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As humans we tend to objectify all the aspects that surround us in our day to day lives. We approach such habit in trying to fit anything in a category that we deem appropriate. Nature has been one of these phenomena’s in life in which is largely dissected and interpreted in different forms by many  environmental and ecological writers. Specifically analyzing the works of Robin Wall Kimmerer and Henry David Thoreau, both in which seek out separate ideals in how nature and culture intersect. Kimmerer approaches nature in an ontological sense whereas Thoreau’s work is epistemological, these two distinctions not only open a path of different understanding of nature in itself but also allows a way to be open to a deeper understanding of the intersections between nature and culture.

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As quoted by Robin Wall Kimmerer in her written piece Braiding Sweetgrass, “When we braid sweet grass, we are braiding the hair of Mother Earth, showing her our loving attention, our care for her beauty and well-being, in gratitude for all she has given us. Children hearing the Skywoman story from birth know in their bones the responsibility that flows between humans and the earth.” (Kimmerer, p.5)

Kimmerer is found personifying the Earth calling it ‘Mother Earth’ ensuring that readers are no longer viewing the Earth or nature as an object that is just meant to be used. This passage highlights how humans aren’t seperate from Earth but are inherently intertwined with it. The brief mention of “Children hearing the Skywoman story” additionally sheds on light on the cultural importance of passing down the understanding that our relationship with the Earth is a shared responsibility. Kimmerer’s ontological approach grounds the ideas that our relationship with the natural world is seperate from our own desires and needs.

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Understanding The Reciprocal Relationship Between Human And Non-Human

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Understanding The Reciprocal Relationship Between Human And Non-Human

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An ontological perspective aims to reiterate the philosophy of the state of existence and aims to address what is the true form of “real” around us. In Braiding Sweet Grass Kimmerer states, “Listening in wild places, we are audience to conversations in a language not our own. I think now that it was a longing to comprehend this language I hear in the woods that led me to science, to learn over the years to speak fluent botany.”(Kimmerer, p.48). Kimmerer points out the learning of speaking “fluent botany” as a metaphor in becoming fluent in the language of nature. She continues with this idea that nature in itself has its very own consciousness in which one should aim to understand in a level deeper than what you might initially conceptualize. This communication with nature is not only one that is unidirectional but becomes part of a reciprocal relationship in which humans nature both influence each other. In exploring this philosophy, Kimmerer helps us come to appreciate the interconnection of all life forms and come to truly honor it.

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Contextualizing Interconnections between Science And The Indigenous 

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Contextualizing Interconnections between Science And The Indigenous 

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In Braiding Sweet Grass, Kimmerer actively seeks to explain how science and indigenous traditions are interconnected and how they can work off of each other and enrich one another. Her writing works closely in representing her experience as a Potawatomi Citizen, personifying nature in a way in which her ancestors did. Through her ontological form of writing she aids readers in understanding that relationships with the environment emerge from not just stories but language itself. “Mother Earth” in this example is Kimmerer’s way of romanticizing this seperate sphere that is nature.

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Contextualizing The Influence Of Nature To Our Lives

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Contextualizing The Influence Of Nature To Our Lives

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Kimmerer makes several references to Kinship, in which deeply values the respect that Indigenous ideals view nature as something seperate from humans. The beauty in a reciprocal kinship relationship is shown in her soft spoken tone in her writing making it a bench mark that is one’s responsibility to restore what was taken. Giving back what humans take from the prosperous Earth isn’t in a literal sense as one would think, but more in the philosophical and moral acts one may want to carry out in their day to day lives, this may include acts of care towards Earth and appreciating the beauty of the natural world around us.

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In society to be knowledgeable about many different sectors of life is considered “rich”, and for one to be educated and be able to understand why things function the way they do is a highly applicable trait one can have. Henry David Thoreau highlights this in his written work Walking. He explores the philosophy of epistemology and essentially how our personal experiences allow us to engage with the world on a deeper scope. He states, “I believe that there is subtitle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct aright. It is not indifferent to us which way we walk. There is a right way; but we are very liable from heedlessness and stupidity to take the wrong one.”(Thoreau, p.33). It is highlighted that we as humans have this unconscious magenitism to the spiritual and natural world. Additionally, having the ability to walk the “right way” requires the attentiveness and openness in listening to the guiding forces of nature.

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Writers like Thoreau often make this distinction between civilization and the wilderness where nature is now the romanticized aspect but civilization is viewed as bad. There is enlightenment that one can gain from being surrounded by the beauty of nature and if one can allow themselves to be guided by the spiritual forces of nature. This interconnects in our ability to listen and resonate with what existed before we became beings.

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Comparing The Philosophies Of Kimmerer And Thoreau

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Comparing The Philosophies Of Kimmerer And Thoreau

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Although both Kimmerer and Thoreau share philosophical themes that surround nature and our relationship therein they also both analyze and conceptualize them very differently. Each of their perspectives have been shaped through their ontological and epistemological ideals. Kimmerer takes on the ontological approach in her writing, viewing nature as a larger part of a kinship where humans lie amongst the web of life and not seperate from it. However, Thoreau’s writing is heavily grounded on personal experience in Walking and how his direct interactions with nature have influenced him. He believes that knowledge is founded from intuitive and embodied experiences rather than those found from social constructs.

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Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.

Thoreau, Henry David. “Walking.” The Portable Thoreau, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer, Viking Penguin, 2004.

"**Suffocating Mother Nature**." Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs, 2025, [https://bowseat.org/gallery/suffocating-mother-nature/](https://bowseat.org/gallery/suffocating-mother-nature/). 4 Mar. 2025

"Stream Crossing Safety." Pacific Crest Trail Association, 2025, https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/backcountry-basics/water/stream-crossing-safety/. 5 Mar. 2025

"Bella Hand Vine Posters or Post Card." Hand in Mind, www.handinmind.com/products/bella-hand-vine-posters-or-post-card. 4 Mar. 2025.

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Knowledge As We Know It, Shaped By Society

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Knowledge As We Know It, Shaped By Society

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The knowledge that we as humans can gain from nature is powerful and enlightening as it isn’t a form of intellectualizing but one that can be embodied and experienced directly through experiences. Thoreau states ,“Here is this vast, savage, howling mother of ours, Nature, lying all around, with such beauty, and such affection for her children, as the leopard; and yet we so early weaned from her breast to society, to that culture which is exclusively an interaction of man on man—.” Once we “wean” and detach from our natural forces we are then consumed by societal norms and superheated from the primal knowledge that nature has to offer.

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Both works by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Henry David Thoreau offer similar yet very distinct perspectives of the relationship between nature and culture. Kimmerer invites us to view nature as an interconnected being in which we share kinship with. However Thoreau focuses on answering the question of “How do we know the world” and he answers this by highlighting the importance of complex personal and embodied experiences with nature. By exploring both we can open our minds to a deeper philosophical thinking of how as humans we’ve gained these ideas of nature and culture and more importantly how as a society can we continue to learn and respect about the nature that exists around us.

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Thoreau commonly touches on the concept of “Wilderness” and how it provides concrete existentialist interactions with our environment. This idea of wilderness creates a division of civilization being “over there” while wilderness is “over here”, always making it a known staple that nature is something that must be respected yet civilization is something that has corrupted the beauty of it. Additionally, Thoreau does not fail to embody transcendentalist philosophies where we can come to understand the world through intuition, experience and connection to the Earth.