Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.

In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Part of Flagstaff Festival of Science, a free annual 10-day event wholly designed to promote awareness and enthusiasm for science in and about northern Arizona and beyond, and is fondly known as the Best 10 Days of the Year. Established in 1990, it is the longest, continuously running, entirely free science festival in the world.