My Grandfather the Cedar My Grandmother the Wool

This thesis is a personal journey that seeks to comprehend whether First Nations philosophies, specifically the Coast Salish can contribute to current research on sustainability. As a Coast Salish person, I initially set out to deepen my understanding of my own culture and ended up learning about the environment – simply because the two cannot be teased apart. My praxis explores stories based within Coast Salish knowledge of the land, seasonal harvesting, elder's guidance, and a traditional philosophy of respect. I weave this with Western philosophies centered on land ethic and systems thinking to create a space of hybridity. This thesis describes my new understanding of materiality in our interdependent world. The writing structure is woven and fragmented with different voices that reflect the academic, the poetic and the making. The writing is tangential, repetitive and circular, which mimics the structure of the traditional oral history of the Coast Salish people.