Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-02-17
HOW DID SALSH
GET WOOL ROBES?
EARLY VISITORS FOUND THEM
WEARING HANDSOME
BLANKETS
Indians Had No Domestic Sheep But
They Wove Blankets From Dog Hair,
Mixed With Hair Of Mountain Goat,
Goose Down and Bark Fibers.
BY WALTER 3. TAYLOR

! nY WALL EEb Es N ASVA
Early visitors to the Salish IN
! dams Of western Montana Occa-
! siOnalIy saw one of theeSe people
j wearing handsome blankets which
| appeared 10 have been made of
/ wool OF course the Indians had no
| domestic sheep and for many years
the source Of these blankets was .
mystery. The inland Salish did not
make these blankets themselves,
but occasionally got one In trade
from their cousins - the coast
SaIiah.
1t was the coast SaIish who manu-
featured these interesting robes which
are described as having had brilliant
colors. Some of those who saw the
blankets thought they were wool, and
one early visitor described them as
being "a flaxen material" In reality
these unusual blankets were woven
from dog hair, sometimes mixed with
the hair Of the wild mountain goat,
goose down. or bark fiber.
Paul Kane, the English artist who
visited the northwest In l847, showed
an Indian woman spinning the dog
hair blankets in one Of his paintings.
Kane wrote:
They have a peculiar breed Of small
dog with long hair OF browntsh black
and a clear white These dogs are bred
for clothing purposes. The hair Is cut
off with a knife and mixed with goose
down and a little white earth with
view TO curing the feathers. This Is
then beaten together with sticks, and
twisted into threads by rubbing 1t
down the thigh with the palm OF the
hand, IN the same way that shoe
maker forms his waxend, after which
1t undergoes a second twisting on o
dtstaff to increase its firmness. These
threads are then woven into blankets
by very simple loom Of their own
Continuance"
CAPTAIN Vancouver also made note
Of these remarkable blankets and the
mysterious dogs from which the hair
was cut. He wrote: They were all
shorn as close as sheep are in Eng
land; and so compact were their
fleeceS that large portions could be
lifted up by a corner without causing
any separation. They were composed
OF course kind Of WOOL with very
long. fine hair capable Of being spun
into yarn"
The dogs hair blankets were COM
mon among the coast Salish and the
chiefs wore especially beautiful robes.
The dogs from which the hair was
secured are a puzzle 10 ethnologists
and other students of northwest In
dian groups. Inc dogs nave Deem Qt-
scribed by a missionary as being ''al-
most white and of a domestic kind"
Captain Vancouver says the dogs were
numerous land much reSembled those
Of Pomerania" Another writer has
described the dogs as being much like
Japanese or Chinese dogs, perhaps the |
Chow. Where the dogs could have /
come from Is a mystery for the coast !
Saltsh are the only tribe known to /
have possessed them. Could they have /
come from Asia7 Could they have /
come from aboard a japanese Junk I
stranded ON American shores long be-
fore the coming Of the white men?
Such a conjecture Is not too far
etched, for there is record that a
japanese junk, driven ont Of its course
N the coast Of Asia, was wrecked ON
What Is now the coast Of the state Of
Washington In 1894. Perhaps some
Jther japanese ships we're wrecked
here before 1894
A few specimens Of the unusual
logs hair blankets may be seen in
Canadian museums today. They are Of
pecial interest because Of the fine
raftsu1ansl1ip that went into their
manufacture Few other peoples Of the
Torld are known TO have ever used the
lair OF dog for weaving, although In
modern times q few Sc0tchmen wear
lothfng OF fine tweed which Is woven
rom the hair of the famous Scotch
ollie