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

Robin Wall Kimmerer, the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, is a Potawatomi botanist and writer. Born in New York in 1953, Kimmerer was raised by parents who were in the process of rediscovering their Potawatomi heritage after moving closer to their ancestral homelands. Kimmerer is an enrolled citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people located in Oklahoma. Kimmerer’s worldview is shaped by the two most important facets of her identity: her career as a botanist and her Potawatomi heritage. The influence of these aspects of her identity is evident throughout Braiding Sweetgrass.

In a chapter describing the origins of her career, Kimmerer writes “I was born a botanist” (57). As a child, Kimmerer displayed the curiosity and attention to detail required for a career in botany: “I had shoeboxes of seeds and leaves under my bed […] I’d stop my bike along the road to identify a new species” (57). These early instincts were formalized through years of study. Kimmerer received a bachelor’s degree in botany from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in 1975. After two years working as a microbiologist, Kimmerer began graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, earning an MS in Botany in 1979 and a PhD in plant ecology in 1983.