Summary of Robin Kimmerer - Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass | Bioneers

00:00:00 - 00:20:00

Robin Kimmerer discusses the importance of gratitude, sharing, and honoring the natural world. She talks about her Potawatomi ancestors and how they interacted with the great flocks of birds. This video discusses the effects of climate change on the Potawatomi people, and how it led to their extinction.

• 00:00:00 Robin Kimmerer speaks about the importance of gratitude, sharing stories, and honoring the passenger pigeon. She also talks about her Potawatomi ancestors and how they interacted with the great flocks of birds.
• 00:05:00 This video discusses the effects of climate change on the Potawatomi people, and how it led to their extinction.
• 00:10:00 The video features Robin Kimmerer discussing her grandmother's teachings about the seven fire teachings, which speak of a time when the people would become separated from their homelands and from each other. The teachings warned of a time when the world would become "we know it hangs in the balance," and it is this urgency that has drawn Robin and other Indigenous people to revive these teachings. The Honorable Harvest is a set of guidelines for humans and the living world that were taught to Robin by generous teachers. Learning the names of plants and animals is one way to support them, and it is through this support that we can begin to rebuild the world.
• 00:15:00 Robin Kimmerer discusses the teachings of grass, or Mishkos Kenomagwen. She says that if we are going to take something from a plant, we need to be personally accountable for it. She explains that there are ways to listen to plants in different ways: pragmatically, intuitively, and look around to see whether they have enough to share. If the answer is no, she goes home. The third precept of the honorable harvest is to share with others. This is a difficult concept in a materialist society, where the difference between wants and needs are often blurred. Kimmerer says that if we model this behavior in return, we can create a culture of resilience and reciprocity.
• 00:20:00 Robin Kimmerer discusses the teachings of grasses and how they can be applied to our everyday lives in order to create a more sustainable world.