Chinook Indian Talk

Re: Wooly Dogs--history fact and fiction.......

From: Beth Miller
Date: 10/11/2002
Time: 4:16:24 AM
Remote Name: 216.7.36.50

Comments

I've lost this twice already so I'll send pieces more often. I've studied the wool dog at least 14 years and it appears you've seen my wool dog, woolly dog website, presently incompete, (I'm working on other books). I finally found a picture of the dog at the Chilliwack Museum. They allow use of the picture for educational research, but charge at least 15 dollars for inclusion in articles or books for sail It shows a formal portrait of two Indian Girls, probably local holding such a dog in their laps in a formal portrait by J.O. Boone, circa 1895, when the dogs were almost gone. The dog looks like a terrier wearing a curly sheep's fleece. It is just bigger than a lap dog. A lady friend, Samish/Lummi, told me of her grandmother who had the last flock of twelve to sixteen wool dogs in the Puget Sound area, and whose Hawaiian husband forced her to abandon them by Vancouver, by the Fraser River. The carefully bred dogs provided hair for the extensive blanket production for the area economy, but the blankets and dogs fell out of favor when Hudson Bay sheeps wool fur trade blankets became popular. You had to be highly skilled and disciplined to keep your dogs' breeding right, for the woolly quality occurs as a recessive set of jeans, and not all dogs were easily born with the feature. Hence, the dog islands, gated caves, and fenced pits were needed to protect the dogs in their probable once a year heat from cross breeding. Not everyone knew how to breed the dogs, and in the early 1920's several persons tried to cross breed them with coyotes to get better guard dogs. This was along the Stilliguamish River, but I've heard of those attempts elsewhere. You are right in that they may be possible to be regenerated, perhaps not quite the same, but the characteristic of the insulating hair longer than the guard hair occurs in several of the spitz type dog descendents. Malamute owners try to get rid of or fix the occasional "fluffy" dog, to keep it out of the breed. It is known to occur in the American Eskimo dog, and I correspond with a person who has one, that is hard to walk in the rain, has to be brushed off frequently, a characteristic described in several sources. the dog doesn't like water. North American dogs generally bred only once a year, unlike imported dogs. Another area dog was the bear dog. A man near the upper Skagit River had the last one he's heard of in the 1940s. It lived 18 years, and he hunted bear with Indians and their small bear dogs in the '20s. They packed the dogs into the Cascade forests in baskets and back packs, and when bears were evident, let the dogs go. They were extremely lively, harrassed the bear so the hunters could get in close, for the kill. I talked to the Band Chair in Lower B.C. who said they used to use a big short haired dog, something like a labrador to hunt deer and elk. The dogs went up the mountain around the deer, drove them down into standing in a creek bed where they were easy targets. Dogs in southern and Eastern Washington were very like the American Indian Dog described on Kim Laflam's website. He has been challenged on bringin this useful dog back, but I believe he has the right idea. His grandmother kept the dogs. They were used primarily on the prairies and the plateau country, very good and loyal to the family, guard dogs taught to be silent, and were babysitters keeping toddlers from the fire and the creeks and beaches. They were portable food that walked themselves to the next camp, ate off the land, and eatfed the family when the hunt could not provide enough. I've more information on the dog than anyone really wants to know, but find my website and post letters. Beth You may be interested to know the Indians, (Native Americans) of the America's had at least thirty six special breeds of dogs. Bernardo de Sahagun, was charged by the Spaniards to describe and picture Mexican culture, plants, animals, people and customs and he lists eight special breeds. These include the wool dog used for its wool to make fabric, the chihuahua, the Mexican hairless (Xolo dog) guard dogs, war dogs, and many dog and turkey recipes. Dogs were portable fresh meet who walked themselves between camping spots on trips.

Last changed: October 11, 2002