Salish Wool Dog

Last updated
Salish Wool Dog
PaulKane - A Woman Weaving a Blanket (ROM2005 5163).jpg
A Salish Wool Dog in a 19th-century painting of Coast Salish weaving
Origin Washington state and British Columbia
Breed status Extinct
Dog ( domestic dog )

The Salish Wool Dog, also known as the Comox dog or Clallam Indian Dog, [1] is an extinct breed of white, long-haired, Spitz-type dog that was developed and bred by the Coast Salish peoples of what is now Washington state and British Columbia for textile production. [2]

Contents

History

The remains of dogs that are a morphological match for the Salish wool dog has been found in archeological sites in Coastal Salish territory dating ~5,000 years ago. [3] The small, long-haired wool dog and the coyote-like village dogs were deliberately maintained as separate populations. The dogs were kept in packs of about 12 to 20 animals, and fed primarily raw and cooked salmon. To keep the breed true to type and the preferred white color, Salish Wool Dogs were confined on islands and in gated caves.

Salish peoples, renowned for their weaving and knitting, [4] did not raise sheep, and while mountain goat fur was also used to create wool textiles, mountain goats were wild, and thus their fur could only be collected from mountain goats leaving fur in the environment, such as from shedding, or collected from skins of hunted goats. The Salish Wool Dog was prized, then, for it being a source of material for wool that was a domesticated animal, and thus a consistent source of high quality material.

The dogs were sheared like sheep in May or June. In an account by George Vancouver, it was said that the sheared fur was so thick that he could pick up a corner and the whole fleece would hold together. The dog hair was frequently mixed with mountain goat wool, feathers, and plant fibers to change the yarn quality and to extend the supply of fiber.

During the 1800s, the use of dog wool declined and the breed became extinct in either the late 1800s or early 1900s. Ethnographer George Gibbs received a pelt during the Northwest Boundary Survey in 1859. [4] The specimen was rediscovered in the National Museum of Natural History's collection in 2003. [5] Genomic samples of the specimen's DNA revealed that Salish wool dogs diverged from other breeds as much as 5,000 years ago. [6] [4]

Osteometry

Cultural significance of textiles to Coast Salish peoples

Beyond their practical uses, woolen blankets, such as those that were made from fur of the Coast Salish Dog while it was alive, are of significant social, cultural, economic, and spiritual significance to the Salish peoples. Traditionally, women were in charge of making the blankets. Young girls were trained by their grandmothers as early as ten years of age, with more intense training at puberty. Weaving blankets required serious commitment and could take long periods of time to complete. Additionally, they were often associated with spiritual tasks or rituals such as abstinence. [8] According to the Salish origin story, women were taught how to weave by the dogs themselves. [4] The blankets represented an individual's wealth and were often given away to members of the community or even other villages to show prosperity, such as during the potlatch ceremony and public gathering, and were also used as a currency for which other goods could be purchased or bartered.

Traditionally, but as well as contemporaneously, certain kinds of ceremonial blankets can identify the wearer as being a civic and religious leader in the community. Honored individuals can be adorned with a blanket to distinguish them, or they would sit or stand upon their blankets so as to raise them in accordance of their honored status. [9]

"Studies of Wool Dogs and Interior Furnishing" ca. April-June 1847 by Paul Kane (Royal Ontario Museum) 95 woolly dog 02.jpg
"Studies of Wool Dogs and Interior Furnishing" ca. April-June 1847 by Paul Kane (Royal Ontario Museum)
"Clallam Indian woman basket making" by Paul Kane, ca. 1847 Clallam Indian woman basket making.webp
"Clallam Indian woman basket making" by Paul Kane, ca. 1847
Close-up of the dog in Paul Kane's painting. "A Woman Weaving a Blanket" ca. 1849-1856 by Paul Kane (Royal Ontario Museum) Salish Wool Dog (cropped).jpg
Close-up of the dog in Paul Kane's painting. "A Woman Weaving a Blanket" ca. 1849-1856 by Paul Kane (Royal Ontario Museum)
Two Coast Salish women with a dog suspected to be a mixed woolly dog. (Chilliwack Museum and Archives), before 1900. Salish dog 01 - girls-with-dog-jpg.jpg
Two Coast Salish women with a dog suspected to be a mixed woolly dog. (Chilliwack Museum and Archives), before 1900.
Ruth siastenu Sehome Shelton working in the Tulalip cemetery with her dog, possibly a woolly dog mix, 1922. Salish dog 02 - 1922.jpg
Ruth siastenu Sehome Shelton working in the Tulalip cemetery with her dog, possibly a woolly dog mix, 1922.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wool</span> Textile fiber from the hair of sheep or other mammals

