"Braiding Sweetgrass" – Final Session with Robin Wall Kimmerer & Robert Macfarlane
- Shared screen with speaker view

19:15
Giinagay from Australia

19:52
Hello from the Welsh Marches again.

19:59
Jane from south Jersey

20:09
Hello from Mt. Shasta, California!

20:11
Hello from the end of the road in Alaska!

20:13
Hello from Cape Town.

20:16
Hello from Oak Park, IL!

20:31
Hi from the South Bronx.

20:39
So excited and honoured to be here this morning....ange

20:43
hello, Colorado here

20:47
Greeting from Calgary, Alberta, Canada

20:48
Hi from Cary, North Carollina

20:58
Hello from Juneau, Alaska

21:08
YAY!!!

21:12
Hello from Denmark

21:13
hi from corvallis oregon :)

21:18
hello from the Esopus Crre in Saugerties, Ny

21:21
nettie from Vermont...Thank you so much Robin Wall Kimmerer for the medicine you weave through story. This book is a prescription for me, as if I went to the doctor’s office, for a way to find our way back Home.

21:21
Hello from Houston, Texas

21:22
Hi from Louisiana

21:22
York, uk here

21:23
Hi from South Wales

21:24
Hey from Göteborg, Sweden

21:24
Hello to all from Rancho Cordova, California

21:28
Rachel & Adam from Nuns & Nones / Albuquerque, NM

21:30
Hi from Sandwell, UK :)

21:37
Hello from Chicago, USA

21:38
Hello from Hot Springs Arkansas! So happy to be here.

21:38
hi from Vancouver, WA

21:39
Hello from Black Hawk, Colorado, USA

21:48
Hello!!! Fellow Milkweed author, such a huge fan of Braiding Sweetgtrass, thank you, Robin!!!!

21:59
From Denver, Colorado!!!

22:02
Jackee from London UK Hi Robin and Robert

22:05
Hello from Minneapolis!

22:07
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/SpiritualEcology/videos/234708851137347/

22:33
Greetings from Middlebury, Vermont!

22:37
how lucky are you Robert

22:43
Hello from London

22:48
Caron Stebinger in Minneapolis, MN…Hello to all!

22:55
Hello from Montreal Quebec!

22:55
Beautiful braided greeting ;)

23:00
Werte Palya Minyma Robin

23:02
Hello from Cleveland! gratitude.....

23:14
I highly recommend Robin’s book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses to anyone who loves Braiding Sweetgrass :) No affiliation, just love it!

23:15
Hello to all from Decatur, GA USA. Thank you!

23:17
greetings from Bramalea, Ontario, Canada

23:23
boozhoo, from WY

23:36
Hello from Inverness, CA

23:48
Good evening from a wet Lancashire, UK

24:00
Hello from Bristol! UK

24:17
Thank you so much to you both, Ms. Kimmerer and Mr. Macfarlane

24:57
O’Shiyo from Sisters, Oregon!

25:25
Hello from San Rafael, CA. Thank you, Robin and Robert, for the gift of your words.

25:27
Chi miigwetch minyma Robin

25:45
Greeting from Golden Colorado.

25:54
so grateful already for the deep Presence you are communing. hello from Portland, OR!

26:05
Greetings from the sovereign lands of the Abenaki people in southern Maine. May their ancestors, elders and people be blessed.

27:01
yes! faith in seeds....

27:09
Sharing faith in seeds from Portland, Oregon. Grateful.

27:14
Been planting today (Calif.)

29:08
Facebook Live Link: https://www.facebook.com/SpiritualEcology/videos/234708851137347/

29:37
From the ancestral land of the Mary’s river band of the Kalapuya people, Willamette valley oregon

31:00
Ngemba lands by the Baarka river on the edge of the desert in australia ...ange yarrpany

31:31
@Jess — us too!

32:08
@albert awesome!

32:23
Kia ora from Christchurch, Aotearoa

33:42
Greetings also from ancestral land of the Kalapuya people, Willamette valley Oregon

36:01
hello! i am Edith, frances’s child, i’m 8 years old and i love your books! from devon UK x

36:05
This is such a fertile space @jackeehol

37:23
Gratitude for your wisdom and honored with this opportunity -from Barbara New Salem MA

37:55
@frances it's so wonderful you have read her books at age 8, the wonder in her pages must be magical and inspiring to read at your age, helen

38:42
thanks! edithx

38:52
Can you share the pages Robin is reading from please?

