Salish Woolly Dog

For generations, we have spoken of the Salish woolly dog — our ancestors’ cherished companion, carefully bred and sheared for his thick, white wool, and woven into some of our most sacred blankets. Our elders carried these stories and our communities have always known him. He was never a forgotten part of our history.

What was missing was not knowledge of his existence but recognition of that knowledge within Western historical records.

This year, something changed. After more than 160 years, the last known woolly dog came home. He was taken to the Smithsonian in 1859, and his pelt — the only known surviving example — is now on display at the Museum of Anthropology, back on our territory for the first time since he left.

Read more about the display here.

Before the exhibit opened to the public, my mother, Debra Sparrow, and I, along with my son Isaiah, were invited to see him privately. It was a beautiful and historic morning, and it was very moving to be that close to him — to something our grandparents spoke of, that we weren't sure we'd ever get to see for ourselves.

These little beings were bred for their wool, and their wool was worked together with mountain goat wool to weave the blankets our communities depended on. Colonial upheaval and forced assimilation nearly took this history from us along with him. That he's here now is a reminder of how resilient our people and our weaving have always been.

It's also a reminder of why my mother and I do this work with Salish Blanket Co. the way we do. We use only natural fibres in every blanket we make — no synthetics, no shortcuts. That's not a style choice for us. It's what our weavers have always known: the material matters as much as the pattern.

He's gone, but the wool, the weaving, and the people who carry it forward are still here.

Welcome home, Ancestor.

Aleen Sparrow

The woolly dog pelt is on display at the Museum of Anthropology until August 2027.

Image: Paul Kane "A Woman Weaving a Blanket," Songhees/Saanich (Central Coast Salish) 1849-1856, Courtesy the Royal Ontario Museum