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal wool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohair</span> Natural fiber (hair) of the Angora goat

Mohair is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. Both durable and resilient, mohair is lustrous with high sheen, and is often blended to add these qualities to a textile. Mohair takes dye exceptionally well. It feels warm in winter due to excellent insulating properties, while moisture-wicking keeps it cool in summer. It is durable, naturally elastic, flame-resistant and crease-resistant. It is considered a luxury fiber, like cashmere, alpaca, angora, and silk, but is more expensive than most sheep's wool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashmere wool</span> Fiber obtained from cashmere goats and other types of goat

Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats, pashmina goats, and some other breeds of goat. It has been used to make yarn, textiles and clothing for hundreds of years. Cashmere is closely associated with the Kashmir shawl, the word "cashmere" deriving from an anglicization of Kashmir, when the Kashmir shawl reached Europe in the 19th century. Both the soft undercoat and the guard hairs may be used; the softer hair is reserved for textiles, while the coarse guard hair is used for brushes and other non-apparel purposes. Cashmere is a hygroscopic fiber which essentially means that it absorbs water from the air. This helps regulate the body in both warm and cool temperatures by absorbing and releasing moisture based on the surrounding environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashmere goat</span> Any breed of goat that produces cashmere wool

A cashmere goat is a type of goat that produces cashmere wool, the goat's fine, soft, downy, winter undercoat, in commercial quality and quantity. This undercoat grows as the days get shorter and is associated with an outer coat of coarse hair, which is present all the year and is called guard hair. Most common goat breeds, including dairy goats, grow this two-coated fleece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haircloth</span>

Haircloth is commonly understood as a stiff, unsupple fabric made from coarse fibre from camelids, bovines, horses, goats, rabbits, hares and reindeers. However, a softer variation is valued in the textile and fashion industries for their rarity, aesthetics and comfort. This is because there are two types of hairs used in making haircloth; a rougher outer “guard coat”, and a softer undercoat. The outer coats are used in coarse fabrics, often applied to upholstery, carpets, underskirts and hairshirts, or cilices, while "luxury fabrics" use the softer undercoat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pygora goat</span> Goat breed

The Pygora goat is a breed of goat that originated from crossing the registered NPGA Pygmy goat and the white AAGBA Angora goat. Pygoras, along with the Angora goat and Cashmere goat, are fiber goats. Pygora goats produce three distinct kinds of fleece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal fiber</span> Natural fiber from animals like silk worms and sheep

Animal fibers are natural fibers that consist largely of certain proteins. Examples include silk, hair/fur and feathers. The animal fibers used most commonly both in the manufacturing world as well as by the hand spinners are wool from domestic sheep and silk. Also very popular are alpaca fiber and mohair from Angora goats. Unusual fibers such as Angora wool from rabbits and Chiengora from dogs also exist, but are rarely used for mass production.

Chiengora, also called "dog wool," is yarn or wool spun from dog hair. The word is a portmanteau of chien and angora and was coined by an American spinner, Annette Klick. Dog hair is up to 80% warmer than wool and is not elastic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast Salish art</span> Art style of the Coast Salish peoples

Coast Salish art is an art unique to the Pacific Northwest Coast among the Coast Salish peoples. Coast Salish are peoples from the Pacific Northwest Coast made up of many different languages and cultural characteristics. Coast Salish territory covers the coast of British Columbia and Washington state. Within traditional Coast Salish art there are two major forms; the flat design and carving, and basketry and weaving. In historical times these were delineated among male and female roles in the community with men made "figurative pieces, such as sculptures and paintings that depicts crest, shamanic beings, and spirits, whereas women produced baskets and textiles, most often decorated with abstract designs."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goat</span> Domesticated mammal (Capra hircus)

The goat or domestic goat is a species of domesticated goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the bezoar ibex of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bovidae, meaning it is closely related to the sheep. There are more than 300 distinct breeds of goat. It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal - according to archaeological evidence its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huldremose Woman</span> Iron Age bog body found in Denmark

Huldremose Woman, or Huldre Fen Woman, is a female bog body recovered in 1879 from a peat bog near Ramten, Jutland, Denmark. Analysis by Carbon 14 dating indicates that she lived during the Iron Age, sometime between 160 BCE and 340 CE. The mummified remains are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark. The elaborate clothing worn by Huldremose Woman has been reconstructed and displayed at several museums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hare Indian Dog</span> Dog breed