39:42
starting at 121!

39:44
epiphany in the beans

39:46
im sure this is why im a vegetarian ab

39:59
*claps*

40:00
Epiphany in the Beans p. 121-127

40:12
vegetarian firstnations woman in australia rare ...to plant a garden....

40:14
Thank you for that beautiful reading!

40:19
Lovely!

40:29
Thank you so much ~

40:40
Greetings from the ancestral lands of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone in California. Hello Robin (!!), sending love and such heartfelt gratitude from the whole Nuns & Nones team (who is all here)! And thank you so much, Emergence Community, for hosting this gorgeous, generous, needed moment. <3

40:51
Hi Robin. As I read through your wonderful synthesis of spiritualty and science, I regularly come back to John Pigeon’s insight that the “first two rows of the basket are the hardest …the splint seems to have a will of its own and wants to wander…” Thinking of our experience of time as asynchronous to some earthly progressions; perhaps we need to understand that, when the undertaking is profound, we may spend our entire lifetime weaving the first two rows and experience only the resistance and the will to wander. It seems we may need to work diligently and then hand-off those big jobs to next generations, trusting that they will carry the weave forward to the third, fourth, and later rows until the “The weaving becomes easy as splints fall into place.” Please comment.

40:55
This chapter inspired me to get my grad degree in sustainability when I read it 2 years ago. Thank you!

41:23
Gratitude to you, Robin.

41:43
Thank you for reading Robin, wonderful …

41:47
as someone who relies on essential carers, I cannot put a price on their kindness and the gift they give me, turning up day after day with a smile on their face

42:55
7 fires....

43:12
I love this idea. Thank you.

43:47
Love the Nuns & Nones work!!!!!!! Thank y’all for being here

43:49
And yes 7 fires prophecy

43:51
I love this idea: "ceremony time."

44:56
YES

45:14
Wonderful questions, Rob. Thank you.

45:27
Humans get illness in which they cannot breathe, and now mother earth begins to breathe!

46:58
We stand on doorsteps and clap @ 8pm in our small village - in gratitude to key workers - but it has become more than that - a growing sense of community, gratitude and reciprocity across villagers, many of whom never spoken to or known before …

47:32
I think the quiet can now allow us to now hear the birds

47:33
Robin, your book came to me at a time that I really needed it. I was browsing the shelves at my library and found your book sitting alone, surrounded by a bounty of other books. For some reason, the title of your book called out to me. I picked it up and I am so glad I did. Your perspective has opened my eyes to so many possibilities. Thank you.

47:53
didnt weave it hey merely a strand.....

48:25
extending our understanding of vulnerability for 'others' reminds me of a Buddhist concept, and practice, called tonglen.

50:03
everwhen

50:41
Sid Woods, Tashi Delek from Buffalo, NY!

51:21
YES time of the 7th fire!! (from wabanaki land)

52:32
nyuntu wiru rikina minyma robin.....youre so deadly....so much love....honoured to walk with you...ange yarrpany

53:01
Join us for our May Book Club reading Robert Macfarlane’s award winning book, “Underland: A Deep Time Journey.” Participants will meet online once a week to discuss a portion of the book with staff writer Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder. For the final session, Robert will join us in a live conversation and Q&A.
Learn more: https://emergencemagazine.org/community/#underland-a-deep-time-journey

54:49
Thank you Robin for the medicine of your words in Braiding Sweetgrass. I look at your book as if I received a prescription from the doctor to show us all the way back Home. I feel we are at the fork in the road….and this pandemic is a spiritual opportunity to re-evaluate our Home and our Way. It does seem though that we must pass through the wall of grief though in order to come to right action.

56:34
Maine's Truth and Reconciliation process is featured in the award-winning (and difficult and poignant) movie, "Dawnland". It is a CRUCIAL movie: https://dawnland.org/

56:37
for fellow readers, https://native-land.ca/ is a good tool for a starting point to find out whose lands you’re on!

