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Cited by 27Ecocriticism and Environmental LiteraturePosthumanist Ethics and ActivismArtistic and Creative Research

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 4 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Sweetgrass Stories: Listening for Animate Land

Cariou, Warren·2018·The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry
DOI 10.1017/pli.2018.10
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Abstract

This article examines Indigenous stories that reveal how the land communicates to humans through medicinal plants. The intention is to address a blind spot in new materialist theory, which Zoe Todd has criticized for its lack of attention to Indigenous forms and practices of relational materialism. The main focus of this essay is Indigenous narratives about the sacred plant sweetgrass (known as (wihkaskwa in Cree; wiingaashk in Anishinaabemowin). Reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s meditation Braiding Sweetgrass and Drew Hayden Taylor’s novel Motorcycles and Sweetgrass, and watching Jessie Short’s 2016 film Sweet Night, I argue that these artists portray sweetgrass as an intermediary between humans and the land, strengthening Indigenous cultural sovereignty and deepening human relationships by reminding people of their shared embodiment and their shared spiritual-territorial connection. The plant is revealed in these works as a teacher, operating through its scent, texture, and literal rootedness to teach humans about their own connectedness to particular living places. By working at the level of sensation rather than linguistic signification, the sweetgrass is also shown to have an immediate and embodied effect upon the characters in these works. In particular, it offers itself as a gift, and as a conduit of love. I argue that the repeated image of the sweetgrass braid in these works is not exactly a metaphor, but is instead a profound conjoining of the earth and the human body, both submitted to the care of human hands. To braid the earth’s fragrant hair is to treat it in the most intimate way, as a family member or a beloved. It is this human activity of braiding that clarifies the kinship aspect of sweetgrass, showing us that it is not a thing, but a relation. The reciprocity of this relationship shows an Indigenous ethic of engagement with the living material world.

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Hayden Taylor, 2010, Motorcycles and Sweetgrass
  2. Tallbear, 2015, An Indigenous Reflection on Working between the Human/Not Human, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 21, 233
  3. Armstrong, 1997, Speaking for the Generations, 175
  4. Geniusz, 2015, Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask
  5. Young, 2018, A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle: Revelations of Indigenous Wisdom—Healing Plants, Practices, and Stories, 48

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Metadata

Authors
Cariou, W.
Corresponding author
Cariou, Warren
Venue
The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2018-08-30
Volume
5
Issue
3
Pages
338-352
ISSN
  • 2052-2614 (ISSN-L)
  • 2052-2622
DOI
10.1017/pli.2018.10
OpenAlex
W2888876279
Semantic Scholar
379a8189e1ad675937fc58ebd235e7b6d84a579b
Cited by
27
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1
FWCI
8.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Posthumanist Ethics and Activism
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Artistic and Creative Research
Keywords
sweetgrass, new materialism, Indigenous stories, medicinal plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, sacred plants, human-land relationship, kinship, reciprocity, embodiment, sensation, gift-giving, Cree, Anishinaabemowin

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