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Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer’s new book, “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World,” expands upon her highly popular “Braiding Sweetgrass,” published in 2013.
The subject is the economy, but don’t let that put you off. At just over 100 pages, the well-designed book is accessible and easily comprehended. The handsome monochrome wildlife drawings by John Burgoyne, included between the chapters, allow the reader to pause and digest the author’s thought-provoking message.
“The Serviceberry” raises questions about how we want to live, what we value, how we want to be in relation, and whether we can envision an economic system that nurtures mutual well-being. Kimmerer grew up eating Serviceberries (Amelanchier arborea) in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. She draws on her Potawatomi heritage to present her economic perspective.
The Serviceberry is a calendar plant that depends on seasonal changes. The ripening of Serviceberries determines the movement of the Indigenous North Americans. As the Serviceberries ripen, the people migrate to where the fruit is edible: “Instead of changing land to seek to suit their convenience, they change themselves.” By eating what is in season and readily available, abundance is seen as a gift, revered and respected, not exploited. By receiving the Serviceberry as a gift, the people respond with gratitude.
In the Potawatomi culture, gratitude is more than an uninspired “thank you” but is demonstrated by respecting the fruit and taking responsibility for sharing it with others. Kimmerer calls this “enoughness”—taking only what is needed and leaving the remainder for others. She maintains that sharing what you do not need is a “radical act in an economy that has always urged us to consume more.”
Dr. Kimmerer proceeds to question capitalism’s position that competition leads to success. She presents an alternative economy based on the natural world:
“Mutualism and cooperation…play a major role in evolution and enhance ecological well-being.” “What would it mean if we treated the natural world as a “gift economy” instead of a resource to be extracted? How might the ecosystem and personal relationships change if we witnessed the natural world as a source of gifts rather than as something to be taken advantage of and commodified?
Capitalism produces scarcity, she asserts. Even though the natural world is abundant, by exploiting and commodifying resources, we cause “shortages of food and clean water, breathable air, and fertile soil.”
The gift economy, in contrast, views Earth’s abundance as belonging to no one but as something mutually shared. In a gift economy, water is not bottled and sold but freely given. Those who benefit from water are responsible for keeping it clean and using only what is needed. Indigenous societies consider water “sacred and people have a moral responsibility to care for it, to keep it flowing.” A gift economy uses what is needed and shares the rest.
Kimmerer contends that a gift economy strengthens social bonds through the ties of reciprocity.
“In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, and the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away. In fact, status is determined not by how much one accumulates but by how much one gives away. The currency in the gift economy is a relationship which is expressed as gratitude, interdependence, and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is “we” rather than “I,” as all flourishing is mutual.”
In our individualistic society, people hoard because scarcity is their future vision. Hoarding for personal use was widely practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing little concern for others. In such an individualistic society, the economy is controlled by a few people who have the power to create scarcity artificially. However, in a gift economy, when someone has enough, they share with others with the confidence that someone will reciprocate if they should have a need.
Kimmerer purports, “... our patterns of gross overconsumption have brought us to the brink of disaster. What would it be like to consume with full awareness that we are the recipients of earthly gifts we have not earned? To consume with humility? We are called to harvest honorably, with restraint, respect, reverence, and reciprocity.”
“The Serviceberry” challenges readers to gradually alter their lives from an economy that relentlessly seeks excess to an economy based on abundance, gratitude, and reciprocity.
“The Serviceberry” presents a big, sweeping idea to Western economic systems. As current economies widen the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished, and humanity’s exploitation of Earth threatens its sustainability, these financial systems are increasingly being questioned, and calls for change are mounting.
“The Serviceberry” would be an excellent book for a discussion group focused on modern culture and for inclusion in an “Introduction to Economics” course.
About the author: Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Wisconsin. Kimmerer is a State University of New York Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and the founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.
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