The Hare Indian dog is an extinct domesticated canine; possibly a breed of domestic dog, coydog, or domesticated coyote; formerly found and originally bred in northern Canada by the Hare Indians for coursing. It had the speed and some characteristics of the coyote, and the domesticated temperament and other characteristics of a domestic dog. It gradually lost its usefulness as aboriginal hunting methods declined, and became extinct or lost its separate identity through interbreeding with dogs in the 19th century, though some claim the breed still exists in modified form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilkat weaving</span> Northwest Coast weaving style

Chilkat weaving is a traditional form of weaving practiced by Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Northwest Coast peoples of Alaska and British Columbia. Chilkat robes are worn by high-ranking tribal members on civic or ceremonial occasions, including dances. The blankets are almost always black, white, yellow and blue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salish weaving</span>

Salish are skilled weavers and knitters of the Pacific Northwest. They are most noted for their beautiful twill blankets many of which are very old. The adoption of new fabrics, dyes, and weaving techniques allow us to study a wide variety of Salish weavings today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowichan knitting</span> Form of knitting of the Cowichan people

Cowichan knitting is a form of knitting characteristic of the Cowichan people of southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The distinctively patterned, heavy-knit Cowichan sweaters, popular among British Columbians and tourists, are produced using this method. Cowichan knitting is an acculturated art form, a combination of European textile techniques and Salish spinning and weaving methods. From this union, new tools, techniques and designs developed over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salish peoples</span> Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest

The Salish peoples are indigenous peoples of the American and Canadian Pacific Northwest, identified by their use of the Salishan languages which diversified out of Proto-Salish between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span>

The textile arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas are decorative, utilitarian, ceremonial, or conceptual artworks made from plant, animal, or synthetic fibers by Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Yak fiber is the term commonly used to refer yak fiber wool produced from the coat hair of yaks, a long-haired bovine mainly found in the Himalayan region, Tibetan plateau, and some areas of Mongolia and Central Asia.

Debra Sparrow, or θəliχʷəlʷət (Thelliawhatlwit), is a Musqueam weaver, artist and knowledge keeper. She is self-taught in Salish design, weaving, and jewellery making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravenstail weaving</span> Pacific Northwest Coast form of weaving

Ravenstail weaving, also known as Raven's Tail weaving, is a traditional form of geometric weaving-style practiced by Northwest Coast peoples.

References

  1. "Dogs of the American Aborigines". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 10 June 2024.
  2. "World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress Proceedings, 2005". VIN.com. 30 March 2015.
  3. McKechnie, Iain; Moss, Madonna L.; Crockford, Susan J. (2020-12-01). "Domestic dogs and wild canids on the Northwest Coast of North America: Animal husbandry in a region without agriculture?". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 60: 101209. doi: 10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101209 . hdl: 1828/12141 . ISSN   0278-4165.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lin, Audrey T.; Hammond-Kaarremaa, Liz; Liu, Hsiao-Lei; Stantis, Chris; McKechnie, Iain; Pavel, Michael; Pavel, Susan sa'hLa mitSa; Wyss, Senaqwila Sen̓áḵw; Sparrow, Debra qwasen; Carr, Karen; Aninta, Sabhrina Gita; Perri, Angela; Hartt, Jonathan; Bergström, Anders; Carmagnini, Alberto (2023-12-15). "The history of Coast Salish "woolly dogs" revealed by ancient genomics and Indigenous Knowledge". Science. 382 (6676): 1303–1308. Bibcode:2023Sci...382.1303L. doi:10.1126/science.adi6549. ISSN   0036-8075. PMC   7615573 . PMID   38096292.
  5. Brash, Russel (June 22, 2016). "Coast Salish Woolly Dogs". HistoryLink . Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  6. "Extinct Woolly Dog Analyzed in Collaborative Study with Coast Salish Co-authors". American Museum of Natural History. 2023-12-14.
  7. Crockford, S.J. (1997). "Osteometry of Makah and Coast Salish dogs". Burnaby, British Columbia: Archaeology Press 22, Simon Fraser University.
  8. Paula Gustafson. Salish Weaving. Douglas and McIntyre: Vancouver, 1980.
  9. Crisca Bierwert. Weaving in Beauty, Weaving in Time in S'abadeb The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists. ed. Barbara Brotherton. Seattle Art Museum: 2008.