Hazel Barnett Character Analysis in Braiding Sweetgrass

Hazel Barnett is an older woman who is Robin’s neighbor in Kentucky. She lives with her adult son Sam and daughter Janie, and she bonds with Robin over their love of plants, cooking, and household projects—and a mutual sense of exile and longing for home. Robin and her daughters decorate Hazel’s old house for Christmas one year and throw her a party, offering the experience as a gift of homecoming.

Hazel Barnett Character Timeline in Braiding Sweetgrass

The timeline below shows where the character Hazel Barnett appears in Braiding Sweetgrass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...that is now empty—though still decorated for a long-ago Christmas—and remembers when a woman named Hazel Barnett lived there. (full context)

Indigenous Wisdom and Scientific Knowledge Theme Icon

Gifts, Gratitude, and Responsibility Theme Icon

Linden first meets Hazel while she and her mother Robin are looking for wild blackberries, soon after they have... (full context)

...late” and should have been a farmwife in the 1800s. Linden feels that Robin and Hazel’s friendship grew around this sense of work and the land: “both were women with feet... (full context)

Hazel often laments the loss of her old home. It’s just down the road, but she... (full context)

The Indigenous Past and Future Theme Icon

They all get out and Hazel shows them around the yard, finally going inside on her own. Linden looks inside the... (full context)

After this initial visit, Hazel often calls Robin on Sundays and asks to go visit the house. Linden and her... (full context)

As winter begins, Hazel expresses a wish to visit her old house for one last Christmas. Linden’s family isn’t... (full context)

...the Christmas party, Linden and Larkin welcome the guests while Robin goes to pick up Hazel. Hazel beams as she steps out of the car and sees her old home full... (full context)