On Wednesday, Feb. 12, California Lutheran University virtually hosted a lecture from Robin Wall Kimmerer, who holds a PhD in botany from the University of Wisconsin and is a New York Times number one bestselling author of “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.”
Program Director and Associate Professor of Philosophy Brian Collins said the free event is annually presented as a gift to the community through an endowment honoring the late Harold Stoner Clark, in addition to contributions from the Philosophy Department and the Southern California Philosophy Academy.
“He [Harold Stoner Clark] believed that science, while essential, was not the only way of knowing, and he explored alternative perspectives, which means that we have a speaker this evening, who is perfectly aligned with the purpose of this lectureship,” said John A. Nunes, interim president of California Lutheran University.
While traditionally hosted in person, the event was moved virtually at the last minute after inclement weather canceled Kimmerer’s flight.
“Dr. Kimmerer perfectly demonstrates the message I tell my students all the time, and that is that no one can escape philosophy, no one can escape thinking philosophically, and all academic and intellectual work is intertwined with important philosophical and ethical questions,” Collins said.
As an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer began her lecture with a traditional indigenous message of gratitude, greeting her audience of over 300 viewers in her native Potawatomi language.
Using a slideshow, Kimmerer drew on indigenous teachings to describe the relationship of modern consumerism with the Earth, explaining that plants are viewed as natural resources rather than sacred gifts from the land.
“Most of us find ourselves harnessed to institutions, and to an economy which is relentless in asking, ‘What more can we take from the Earth?’ Isn’t the question we need, ‘What does the Earth ask of us?” Kimmerer said.
Kimmerer said that modern society has participated in an experiment referred to as a fictional pyramid of human exceptionalism, with humans believing they are more deserving of Earth’s richness compared to other species, shaping a culture of materialism.
“The results of that experiment are in, and we find ourselves teetering at the edge of the precipice of climate catastrophe, entering what evolutionary biologists are calling ‘the age of the sixth extinction,’” Kimmerer said.
Drawing on Potawatomi Nation teachings of the prophecy of the Seventh Fire, Kimmerer said that humans now stand at a metaphorical fork in the road, with an opportunity to wander down a light path of compassion for our planet, or a dark path of materialism and greed.
“[The prophecy] said that people will find themselves in a time when you can no longer fill a cup from a stream and drink. When the air becomes too thick to breathe, and when the plants and animals will begin to turn their faces away from us,” Kimmerer said.
She said that to advance to the Eighth Fire, an eternal period of peace with the Earth, humans must have the courage to pick the light path, to achieve harmony and advance to a new era of ecological balance.
“We need the holism of Indigenous science and the medicine wheel, which is based on the recognition that we, humans, are not atop a pyramid of life, but are members of a democracy of species, governed by a web by laws of interdependence,” Kimmerer said.
Religion professor Sam Thomas has designated Kimmerer’s books as core readings in his courses, including Religion, Identity and Vocation, Religion and Ecological Ethics and most recently, Religion and Food and the Environment.
Thomas said Kimmerer’s “The Serviceberry” invited his students to use food as an element of nature’s gift economy in a world of abundance and sharing. As a reader of Kimmerer’s work for over a decade, Thomas said he casually suggested featuring her as a part of the lecture series to Collins last September.
“Her work sits at the nexus of knowledge, philosophy [and] science … she’s just such an important voice in this moment that I just thought it would be a perfect fit for the Harold Stoner Clark [Lecture Series],” Thomas said.
Kimmerer finished her lecture with a description of an indigenous code of ethics called “The Honorable Harvest,” which she described as a plant-centered guide for approaching everyday exchanges with the living world, from gathering flowers to picking berries.
“Plants are understood as among our oldest teachers. They’ve been on Earth far longer than we have and embody the virtues that we honor. I mean who better to look to for guidance than those who can take light and air and water, turn it into food, and then give it away? … We might do well to look to them for guidance,” Kimmerer said.
Following the presentation, Collins said that he was grateful for the viewer turnout, Kimmerer’s participation and the team of Cal Lutheran faculty and staff who helped him navigate the last-minute switch to Zoom. He said that while webinar lectures can often feel cold and technical, Kimmerer’s lecture felt very personal.
“I was worried about that, but her, that is Robin’s warmth and wisdom, came through, even through the cold Zoom webinar,” Collins said.
Kimmerer said that sustainability solutions lie in human methods of repairing relationships with nature, from asking before taking plants from the Earth, performing acts of restoration or showing gratitude.
“You can’t do much alone, so that’s the power of collective action,. Of being part of a university community where you can gather the energy and the talents of people around you to promote social change and political change,” Kimmerer said.
