For the first time researchers from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have discovered and then studied the only pelt known of a Wooly Dog named Mutton. Mutton’s pelt had been stored undiscovered at the museum for years.

The Wooly dogs were carefully bred and maintained for thousands of years by the Indigenous Coast Salish communities in the Pacific Northwest (Coast Salish is located on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border, in coastal British Columbia and Washington State.) They used the undercoat of these dogs in the same manner as other people used the wool from sheep and other wool-bearing animals, to make clothing, blankets and other items.

Based on the genetic data from Mutton’s coat, the team estimated that woolly dogs diverged from other breeds up to 5,000 years ago — a date that lines up with other archaeological discoveries from the region.

Mutton’s genetic makeup is similar to pre-colonial dogs from Newfoundland and the British Columbia. Their research indicates that Mutton lived decades after the introduction of European dogs, which shows that the Coast Salish people carefully bred and maintained this breed of dog.

It is not entirely clear why the breed disappeared; the most likely reason was the changing conditions of the people who depended on the breed. It only took a few generations for the breed to become extinct.

Journal Reference:

Audrey T. Lin, Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, Hsiao-Lei Liu, Chris Stantis, Iain McKechnie, Michael Pavel, Susan sa’hLa mitSa Pavel, Senaqwila Sen̓áḵw Wyss, Debra qwasen Sparrow, Karen Carr, Sabhrina Gita Aninta, Angela Perri, Jonathan Hartt, Anders Bergström, Alberto Carmagnini, Sophy Charlton, Love Dalén, Tatiana R. Feuerborn, Christine A. M. France, Shyam Gopalakrishnan, Vaughan Grimes, Alex Harris, Gwénaëlle Kavich, Benjamin N. Sacks, Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, Pontus Skoglund, David W. G. Stanton, Elaine A. Ostrander, Greger Larson, Chelsey G. Armstrong, Laurent A. F. Frantz, Melissa T. R. Hawkins, Logan Kistler. The history of Coast Salish “woolly dogs” revealed by ancient genomics and Indigenous Knowledge. Science, 2023; 382 (6676): 1303 DOI: 10.1126/science.adi6549

Cite This Page:

Smithsonian. “Researchers, Coast Salish people analyze 160-year-old indigenous dog pelt in the Smithsonian’s collection.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 December 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231215015450.htm>.

Sue’s Note: This is a good example of how quickly breeding practices or a lack of, can destroy a breed of dog, either by eliminating the breed or drastically changing the original instincts that made the breed what it was intended for. We see that today as illustrated by the difference between dogs in the same breed that are bred solely for work and those bred for looks or profit only.