Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Gather with us at the American Indian Center for a restorative evening combining an in-person beading workshop with a thoughtful discussion of our fall book club selection.
For our Fall Read, Divine Reads invites you to weave scientific knowledge with ancestral wisdom through Robin Wall Kimmerer’s transformative masterpiece. Written by Kimmerer—an Indigenous botanist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation—Braiding Sweetgrass blends scientific expertise and Potawatomi tradition to show how plants serve as our teachers, calling us into deeper reciprocity, gratitude, and care for the Earth. She shows us how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.
Together, we will work on hands-on beading projects, share insights from the text, and connect in a sacred container designed for collective reflection and decolonized learning. Whether you are re-visiting this cherished text or opening its pages for the first time, our circle provides an intimate space to explore reciprocity with the earth.
All skill levels are welcome for the beading workshop, and new members are always welcome to join the discussion! You do not need to finish the entire text beforehand to participate in the dialogue.
Details
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Time: 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Location: American Indian Center
Suggested Minimum Donation: $25
We recommend securing your copy of the text early to allow time for the medicine of the book to settle before we meet.
Your Offering Sustains the Lineage In the spirit of Tequio—the Mesoamerican tradition of communal labor for the collective good—Divine Reads operates on a donation-based model. Proceeds and fees raised through our book club support local Chicago causes and charities, as well as Indigenous communities across Mexico and Latin America.
Note: A minimum of 5 registered participants is required to ensure a vibrant, supportive, and meaningful experience for the collective.