56:39
I really try to figure out how to do that in a dense oversettled area like NYC. How to live ecologically in an intensely urban space?

01:00:14
in a city, you can still find nature, you need to tune in more consciously and accept your experience will be different. window bird feeders, noticing the plants that grow through cracks in the pavement. it takes more, but if you make noticing a practice that can help you feel a lot more connected and in turn, you can feel more alert to things like honourable harvest

01:00:31
Yes, consumers of privilege have many, many more choices.

01:00:40
accept your situation, with its many limits as well

01:00:54
In Chicago, we’re planting native prairie gardens. My family took over the city’s green space lawn (then got permission) and replanted coneflowers, bundleflowers, meadow anemone. This garden is now 14+ years old and regenerates itself. It is possible. :)

01:01:27
These two links might be of interest re. the question around cities: https://www.kateraworth.com/2020/04/08/amsterdam-city-doughnut/ and https://www.projectmoonshot.city/post/an-indigenous-view-on-doughnut-economics-from-new-zealand

01:01:28
re: seeing with new eyes in urban places, a couple books to check out “How to Do Nothing” by Jenny Odell and “Crow Planet” by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

01:01:33
guerrilla gardening

01:01:54
would love to join your Chicago rewilding! im here too!

01:01:59
Look up! your city is within a valley, a plain, on the mouth of a river, surrounded by mountains and sky. I was born in Mexico City, my grandmother moved my vision to the guardian volcanoes and the mountain range in which this unbelievable city rests. Food is produced in its rural areas, rivers ache to re-emerge. This great lake city of Tenochtitlan longs to become lake again. Endemisms abound. They are waiting to be encountered. Mother Earth is all.

01:02:03
+1 to Albert’s book recommendation above!

01:02:17
Permaculture teaches us to start where we are and then, as Maya Angelou would say, when you know better, you do better.

01:02:20
I know of some public schools in very urban settings with no trees around that have gardens. One in the Bronx has a rooftop garden and the teachers are part of a coalition of teachers bringing gardens to their classes of kids! It's a start.

01:02:30
@ Helen re city nature - this in todays Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/an-opportunity-to-experts-urge-us-to-take-a-closer-look-at-nature-aoe

01:02:32
My dream is to create a tiny pollinator refuge on my balcony for tired urban bees!

01:02:38
Could we also consider the city’s gift as the culture and artistic creativity that they support.

01:03:21
@AlbertKong thank you for the book recommendations

01:04:04
@Sharon Yes!

01:04:10
From Barbara, New Salem MA, you have provided me with hope, inspiration, and a further commitment to gratitude for all of the natural beauty, including my neighbors, that surround me...

01:04:18
so many!

01:04:19
Yes!

01:04:21
Yes!!! the dandelion is so under appreciated!!!!

01:04:31
Greeted many dandelions in the garden this morning ;)

01:04:53
Yes I love dandelions! Had some dandelion greens in my breakfast scramble the other day :)

01:04:56
I have picked dandelion flowers today to turn into a lovely dye.

01:04:59
love all of the eptymological meanings of dandelion that robert shared.

01:05:30
Rob, I think you saw Andrew Brooks’ photo of a dandelion on Twitter. Such a special way to see the beauty :)

01:05:32
Dried and ground dandelion root is delicious as a drink.

01:06:00
I don’t think we have dandelions in Los Angeles. Haven’t seen one in a long time.

01:06:01
Dandelion honey!

01:06:20
Hi, M.G.! Great to be here with you.

01:06:24
Such love for Dandelions :)

01:06:31
Hi Julie!

01:06:34
Susan Haymer: that’s so sad

01:06:46
Star of the football field!

01:07:03
When I was growing up we had a pet tortoise living in our garden. He loved dandelions, we used to go up and down the road collecting the leaves. It was their favourite food

01:07:14
My 5 yr old grandson has told me when he grows up, he will never never tell his children not to blow on “puffballs” and make wishes.

01:07:42
love that!

01:07:50
Thank you, Robert!

01:08:00
Dandelions - such teachers!

