On Being with Krista Tippett

Robin Wall Kimmerer — The Intelligence of Plants

22 snips
May 12, 2022
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Finding Culture in the Woods

  • Robin Wall Kimmerer grew up away from her Potawatomi people and did not learn the language as a child.
  • Instead, she found connection and culture through the woods and plant elders, which became her doorway into understanding.
INSIGHT

Science and Indigenous Knowing

  • Science polishes the gift of seeing by extending our vision through tools and microscopes.
  • Indigenous traditions emphasize listening and intuitive knowledge, engaging emotions and spirit to fully know a being.
INSIGHT

Language Shapes Our Relation To Nature

  • English language forces us to call plants and animals "it," which distances and dehumanizes them.
  • Potawatomi language has a grammar of animacy that recognizes all living beings as animate and relates respectfully.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app