Nature-copied invention forms the mythic root of Native science and technology

Evidence

His elder brothers and sisters also inspired Nanabozho to make new things in order to survive. Beaver showed him how to make an ax; Whale gave him the shape for his canoe. He’d been instructed that if he could combine the lessons from nature with the strength of his own good mind, he could discover new things that would be useful for the people to come. In his mind, Grandmother Spider’s web became a fishnet. He followed the winter lessons of squirrels to create maple sugar. The lessons Nanabozho learned are the mythic roots of Native science, medicine, architecture, agriculture, and ecological knowledge. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 758

Categorization

• XREF: Direct bridge to biomimicry rising in mainstream design (759) and to ch32’s Indigenous-agriculture point. — connects to: Indigenous knowledge and Western science can coexist as complementary polycultures — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 487; Western botany frames plants as objects while Indigenous science treats them as subjects — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 150

Broader Connections

• Indigenous knowledge and Western science can coexist as complementary polycultures #expands (0.82) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 487
• Western botany frames plants as objects while Indigenous science treats them as subjects #expands (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 150