01:10:02
Thank you both for this great gift. City parks can be a great place to spend time with plants and animals and also forage wild foods. Steve Brill, Emily Han, Pascal Baudar, and others have much to contribute on that front.

01:10:13
Keep looking, Susan! I can’t think of a single place — including L.A. — where they aren’t somewhere.

01:10:17
imagineering

01:10:22
I love that sense of imagination

01:10:32
I love Daniel Longboat's definition of "imagination."

01:10:39
YES--this is how I experience imagination! NOT mine, but ours...

01:11:06
ha ha

01:11:09
Thank you, Robin, for answering the writers’ question.

01:11:14
I often find that Rob’s words of the day postings seem to tap into a sense of the collective imagination.

01:11:15
Dan is such a humble gentle man

01:11:34
A great point, Regan! Thanks for that connection.

01:11:41
hi David!!!!!!!!

01:12:08
Hello from Cambridge, MA. Great to see you again, Robin!

01:12:09
@ Regan totally agree - a grand start to the day at 7am

01:12:26
Thank you for this wonderful experience. And thank you, Rebekah. I will keep looking for dandelions in Los Angeles.

01:12:27
great question I also have these questions about writing

01:12:29
From David Abram “Is there something inherent in traditionally oral cultures — the cultures of face-to-face storytelling — that necessarily entails this kind of intimacy with the local earth? Something that the written word can certainly extend — as in your work, Robin and your work Robert — but which the written word can also easily interrupt and dispel, given that writing brings increasing abstraction, also enabling stories to readily abstract themselves from the face-to-face and the FACE-TO-PLACE, detaching themselves from the particular practices and places where those stories occur and be read in distant cities and continents? Is it possible that writing, rather than speaking, also seems to swivel meaning, and meaningful speech, out of the more-than-human exchange into a more exclusively human circle of discourse…? Such that other animals, plants, mountains and rivers no longer seem to speak? So…can we write in service to replenishing oral culture?”

01:12:37
@martin it is truly

01:13:58
Written language also creates division between literate and illiterate.

01:14:20
right--all kinds of ways to "write"...with wings or scales, or chemical extrusions

01:14:30
concepts rather than conciousness

01:14:44
Yes to “other ways of knowing”

01:14:54
we are all multifaceted

01:15:00
I love this: we come to know through smell, the sensation, etc. Words can deprive us of our intuitive and ancestral ways of knowing. Thank you, Robin for this. #withoutwords

01:15:01
The character of Simon in Bone People by Keri Holme was unable to speak and required those around to react is ways we might react to the other worldly.

01:15:07
Sensing of the world beyond written words….

01:15:17
I find this to be so true when related to dance, movement, experience of sensation of all sorts, in addition to relationship to earth… relationship to our natures as well as those around us

01:15:41
Hi Jess!

01:16:04
When words fail, music takes over.

01:16:10
Words are, however, a refuge these days. A wonderful escape.

01:16:15
Hi Allan!

01:16:17
And then, when we come to know differently, we can put pen to paper and there will be more richness to them. All exept for Rob's "conjuring words" which are medicine and myth and powerful in themselves.

01:16:22
I feel as a writer word centrism can create a kind of extractivist attitude to the living world.. where everything has to be made into verbal meaning

01:16:40
agree!

01:16:46
What a treat. Robin, Rob and even David Abram (sent by Antony Lyons, Bristol, UK). Lovely reflections from Robin

01:17:24
Thank you all so much! What a wonderful interview.

01:17:24
Thank you both so, so, so much!!! Truly a conversation of open heartedness.

01:17:58
Thank you for a wonderful reading and discussion. Much to think upon!

01:18:21
Thank you all for a wonderful session! A'ho.

01:18:25
all the labelling brings us eventually back to being one....ange yarrpany

01:18:59
I suggest looking to the way that Afro-Descendant religions actively creates non-linguistic spaces as a kind of epistemological workshop space for operating animacy.

01:19:05
My heart is feeling great gratitude for the wisdom shared here...I do feel a deep love for the lands I have walked on and communed with as well as the land's deep and beautiful love for me...my heart feels alive...

01:19:16
Thank you both so much for an inspiring event. And thanks to Emergence for organising it.

