Structure

Braiding Sweetgrass is divided into five sections, each of which contains a number of chapters that takes the same approach or theme. The five sections are named “Planting Sweetgrass,” “Tending Sweetgrass,” “Picking Sweetgrass,” “Braiding Sweetgrass,” and “Burning Sweetgrass.” They each take the name of one phase in the process of growing, using, and harvesting the sweetgrass plant, which is sacred to the Potawatomi people.

Each of the five sections, according to its name, carries with it a different theme. For example, the first section provides an overview of the way in which plants provide gifts for humans. The ‘planting’ here is the provision of a source of life, a major gift. The second section looks at how human beings reciprocate the giving of the earth, ‘tending’ to the plants placed on this planet and thus providing a form of reciprocal love. The third section focuses on the...