We hwulmuhw mustimuhw | musteyuhw carry much Indigenous knowledge of where, when, and how plants grow. We have used this knowledge for millennia as a means to survive and thrive in our homeland on the shores of the Salish sea. All part of plants and trees are valued and used in different ways: the roots, stalks/trunks, leaves, flowers and fruit. Even in death, the leaves that fall to the earth nourish the mother plant or tree and all that grows around it, completing the cycle and ensuring new life will come again.
Snuneymuxw legend talks about the origin of the first cedar tree and all it came to be used for. Quw’utsun’ legends tell of the first man who fell from the sky Syalutsa’. He became knowledgeable about his new surroundings and all its plant and animal resources. As a result, he developed the technologies to help the hwulmuhw mustimuhw-to-come to survive and live well. Syalutsa’ personified the qualities of a healer, a scientist, and an inventor who passed along invaluable technologies involving fishing weirs, hunting techniques, earth stewardship and reciprocity.
