The history of Coast Salish "woolly dogs" revealed by ancient genomics and Indigenous Knowledge. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Ancestral Coast Salish societies in the Pacific Northwest kept long-haired "woolly dogs" that were bred and cared for over millennia. However, the dog wool-weaving tradition declined during the 19th century, and the population was lost. In this study, we analyzed genomic and isotopic data from a preserved woolly dog pelt from "Mutton," collected in 1859. Mutton is the only known example of an Indigenous North American dog with dominant precolonial ancestry postdating the onset of settler colonialism. We identified candidate genetic variants potentially linked with their distinct woolly phenotype. We integrated these data with interviews from Coast Salish Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and weavers about shared traditional knowledge and memories surrounding woolly dogs, their importance within Coast Salish societies, and how colonial policies led directly to their disappearance.

published proceedings

  • Science

altmetric score

  • 835.066

author list (cited authors)

  • Lin, A. T., Hammond-Kaarremaa, L., Liu, H., Stantis, C., McKechnie, I., Pavel, M., ... Kistler, L.

citation count

  • 3

complete list of authors

  • Lin, Audrey T||Hammond-Kaarremaa, Liz||Liu, Hsiao-Lei||Stantis, Chris||McKechnie, Iain||Pavel, Michael||Pavel, Susan sa'hLa mitSa||Wyss, Senaqwila Sen Áḵw||Sparrow, Debra Qwasen||Carr, Karen||Aninta, Sabhrina Gita||Perri, Angela||Hartt, Jonathan||Bergström, Anders||Carmagnini, Alberto||Charlton, Sophy||Dalén, Love||Feuerborn, Tatiana R||France, Christine AM||Gopalakrishnan, Shyam||Grimes, Vaughan||Harris, Alex||Kavich, Gwénaëlle||Sacks, Benjamin N||Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S||Skoglund, Pontus||Stanton, David WG||Ostrander, Elaine A||Larson, Greger||Armstrong, Chelsey G||Frantz, Laurent AF||Hawkins, Melissa TR||Kistler, Logan

publication date

  • December 2023