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

Nanabozho, the First Man, is a personification of life forces who teaches people “how to be human” (205). As a newcomer, he is an immigrant in a world that was old before he arrived. On arrival, he is tasked with carrying out the Creator’s Original Instructions. The first of these is to walk through the world so “that each step is a greeting to Mother Earth” (206). The author wonders whether Americans, as a nation of immigrants, can learn to live in the country “with both feet on the shore” (207) and to walk like Nanabozho walks.

Nanabozho begins his journey by walking toward the rising sun. He worries what he will eat and how he will find his way. He understands, however, that his role is to “learn from the world how to be human” (208). He is also tasked with learning the true names of all beings. The author compares Nanabozho to the 18th-century biologist Carl Linnaeus, who sought to name and classify every species of organism on the planet. Journeying south, Nanabozho learns to eat as the animals eat, clean food, and make tools. He travels the entire world, learning how to be human.