154 quotes
The teachings tell us that a harvest is made honorable by what you give in return for what you take.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Doing science with awe and humility is a powerful act of reciprocity with the more-than-human world.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Names are the way we humans build relationship, not only with each other but with the living world.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
A path scented with sweetgrass leads to a landscape of forgiveness and healing for all who need it.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
The truth of our relationship with the soil is written more clearly on the land than in any book.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Nuts are like the pan fish of the forest, full of protein and especially fat—"poor man's meat."
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Reciprocity is a matter of keeping the gift in motion through self-perpetuating cycles of giving and receiving.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
In some Native languages the term for plants translates to "those who take care of us."
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
The maples carried the people through, provided food just when they needed it most.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
To name and describe you must first see, and science polishes the gift of seeing.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Our indigenous herbalists say to pay attention when plants come to you; they’re bringing you something you need to learn.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Ceremony is a vehicle for belonging—to a family, to a people, and to the land.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
That, I think, is the power of ceremony: it marries the mundane to the sacred.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
A harvest is made honorable when it sustains the giver as well as the taker.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Balance is not a passive resting place—it takes work, balancing the giving and the taking, the raking out and the putting in.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Leadership is rooted not in power and authority, but in service and wisdom.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
If we allow traditions to die, relationships to fade, the land will suffer.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Sweetgrass is a teacher of healing, a symbol of kindness and compassion.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Being a good mother means teaching your children to care for the world.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Gifts from the earth or from each other establish a particular relationship, an obligation of sorts to give, to receive, and to reciprocate.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)