COLLECTION STORIES
A WOOLLY TALE
SALISH WEAVERS ONCE RAISED A NOW-EXTINCT DOG FOR ITS HAIR BY PATRICIA JOLLIE
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n 1792, Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy was in the middle of his five-year expedition along the North Pacific Coast of North America when he witnessed
something startling. Dogs have been used throughout the Americas as guards, to aid in hunting or for companionship for thou- sands of years. However, the region’s Coast Salish inhabitants were raising a particular breed of dog for a unique reason—their woolly coats. “The dogs belonging to this tribe of In-
dians were numerous and resembled those of Pomerania, though, in general, some- what larger,” Vancouver wrote in his journal. “They were all shorn as close to the skin as sheep are in England.”
A VANISHING CANINE
The Coast Salish live from the Bute Inlet in British Columbia to the Columbia River in Oregon. A study published in the Journal of Archaeology in September 2020 report- ed that domestic canine bones have been found throughout Salish and Makah settle- ments along this upper North Pacific Coast of North America, some of which are 6,000 years old. Remains of the “woolly dog” were found throughout the region. They were
36 AMERICAN INDIAN WINTER 2020
recognized by their significantly smaller size compared to other village dogs (about 17 inches high), and traces of their fish-rich diet could be found in the composition of their bones. This small canine was of the Spitz variety,
with a curled tail and very furry, upright ears. Their long, white or light brown hair was excellent for yarn, since these lighter colors were more accepting of dyes and their fine strands were easily spun. Vancouver report- ed that “so compact were their fleeces that large portions could be lifted up by a corner without causing any separation.” Vancouver and others observed that the Salish people raised these small dogs in pens and isolated on islands, separating them from the com- munity’s other dogs so they would not in- terbreed and diminish the quality of their valued fleece. The dogs’ hair supplemented the Salish’s
other traditional source of wool, mountain goats. The Coast Salish obtained wild goat wool by trading with those who lived more inland and were able to collect the goat’s wool that was shed in the spring or hunt the animals in the mountains. Squamish Hereditary Chief Janice George says her great-grandfather would hunt goats in the “Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn,” (Twin Sisters, also
known as the Lion Mountains) above the Squamish Nation’s land in British Colombia. She says he “not only had to climb miles up, but also bring them down.” This took an exceptional amount of ef-
fort, so blankets and clothing made from goat hair were typically reserved for events marking a change in a person’s life, such as naming ceremonies, weddings and funerals. However, no matter what wool was used, blankets and other woven pieces were of- ten supplemented with plant material such stinging nettle, fireweed or cedar spun into the wool to make it stronger. In 1827, the Hudson Bay Company estab-
lished Fort Langley on the boarder of Brit- ish Columbia. It began to sell its sheep wool
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