Book Discussion: Braiding Sweetgrass

Join us as we discuss Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Uniting art and literature,

let’s come together for an engaging conversation that will expand our experience of the book as

well as our current exhibition. Tonight’s discussion will be led by Darren Parry, former Chairman

of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Read more about Darren and Braiding

Sweetgrass below!

About Braiding Sweetgrass

A New York Times Bestseller. A Washington Post Bestseller. Named a “Best Essay Collection of the Decade” by Literary Hub

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of

science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants

and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses

of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as

sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other

living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and

sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In

reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing

today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness

requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the

living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of

understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

About Darren Parry

Darren Parry is the former Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Darren

serves on the Utah Humanities and the PBS Utah Board of Directors. He attended the

University of Utah and Weber State University and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary

Education. Darren is the author of “The Bear River Massacre; A Shoshone History” and teaches

Native American History at Utah State University. He lectures around the country on Native

American issues surrounding history and Indigenous views related to sustainability. He recently

gave a lecture at the University of Copenhagen and spoke about Indigenous views to Climate

and Environment. His passions in life are his wife Melody, 7 children and 17 grandchildren. His

other passion is his Tribal family. He wants to make sure that those who have gone before him

are not forgotten.