Lessons Learned from Braiding Sweetgrass

   Personally, I am not a camper. I never have been, but maybe one day I will be. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a camper. Whenever her family would go camping, they always found a way to connect with and thank the Earth. In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, she recalls a reoccurring rituals that her mother had them preform each camping trip. Her mother would have her family makes sure that there was not a single piece of trash in site before they left the campsite. This is an amazing thing to do, as it is helping the environment. Over the summer I worked for the YMCA. I was a counselor who worked with children, giving me a platform to teach them very valuable lessons. At the Y summer camp, we would go on field trips. Reading the section in Braiding Sweetgrass titled, "An Offering," reminded me of the field trips. 
   One field trip was a hiking trip. We went to the Blue Hills in Massachusetts. The scenery was gorgeous, and it was an amazing trip. After our group finished our hike, we needed to eat some lunch. There was a nice grassy area that we found, so we ate there. The children had left trash everywhere. Literally, everywhere. It was horrifying and embarrassing. Us counselors sat the kids down and explained to them that they needed to clean up. If they did not clean, we would get a horrible reputation and not be welcomed back by the Blue Hills staff. Of course, they cleaned and every piece of trash was disposed of. This happened at every field trip we went on. The children created trash, and then cleaned it. At the time, I only thought that it was so the people running the place welcomed us back. Kimmerer changed my mind. 
   Kimmerer talks about how the Earth gives gifts, and how it is important to reciprocate the generosity. Looking back, each place we went to gave us a gift. The Blue Hills gave us sights to see. When the sun became too much to bear, we were gifted rock ledges in the shade to sit upon. It gave us a place to sit and eat when we grew tired and hungry. We were not picking up our trash so that the people who worked at the Blue Hills would let us back, but so that the Hills themselves would welcome us back. I wish I had learned from Kimmerer a couple months ago, so that I could teach the children this lesson. They are the future, and they need to protect and save the Earth.