Only known woolly dog pelt returns to B.C. after more than 160 years

By Nono Shen When Coast Salish artist Atheana Picha ran a gloved hand through the thick white pelt of an extinct woolly dog that has returned to British Columbia for the first time in more than 160 years, her thoughts turned to how her ancestors might have used the fur. Perhaps they would have made a blanket or maybe a headband. “And I thought, oh, it’s so amazing because this delicate material could make such beautiful blankets with the right hands,” said Picha. “As a weaver, that really resonated with me.” The pelt belonged to Mutton, a canine companion of American naturalist George Gibbs, and had been in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., since Mutton died in 1859. It’s now on display at the Museum of Anthropology at the…

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