 3 – Braiding Ways of Knowing

Featuring guest speaker Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer in dialogue with moderator Dr. Nancy Turner; Dr. Turner’s fellow project convenors Miles Richardson, O.C. / Kilslaay Kaajii Sding; Dr. David Suzuki; and Anishinaabe Elder Dr. Dave Courchene Jr. / Nii Gaani Aki Innini; and Dakota Grandmother and Knowledge Keeper Katherine Whitecloud

On September 24th, 2020, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, renowned for her bestselling book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, joined us for the third dialogue in our Reconciling Ways of Knowing Online Forum series. Speaking from the ancestral and current territories of the Onondaga, central fire of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in Upstate New York, Dr. Kimmerer joined in conversation with Dr. Nancy Turner, ethnobotanist and one of the convenors of the Reconciling Ways of Knowing (RWoK) project.

Dr. Kimmerer shared how she came to realize the plants as her teachers:

“Because I grew up without culturally embedded elders, I was a little adrift but, in some ways that I cannot understand today...the plants said to me, “Well, we’re your elders. We’re your teachers.” Those plants, in a beautiful and nurturing way, took me under their...leaf (wing!) and became my teachers. And it is out of profound gratitude and respect for that, that I do this work.”

But Dr. Kimmerer’s way of knowing the plants and her relationships with them were not welcome in the universities where she earned her degrees and became a botanist. The stories she shared with all of us are examples of the ways we might braid different ways of knowing ‒ Indigenous knowledge, science, and the teachings of plants and the earth ‒ and how important it is for us to do so now.

Explaining the “braiding sweetgrass” metaphor, Dr. Kimmerer noted how the sweetgrass, an important spiritual and ceremonial plant, is braided as if it were the hair of Mother Earth and serves as a manifestation of our commitment to care for her. Sweetgrass exists because of and flourishes with the strong presence of caretakers ‒ the Grandmas and Granddaughters, carefully picking, according to the Honorable Harvest guidelines. Sweetgrass is a reminder that we need each other ‒ a key piece of reciprocity teachings.

Dr. Kimmerer shared the story of the three sisters to illustrate another way of braiding ways of knowing. The three sisters, corn, bean, and squash, are three plants that are traditionally grown together and in that order. They are of course known by botanists in a Western scientific context, but Dr. Kimmerer explained how the plants and their fruits are better for us, better for the land, and better for each other when they are grown together and in a particular order. Corn should be grown first ‒ it is the elder and its tall stalk is the scaffolding for the others. This is the same way we might think of Indigenous knowledge ‒ she recommended it be used as the “scaffolding” that supports scientific knowledge and technology. Bean is the middle sister; she is curious and wanders in many directions. Bean benefits when she is balanced and properly supported by Corn, otherwise she can take over and displace. When Bean is preceded by corn, she grows up and around, filling in the places between corn’s leaves ‒ this is the recommended relationship between science and Indigenous knowledge. Squash is the third sister and creates a microclimate for all three of the sisters by generating shade using her large leaves. Squash helps create the conditions for all three sisters to be in balance while also maintaining their sovereignty. In this metaphor, squash serves the role of the knowledge of plants and the earth, that complements Indigenous knowledge and science working in balance.

If we believe the story that humans are better, separate and different from other living beings, then we get the world we have now, one that is wrought with crisis, trauma, and grief, a place now we all understand now. One pathway toward transformation to greater sustainability is to re-infuse our understandings of the world with the values of respect, reciprocity, reverence, responsibility, and relations. Western science, by definition, does not incorporate values, Dr. Kimmerer reminded us ‒ it can’t. Indigenous knowledge, which retains its understanding of interconnection and the values of survival and reciprocity that are at stake are can help bring balance to guide us in these critical times.

When asked how she maintains her optimism, Dr. Kimmerer shared the words of one of her students who told her that now is the best possible time to be alive: “Everything is hanging in the balance right now,” her student told her, “When you live in a moment like this, it matters where you stand and what you do. Every decision I make matters, for the future of the world.” And then there are the plants themselves: “The beauty of the natural world is a balm in these times, and a fire,” she said. “If their generosity goes on, I have to meet that with the same love and generosity ‒ to see the grace and creativity with which the plants continue to meet their responsibilities, despite everything we have done, is an inspiration to me.”

In her remarks and prayers to close the session, Grandmother Whitecloud reconfirmed that the time for rolling up our sleeves has long passed ‒ this land that we call our mother is suffering immensely because of our actions, and we have failed to keep our children at the forefront. It is our foremost responsibility in this life to be a good relative. Dr. Kimmerer, speaking of the role of ceremony and prayer, shared how they are ways to be in reciprocity with the gifts of our ancestors and the land. Ceremony is the way we remember to remember that our knowledge isn’t lost; the land, our ancestors, and the Great Spirit remember and they will share the memories with us. Dr. Kimmerer explained how the grief and loss we feel is a mirror of the love we feel. If we are able to honour the grief, turn toward it and also turn toward the love behind it, we begin to heal. Rolling up your sleeves is another powerful antidote to grief and loss. Although one individual cannot carry the weight of the world, we can each pick up and carry one piece ‒ what do you love too much to lose? Pick up and carry that love, and use it to make positive change.