Sunday, May 7, 5:30 p.m., Brickworks
— from Sandy Strehlou —
Join ecologist and historian Russel Barsh and botanist and spinner Madrona Murphy for a slideshow presentation and weaving demonstration celebrating the Coast Salish “wooly dog” and the first peoples of the islands on Sunday, May 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the Friday Harbor Brickworks.
88-15529, Blanket, Salish, catalog #E1891A, N. W. Coast, Salish Indian Culture, North American Ethnology Collection, woven dyed wool geometric motif, plain view
“Dogs were named, highly valued, and often buried wrapped in a blanket. Dog remains and dog burials are not uncommon in Coast Salish archaeology. A dog buried with a young woman was unearthed on Lopez Island by a University of Washington field school in 1968. DNA extracted from archaeological dog remains provides physical evidence for Coast Salish villages maintaining locally distinct dog breeds.” Coast Salish Woolly Dogs [Russel Barsh, HistoryLink.org Essay 11243]
Sponsored by Kwiaht.
For more information contact Sandy Strehlou, 360.622.2037 or sstrehlou@fridayharbor.org.
Perhaps ten years ago, I was in Anacortes waiting for a medical procedure. I shared the waiting room with a Native-American woman of approximately my own age.
We began a conversation, during which I learned that she was a traditional-style weaver.
“Before the Whites brought sheep,” I asked, “what was the source of the thread your people used for weaving?”
“Dogs,” she said. “We had dogs which were specially bred to have woolly hair. There still are a few of them around.”
It was the first time I’d ever heard of it.