On Being with Krista Tippett cover image

[Unedited] Robin Wall Kimmerer with Krista Tippett

On Being with Krista Tippett

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The Unseen Personhood of Plants

In the Potawatomi language, all living beings are animate in that language. Living being would be what materials or? You raise a very good question because Western science would give the criteria for what does it mean to be alive is a little different than you might find in traditional culture where we think of water as alive as rocks as alive. But certainly not inanimate. Generally the inanimate grammar is reserved for those things which humans have created. And I read and you that when you, and I'm sure you get this reaction a lot especially in scientific circles. It's unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable in Western ears to hear someone refer to plants as persons.

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