The Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States has a long tradition of weaving practised by the Coast Salish people.
Many readers might be familiar with the blankets and cloaks that incorporate colour and pattern distinctive to the region. What you may not know is that some of those pieces might have been made from dog wool.
The Coast Salish Woolly Dog is now extinct but for millennia they were raised for their coats, the hair of which was either shorn off or plucked, depending on the breed of dog. Twenty years ago, a pelt from the only known Coast Salish Woolly Dog was rediscovered in the Smithsonian. The pelt had come from “Mutton”, a dog that was cared for by George Gibbs, a naturalist and ethnographer in the 1850s and when Mutton passed away, the pelt was given to the Institute. Following its rediscovery it has been the subject of extensive testing and part of a research project that brought together scientists and Coast Salish communities who have shared their knowledge of these unique animals and the ways in which they were used and cared for, some within living memory. You can read more of this fascinating study below.
Read more:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/salish-wooly-dog-blanket-1.6839863
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