Comparing and Contrasting the Ideas of Robin Wall Kimmerer and Henry David Thoreau by

Central Argument

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 21:49:37 UTC

Robin Wall Kimmerer and Henry David Thoreau emphasize a collective deep connection to nature. Thoreau views nature as a personal meditative experience, where human interaction is introspective. On the other hand, Kimmerer portrays nature as a living entity with which humans have a kinship relationship with.

Nature and Culture as a Kinship Structure:

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 21:51:30 UTC

The concept of reciprocity is used to reveal a kinship nature in “The Council of Pecans.” Kimmerer describes nuts as having an intricate nature in helping sustain life. They are able to protect themselves while also sustaining life so humans and nature alike. Kimmerer shows gratitude for nature and the parts it plays in maintaining the kinship structure. Nuts provide the essential vitamins and nutrients needed for survival. We in turn, reciprocate this generosity by planting more seeds and protecting them from harm. This kinship structure between humans and nature is important because it shows how the environment thrives when both works together. These ecological relationships Native people have been culturally articulated over time through mediation of culture (Menrisky). This contributes to Kimmerer's idea of nature and culture as a kinship structure, with both parts growing over time and being passed down through oral tradition.

Example #1

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 21:53:22 UTC

Kimmerer often personified nature to convey it as an active subject. This personification calls attention to the interconnectedness of all life and gives community and mutual respect rather than something that is just to be observed. In nature writing, personification is a way of highlighting the personal attachment felt towards nature. In Walking, Thoreau writes, “...Nature, lying all around, with such beauty, and such affection for her children, as the leopard; and yet we are so early weaned from her breast to society, to that culture which is exclusively an interaction of man on man...” (40). Thoreau uses feminine pronouns to nature, referencing nature as a mother and a provider. This symbolizes the deep care and sort of longing that he feels for the environment that he feels sad for being ripped away so soon. Additionally, Kimmerer writes about nature in feminine pronouns saying, “They are safety for hard times, the embryo of survival” (Kimmerer, 14). In this case, Kimmerer uses nuts as the feminine symbol of mother and protector.

Example #2

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 21:53:59 UTC

“The Council of Pecans” also includes Kimmerer's family views as nature as a gift which differed from the views of the government. Kimmerer states, “In the settler mind, land was property, real estate, capital, or natural resources. But to our people, it was everything: identity, the connection to our ancestors, the home of our nonhuman kinfolk, our pharmacy, our library, the source of all that sustained us” (17). In the view of the government, this land was something to be exploited and something that would provide them with the necessary resources to thrive. On the other hand, the Indigenous people view the land as the most important gift, not a commodity to be sold or bought. This belief threatened the government, so they forced indigenous people to move from their sacred lands.

Wilderness as a Woman

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 21:59:44 UTC

The figurative use of a woman in nature is a common theme in nature writing. Both Thoreau and Kimmerer used this to mean “Mother Earth,” by personifying nature as a maternal figure that provides sustenance, protection, and guidance (Menrisky). Thoreau often uses it when talking about the refuge and care nature provides and the importance of solitude where a person can be cared for and nurtured. Likewise, Kimmerer utilizes this trope in a metaphorical way, describing the shell/husk as the womb and the tree as the mother. In this way, the shell of the nut is still just a vessel for the thing of true value, the nut, to be housed in and protected.

Example #3

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:00:30 UTC

Rather than the kinship structure of nature and culture that Kimmerer provides, Thoreau often expressed how nature was a place of solitude, somewhere he and others could go to for reflection and a return to a more primal, thoughtful state of being. He viewed nature as a place to clear the mind writing, “The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him” (Thoreau, 39). Thoreau’s vision is personal and tends to present nature as a way of self-development. He is able to develop the idea that the wild is free and a place completely untouched by humans. Unmediated access to the land and the exposure that comes with it is something that Thoreau is enthralled by and something he highlights throughout.

Nature as Sublime Rather than Danger

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:01:49 UTC

The social construction of wilderness began with the definition of wilderness as Biblical fear where the wild needed to be tamed, avoided, and was the place of the devil. Figures like Thoreau began to reframe nature and wilderness as spaces of self-discovery and retreat, rather than places of fear and danger. This relates to one of the four paradigms we talked about in lecture, the wilderness paradigm. This paradigm advocates purity and authenticity, including a place of retreat and sublime experience. The sublime experience is a temporary aesthetic experience of diminishment in the face of God/nature, which hints at a universal connection to the more than non-human world. By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau sought to experience this sublime connection, hoping the simplicity and isolation of the natural world would allow him to experience the world more deeply and authentically.

Example #4

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:02:21 UTC

In much of Thoreau's writing, or nature writing, nature was described as a place of beauty and awe. In Walking, Thoreau acknowledges this by stating, “I do not know of any poetry or quote which adequately expresses this yearning for the Wild” (Thoreau, 39). The romantic portrayal of the wild was a common theme. His love for nature also causes him to make people realize the importance of letting land be free. He writes, “To enjoy a thing exclusively is commonly to exclude yourself form the trye enjoyment of it” (Thoreau, 33). Thoreau makes the argument that the intrinsic beauty of nature is a purely human experience. To respect nature is also to acknowledge that it needs to be maintained so this beauty we admire can be long-lasting.

Understanding Nature Through Experience vs Storytelling:

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:03:00 UTC

Both Thoreau and Kimmerer describe a positive viewpoint and relationship with nature. However, these two writers have reached this argument through different pasts. In “The Council of Pecans,” Kimmerer’s understanding of nature comes from the Indigenous viewpoint passed down through storytelling traditions in which she has been raised. This storytelling shaped her viewpoint to be about the kinship structure and personification of nature, viewing nature as an active subject rather than just a thing. For Thoreau, nature is a separate sphere. Rather than understanding nature through storytelling, Thoreau himself is looking at nature and telling the audience what it is through unmediated access. Thoreau’s view on nature comes from his own self-journey and exploration of the world.

Example #5

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:03:37 UTC

Kimmerer integrates both scientific knowledge and Indigenous knowledge in her work. Kimmerer states, “The tree sends out a distress call...The downwind trees catch, the drift sensing those few molecules of alarm, the whiff of danger” (Kimmerer, 20). The trees have chemical signs as distress calls, helping show how connected nature is, especially in an ecosystem and how individual survival leads to more collaboration within the forest. Additionally, Kimmerer says, “There is so much we cannot sense with our limited human capacity. Tree conversations are still far above our heads” (Kimmerer, 20). Here, Kimmerer bridges the gap between science and spirituality by illustrating that all things, even trees, are connected in a spiritual relationship. Thoreau does not blend science and spirituality in the same way; instead, his writing is more focused on philosophical and spiritual engagement with the natural world.

White Supremacy and the Exploitation of Nature:

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:05:18 UTC

In Kimmerer’s “The Council of Pecans,” a connection is made between white supremacy and the exploitation of land. Kimmerer discusses how colonial settlers viewed both the land and Indigenous people as things to be exploited. For Indigenous people, land held deep spiritual and cultural significance. As spoken about in class, Indigenous systems of reciprocity have led numerous Western writers and other figures to romantically represent Native peoples as the epitome of nature. It was in this mindset that the colonists felt that they could exploit both the Indigenous people and their land because they thought as both as one entity. Therefore, the Indian Termination Policy and the Indian Relocation Act were put in place to ensure that the colonists would get the land they thought they were entitled to.

Works Cited

isabellebovedumin — 2025-03-07 22:22:16 UTC

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. "The Council of Pecans." Braiding Sweetgrass, Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, MN, 2013.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walking. Vol.9, The Atlantic Monthly, 1862.