Burke Book Club | The Serviceberry
Date & Time
Thursday, December 18, 2025
6:30–8 p.m.
This event is in the past.
Tickets
FREE and open to the public;
Registration required
Join us for a relaxing evening with the Burke Book Club!
Each month, we’ll hear from Burke staff about a book they recommend. Feel free to read the book ahead of time, or join us to learn more about the selection.
Our December book is The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Polly Olsen, Burke Museum Tribal Liaison, will discuss The Serviceberry and illustrate the book’s core concept, the gift economy. After the conversation, explore the museum on your own and see examples of lessons from The Serviceberry in the galleries.
Book club titles are available in the Burke Store.
About The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer 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 ensures 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.”
