Disclosure: I received this complimentary product The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog through Harbour Publishing. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂
Are you interested in the First Nations people of Canada? Want to take in a unique perspective? Enter in The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog. I never knew that woolly dogs were a thing for our First Nations people… DID YOU? Well, if you are like so many of us (I asked my colleagues at work and they too were surprised), come along for the adventure eh?
Basic Details for The Teachings of Mutton
Title: The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog
Author: Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa with Coast Salish Contributors
Publisher: Harbour Publishing Co
Pages: 264
Intended Audience: high-school, young adult, adult,
Genre: indigenous stewardship, weaving and textile arts, native american biographies, history, northwestern North America,
Available formats: Kindle, Paperback,
Received: Paperback
Reviewed for: Harbour Publishing
About the Book
Did you know that there used to be a woolly dog? It was an integral part of the Salish Community. In this read by Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa we are privileged to learn more about this dog and the people it was part of. The woolly dog was bred for thousands of years for its woolly fibres. These fibres were woven into traditional blankets, robes and regalia. Despite careful efforts to protect this breed by the by Coast Salish peoples, by the 1900s, the Woolly Dog had become so rare it is now considered extinct.
About the Author
Formerly the Director of Research Services, Liz Hammand-Kaarremaa is now retired and spends her time researching the Coast Salish peoples. She holds a Master Spinners Certificate and the textiles of the Coast Salish peoples are naturally a focus for her. Liz was instrumental in identifying a rare blanket in the Burke Museum to be made of Woolly Dog hair.
Looking Deeper
Eleven chapters round out this educational read that is filled pictures, illustrations, and maps. As we progress through the chapters we get to see how the wooly dog came to be.
- Finding Mutton : The ancient story of Swuq’us
- Mutton’s journey to the Smithsonians: The Dog Children and the Original Occupations
- The Woolly Dog: The teachings of Fibre
- The Wool: The Cultural Importance of Blankets
- Where are all the Blankets: Misunderstanding our relationships with the Woolly Dog
- Mutton’s Ancient Origins: Connecting to our Ancestors
- Other Dogs: The care and Feeding of Dogs
- The Diet of Woolly Dogs: The care and Feeding of Dogs
- Processing Wool: The impact of Colonialism
- What did Woolly Dogs Look like? : Fur Beings and Woven Visions, Connecting with Musquem History
- An Ending and a Beginning
I appreciated how as part of the forward she mentioned how she wanted to respect the Coast Salish people. Recognizing that she has her own preconceptions so hopes to let the Coast Salish people speak with their own words as much as possible. Recognizing the Mutton may have been the name of this particular Woolly Dog, but wasn’t a name respected by the Coast Salish people.
A scholarly read
This is a scholarly read, filled with illustrations, pictures, and maps to bring the text to life. For instance, without this map I wouldn’t have clearly understood the range of the Woolly dog (the yellow area). For such a niche breed, I didn’t expect that.
Native art featuring the Woolly Dog has a prominent place. I just loved this inclusion. Made everything so much better you know? Makes me regret that the Woolly Dog is no more. It looked like a fun little dog to have around. Not too big, not to small, and very useful besides!
These dogs were such an integral part of their community, rather cool to learn about.
My recommendation
If you want to take an unique look at indigenous peoples of Canada, check out The Teachings of Mutton. You will find loads of information about the textiles, the geography, and the history of this helpful little dog. It’s kinda too bad that their usefulness waned. Technology and imports isn’t always a good thing when it comes to a niche population.
Seeing the quality of the blankets they made with their wool, makes me wonder if they can use DNA from the blankets to somehow bring them back. What do you think?
A useful book if studying the First Nations people of British Columbia. A fascinating book if you love textiles and their history. A wonderful look into a type of dog I’d never heard of before. Give it a look see, you won’t regret it!
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