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

Robin Wall Kimmerer, art: John Burgoyne 

“Robin Wall Kimmerer has written an extraordinary book, showing how the factual, objective approach of science can be enriched by the ancient knowledge of the indigenous people”
-Jane Goodall

This new book by Central New York Indigenous scientist, poet and best-selling author Robin Kimmerer offers a bold and inspiring vision to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity and community. In contrast to an economy rooted in scarcity, competition and greed, shares lessons from the serviceberry which freely distributes its wealth to benefit all. 

As Dr. Kimmerer, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

Hardcover, 5x7, 128 pp., 2024, ages teen and up.

Robin is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.