🐕 The Forgotten Wool Dogs of the Coast Salish

 🐕 The Forgotten Wool Dogs of the Coast Salish

Most people have heard of sheep being raised for wool.

Fewer people know that, on the Pacific Northwest Coast, some Coast Salish peoples raised dogs for their wool.

These animals are known today as the Coast Salish woolly dogs.

They were kept by Coast Salish communities across what is now British Columbia and Washington State, including groups like the Squamish, Songhees, and many others.

Unlike modern dogs, these were carefully bred for their thick, soft undercoat, which grew in long white or light-coloured tufts.

They were not just pets.

They were part of a textile economy.

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🧶 Why they were special

The wool from these dogs was:

• sheared regularly, like sheep
• collected and cleaned
• sometimes mixed with mountain goat wool and plant fibres
• woven into high-status blankets

These blankets were extremely important.

They were used for:

• ceremonies and potlatches
• marriage gifts
• burial wrappings
• signs of wealth and status

On the Northwest Coast, a blanket was not just clothing—it was social value made visible.

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🌊 How they were cared for

Wool dogs were:

• kept separate from other dogs
• sometimes placed on islands or in controlled areas
• carefully bred to maintain their woolly coat

They were part of a managed system of breeding and care, not random village dogs.

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⚠️ What happened to them

When European settlers arrived, everything changed quickly.

Trade blankets made from factory wool became widely available.

Sheep’s wool replaced dog wool.

Colonial disruption affected Indigenous economies and breeding systems.

Without continued care and purpose, the woolly dog eventually disappeared in the 1800s, becoming extinct.

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🧭 Why they matter

The Salish woolly dog reminds us that:

• Indigenous peoples were advanced textile producers
• dogs were used in economic systems, not just companionship
• technology and innovation existed here long before colonization

It also shows how quickly cultural knowledge can disappear when systems are disrupted.

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🌿 A final thought

These dogs weren’t just unusual.

They were part of a living world of knowledge—about animals, weaving, land, and economy—that shaped life on the Pacific Northwest Coast for generations.

And now, they mostly survive in stories, museum records, and memory.

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