01:19:19
as with KIN

01:19:24
Join us for our May Book Club reading Robert Macfarlane’s award winning book, “Underland: A Deep Time Journey.” Participants will meet online once a week to discuss a portion of the book with staff writer Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder. For the final session, Robert will join us in a live conversation and Q&A.Learn more: https://emergencemagazine.org/community/#underland-a-deep-time-journey

01:19:25
Thank you!!! I wish we could continue and talk more.

01:19:51
Deepest gratitude. this has been so so nourishing and moving. Loved the connections and honoring of David Abrams work as well.

01:19:55
Notice and Wonder... My personal philosophy, as well as what I share with my students

01:20:02
thank you all

01:20:03
Deep respect to you, Robin and Robert, for gently opening reciprocity and gratitude for our day. He, she, ki, they. Love.

01:20:26
robin you so rock

01:20:42
It´s beeen a great privilege and inspiration to share this space with you. Thank you very much.

01:21:04
siblings

01:21:05
is this your idea???

01:21:07
ki

01:21:10
what a gift: Languages of animacy: the beingness of the world: carried by ki

01:21:11
Deep gratitude to you, Robin, and to Rob, for this marvelous conversation. I’ve used Robin’s book w/ my architecture students in Ecological Design Thinking. They always love it.

01:21:12
Thank you so much <3 - Huiying (they/he)

01:21:18
Your book Braiding Sweetgrass has changed my life. My humble thanks.

01:21:20
Love it! Ki (Kin)

01:21:23
thank you

01:21:23
Your use of language and relationship with the non-human beings is inspiring and life changing! Thank you, Robin. xoxo

01:21:34
Thank you for the kinship today.

01:21:34
Ah, Ki! Yes :)

01:21:36
Thank you for this hour… truly a blessing to be with both of you kin.

01:21:36
Sacred wisdom thank you It is TIME <3

01:21:36
Gonna start referring to my chestnut seedlings and all my garden plants with “ki” :). That’s so lovely!

01:21:39
Thank you so much, Rob and Robin. I'm so happy for you both that your projects -- Braiding Sweet Grass and The Lost Words -- are having such a precious impact. You are beloved.

01:21:42
Deep gratitude to Robin, Robert and all who have been here this hour. Thank you all !

01:21:43
Thank you so much Robin!!

01:21:45
yes to ki! :)

01:21:45
Sadly division in America

01:21:48
Thank you both for sharing your time with us.

01:21:49
Insipirational. Profound. Thank you. Shukriya.

01:21:50
Thank you so much! Wonderful!

01:21:51
What a wonderful conversation THANK YOU both so very much! <3

01:21:52
Thank you Robin and Rob, you time and words are greatly appreciated. Thank you all and stay safe and imagine a better ma-ki-ng of the world.

01:21:53
Much appreciation and love from Vermont kin

01:21:55
Beautiful!!!

01:21:55
Thank you Robin and Robert. This has been so uplifting!

01:21:57
Thank you very much Robert and Robin.

01:21:59
thank you so so much Robin and Robert!!!

01:21:59
Thank you Robin, Robert, Chelsea, Emanuel, Devin, the whole Emergence team and all the participants. This bookclub has been a wonderful experience and an incredibly nourishing community. Thank you everyone!

01:22:00
Thank you so much from Epekwitk in Mikmaki!

01:22:01
Thank you both!

01:22:02
Thank you!

01:22:05
Fabulous and inspirational. Thank you both very much.

01:22:06
mi'gwetch to all!

01:22:07
Thank you, Robin and Robert!

01:22:10
Thank you, Robin, Robert, and Emergence!

01:22:10
Thank you, All for the work of love you do in your communities, and our one shared place.

01:22:10
Thank you this has been an honor. I feel joy in my heart!

01:22:12
Thank you Robin and Robert!!!!

01:22:12
Thank for taking me into this new day here in Australia you mob.....so much love ange yarrpany

01:22:12
Much love to you, Robin. Thank you for reminding me to not only love the earth, and heal her too.

01:22:12
Thank you so very much for bringing voice to the natural world around us. We are all kin.

01:22:12
Deep Gratitude!

01:22:13
Thank you so much, everyone.

