Robin Wall Kimmerer, in an On Being interview, spoke about how she grew up spending time in the woods. Instead of human elders, she had plant elders. She says, “We are at the edge of a revolution of understanding the intelligence of other beings,” and seeks out alternative pronouns to “it” when referring to non-human life. Her preferred pronoun, at this point, is “kin”, as in “kin is coming”, “kin is there”.

Here is a quote from her:

“In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us.”

Bwindi Forest, Uganda – photo from bigstockphoto.com, used with permission