For thousands of years, a breed of white, woolly dog played an important and cultural role for Coast Salish people in Western Canada but when colonists moved in the animal quickly became extinct, a new study says.
It started with a dog named Mutton that died in 1859. Its pelt had been in a collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
DNA analysis on the pelt, coupled with traditional knowledge from the Coast Salish people, provided new insights on the dog once bred for its unique woolly coat.
The study in the journal Science released Thursday says the dog was believed to be introduced in the Americas about 15,000 years ago, and the Coast Salish peoples carefully maintained the genetic integrity of the animal leading up to colonization.
Audrey T. Lin, a post-doctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the lead author of the study, says their study highlights the B次元官网网址渄irect and devastatingB次元官网网址� impacts of colonialism.
Coastal archaeologist Iain McKechnie from the University of Victoria, co-author of the study, says the dogs were pampered by the Coast Salish, fed a special diet and their coats were regularly combed.
The animals thick woollen undercoat was shorn for weaving blankets and textiles, but increasing settler colonialism forced the decline of the tradition in the 19th century and the Indigenous dog population was lost.
McKechnie says the study also shows the history of Indigenous people in Western Canada and their B次元官网网址渓ove and caringB次元官网网址� for the woolly dogs.
The decline of the dogs through the 19th century isnB次元官网网址檛 fully understood, the study says.
The introduction of trade blankets into the coastal region would be an oversimplification for the abandonment of the woolly dog, it says.
B次元官网网址淪urvival of the woolly dogs depended upon the survival of their caretakers, in addition to disease, expanding colonialism, increased cultural upheaval, displacement of Indigenous Peoples and diminished capacity to manage the breed.B次元官网网址�
Coast Salish artist Eliot White-Hill, whose Indigenous name is Kwulasultun, says even though the dogs have been extinct for more than a century their stories are still an important part of the Coast Salish community.
Nanaimo, a city on Vancouver IslandB次元官网网址檚 east coast, was a wool dog sanctuary, which kept wool dogs from interbreeding, he says.
B次元官网网址淭hese wool dogs were at the centre of our social and economic systems. I know that in my community at least they were owned and passed down matrilineally.B次元官网网址�
White-Hill says a story shared by elders talks of how a raven tricked the woolly dogs, which were tired of being pampered, and the dogs snuck out of the village to find the raven.
The artist says heB次元官网网址檚 working on a childrenB次元官网网址檚 book to tell the legend.
B次元官网网址淲e still just love and cherish these little dogs,B次元官网网址� he added.
Coast Salish spinning and textiles expert Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, another co-author of the the study, says the knee-high woolly dog had a sharp, foxlike face, and its fur could grow up to six inches or 15 centimetres long.
She says she interviewed an elder from a Coast Salish nation in British Columbia for the study, who said her great-grandmother was forced to get rid of dogs by Indian agents.
Women of high status had woolly dogs at that time, but Indian agents did not allow that, she says.
Kaarremaa says the stories were difficult to hear.
B次元官网网址淚 feel so sad about it. I also feel that itB次元官网网址檚 important that people hear this.B次元官网网址�
White-Hill says many Salish people are excited about the idea of bringing the woolly dogs back one day.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know if we have to go the B次元官网网址楯urassic ParkB次元官网网址� route,B次元官网网址� said White-Hill, referring to the science fiction book and movie where genetic scientists were able to undo the extinction of some dinosaurs.
B次元官网网址淚 think that one thing thatB次元官网网址檚 really powerful is that there are still breeds of dogs that are similar to the wool dogs that exist today.B次元官网网址�
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