How to Teach About Native Ways of Knowing Without Appropriating Native Cultures?

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Non-indigenous naturalist and educators can engage with or teach about traditional knowledge about native plants in their area. One of the most important things to do is what we do in Western science as well, acknowledge where that knowledge came from. To have an authentic experience of engagement with place you don't need to say Native people tell us to be grateful for the gifts of plants around us.

It’s November and you need chill vibes. And Native American Heritage Month is the perfect time to encore this classic. World-renowned author, botanist, Indigenous ecology professor and bryologist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of “Gathering Moss” and “Braiding Sweetgrass,” talks about her passion for moss. Cozy up for the most beautifully doled-out information about hidden worlds, overlooked mysteries, botanical drama, forests in miniature, Native peoples’ uses for moss and philosophies about science and ecology. Dr. Kimmerer will change the way you see mosses forever, will inspire you to wear a loupe on a rope, and will soothe your soul with her beautiful voice and prose. Also bathmats, lawns and smoothies made of moss? We discuss.

Follow Dr. Kimmerer on Facebook at

Look for her books at independent bookstores or wherever books are sold (including Amazon): “Braiding Sweetgrass” and “Gathering Moss”

Donations went to the ESF’s Center for Native Peoples and the Environment and American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)