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The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

Book by Robin Wall Kimmerer · 9 quotes · Science, Ethnobotany, Gift Economy

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The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World Quotes

“We know how to do this. And what's more, we crave doing it, feeling more alive with every gift exchange. 44 We live in the tension between what is and what is possible. 47 The Honorable Harvest Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them. Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life. Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer. Never take the first. Never take the last. Take only what you need. Take only that which is given. Never take more than half. Leave some for others. Harvest in a way that minimizes harm. Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken. Share. Give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken. Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever. 64-65”

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“If the Sun is the source of flow in the economy of nature, what is the “Sun” of a human gift economy, the source that consonantly replenishes the flow of gifts? Maybe it is love.”

LoveEconomicsEconomic GrowthSustainable DevelopmentEconomics PhilosophyIndigenous WisdomNatural LawsIndigenous KnowledgeGift EconomyEthnobotany
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“Libraries are models of gift economies, providing free access not only to books but also music, tools, seeds, and more. We don't each have to own everything. The books at the library belong to everyone, serving the public with free books. Take the books, enjoy them, bring them back so someone else can enjoy them, with literary abundance for all. And all you need is a library card, which is a kind of agreement to respect and take care of the common good.”

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“When the mother nurses her child, the boundary of the individual self becomes permeable and the common good is the only one that matters. The maternal gift economy is a biological imperative. There is no meritocracy or earning of sustenance. Mothers do not sell their milk to their babies, it is pure gift, sos that life can continue. The currency of this economy is the flow of gratitude, the flow of love, literally in support of life.”

GratitudeMaternal LoveMaterial Ecology
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“...making relationships led to the historic intertribal agreements with the U.S. government to protect the cultural landscape of the Bears Ears as the first tribally focused national monument. Five different tribes nurtured relationships with the federal government to forever protect an earthly gift to be held in common. This was a transformative step toward healing a long history of colonial taking. That hopeful model of Indigenous economics was abruptly curtailed when Donald Trump reversed the decision and instead conveyed those sacred rights to a private uranium-mining company. It took an election to reverse it.”

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Book:The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
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