By Kayla MacInnis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Debra qasen Sparrow recalls talking and learning about Coast Salish woolly dogs with her grandfather, Ed Sparrow, in her early days as a weaver. Born in 1898, Ed remembered seeing the now-extinct canines around their village, and watching the women weaving with the companion animal’s woolly hairs. The x?m??k??y??m (Musqueam Indian Band) artist’s grandfather told her that every village had wool dogs, that they were like gold because, of course, their fibers were mixed with the mountain goat and then rove 1/8made into a roving for spinning 3/8 and spun,’’ she shared. Known in some Coast Salish languages as “pa7pa7?in,’’“sqwema:y,’’ “kimia,’’ “sq??mey?,’’ “sqwba?,’’ and “q’?b??,’’these wool-bearing dogs were carefully bred for thousands of years for their distinctive thick undercoat. Once a beloved companion…
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