01:22:13
Thank you both for your words and thank you Emergence. Diolch yn Fawr!

01:22:17
Such inspiration and KI-ndness from you both!

01:22:18
Much gratitude. What a gift you are—your writings will keep on giving. Thank you.

01:22:18
Thanks to Robin and Rob and Emergence and participants for a wonder experience.

01:22:18
thank you both

01:22:20
thank you!

01:22:21
Thank you both. What a dream team!

01:22:22
thank you so much Robin and Rob xx

01:22:23
Deep bows to both of you

01:22:31
A pleasure to be here: a gift and a lesson :)

01:22:33
Deep gratitude to you, Robin and Rob.

01:22:36
Thank you, Robert! And especially Robin!

01:22:38
thank you everyone

01:22:41
chii miigwetch minyma robin nyuntu rikina palya

01:22:42
what a nourishing and enriching conversation - thank you.

01:22:44
Thank you so much to all..

01:22:45
Thank you so much to Emergence for making this opportunity possible--and to Rob and Robin.

01:22:46
Any time I got stuck writing my Irishy novel, I turned to ANY page in Robin's Braiding Sweetgrass novel, and I became once again, open, expansive, and inspired to continue my writing.

01:22:48
thank you so very much. just finished lichen chapter and brought some from woods to my terrarium with a new light

01:22:54
blessings to robin and Robert and all of my kin!

01:22:55
This has been an incredible way to start my day. Thank you so much, Robin, Robert, Emergence magazine

01:22:59
What a wonderful experience. Thank you Emergence Mag. For hosting and inspiring.

01:23:16
Thank you, Emergence Magazine! You have a new friend :) Me!!!

01:23:27
@gail just read the lichen and cedar stories. Wonderful!

01:23:35
BRILLIANT THANK YOU ROBIN, ROB EMERGENCE XXX @jackeehol

01:23:36
Thank your Robert and Emergence. So looking forward to the Underland gatherings next.

01:23:48
Tears come overtime i read or hear this beautiful wisdom thank you deeply

01:23:57
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Robert and Robin, from the Mountain State of West Virginia.

01:24:02
Much gratitude to Chelsea, Devin and Emergence for your stewardship and welcome to all of us!

01:24:10
What pages did she close with?

01:24:11
Thank you thank you Robin, Rob and Emergence Magazine. What precious gifts and learning

01:24:12
Ki is a precurser for language in Kiswahili. I love this Thankyou so much Robin your work has had such impact on me. Thankyou Robert, looking forward to reading Underland. Thankyou Emergence - Chelsea and Devin, this has been amazing

01:24:13
<3

01:24:13
Thank you so much!

01:24:14
Thank you all

01:24:16
Dance for the renewal of the world. xoxo

01:24:18
Thank you all!

01:24:19
Thank you Robin and Emergence!

01:24:20
Deep gratitude to you both, Robin and Robert! It has been an uplifting evening. So much needed xx

01:24:21
Chin-an. Thank you indeed.

01:24:22
So beautiful! Thank you a million times

01:24:22
Such such gratitude!

01:24:22
Grateful to my kin

01:24:26
LOVE

01:24:26
Miigwetch! Welali’oq!

01:24:27
Gratitude for all you facilitated and participated in this special event. Holding space for more of this energy in the world.

01:24:27
Thank you Chelsea too ;)

01:24:33
Thank you so much for this. It really helped with a hard day.

01:24:41
Thank you, Chelsea, for holding this space for weeks. You have done an incredible job!

01:24:41
Gratitude /\

01:24:42
Thank you, Robin and Rob.

01:24:43
So grateful!

01:24:47
flowing tears of JOY

01:24:51
Join us for our May Book Club reading Robert Macfarlane’s award winning book, “Underland: A Deep Time Journey.” Participants will meet online once a week to discuss a portion of the book with staff writer Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder. For the final session, Robert will join us in a live conversation and Q&A.Learn more: https://emergencemagazine.org/community/#underland-a-deep-time-journey

01:24:52
<3

01:24:54
Sweet people may we give back to our beautiful Mother Earth

01:25:01
<3 <3 <3

01:25:10
What a gift. Thank you!

01:25:10
thabnk you