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In the same ere as Aldo Leopold, Robin Kimmerer also holds a similar set of ideals like the land ethic. Her relationship to her biotic community is that of reciprocity and mutualistic actions.
Many of Kimmerer’s beliefs are held in sets of rules made by the indigenous people of her tribe. The Original Instructions “are not “instructions” like commandments, though, or rules; rather, they are like a compass: they provide an orientation but not a map.” The Original Instructions are the basis of what her rules are, which in turn determines her relationship to her biotic community.

Thesis
She is in a mutualistic relationship to her biotic community based on
-	Rules like Original Instructions, Honorable Harvest
-	Folklore like the 3 sisters, Sky Woman as well as cautionary stories like 179 fishing man and taking leaks before they’ve given approval
Her dislike of modern scientists who have lost the love of nature and her dislike of consumerist society in its whole (sustainable agriculture so they can just take more).

Counter Argument
She wishes she was a plant (or autotroph) instead of an animal because plants photosynthesize and in turn give things, rather than an animal (heterotroph). They are both the same, according to when she says “in order to live, I must consume.” PAGE 177

Sky Woman
-	The animals helped her out of their own desire
-	She can relate to being dropped out of the sky and into situations she doesn’t understand
-	Makes her want to give back PAGE 8 since she gave to her.
-	Sky woman gave the earth for the wellness of all, while nature in the bible is seen as evil. This is why she has such a unique relationship with nature as opposed to American society. Turtle Island also made nature to be a living being, leading to the caring and sympathetic nature of her people. Kimmerer relates the sweet grass of the earth to that of the Sky Woman’s hair, braiding it as if it were human. This is the inverse of the Turtle Island example, where humans are given natural characteristics. The statement that humans and nature are one is the bottom line of these two examples. Trees could talk in the old times 19.

Quotes
“LIKE creation stories everywhere, cosmologies are a source of identity and orientation to the world” PAGE 7





Critical Essay #1: Relationships to Biotic Community, Skywoman and Scientific Reconciling
In the same ere as Aldo Leopold, Robin Wall Kimmerer also holds a similar set of ideals like the land ethic. Her relationship to her biotic community is that of reciprocity and mutualistic actions. Kimmerer’s love of nature shows itself in the rules she lives by, the stories she’s heard as well as what she has experienced throughout her life as a scientist and a mother.