Only known woolly dog pelt returns to B.C. after 160 years at Smithsonian

A pelt belonging to a dog called Mutton has been returned to British Columbia after roughly 160 years in storage at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. The pelt is on loan to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC from September 2026 to August 2027.

Mutton originated in the Chilliwack area, territories of the Stó:lō people. The woolly dog was intentionally bred by Coast Salish, Interior Salish and Makah peoples for its fur, which was sheared and spun into blankets and clothing by women as a means to support their families. The breed was largely bred out of existence due to transformations wrought by settler colonialism.

Mutton was the companion of naturalist George Gibbs. How Gibbs acquired the dog remains unclear. Research suggests Mutton lived about a year and a half and was shorn at least once before death. The pelt was sent to the Smithsonian in the mid-nineteenth century.

Before the pelt goes on public display, members of local Coast Salish communities and weavers have had the opportunity to spend time with it. "It brought forward a lot of emotions, looking at its little paws and its little nose," said Jordan Wilson, curator of Pacific Northwest and Contemporary Indigenous Art at the Museum of Anthropology and a member of the Musqueam nation.

"The dog to whom this pelt belonged originated in the Chilliwack area in the territories of the Stó:lō people," Wilson told media. "This dog was bred out of existence in large part because of all the transformations wrought by settler colonialism."

The loan was pursued at the request of the Stó:lō House of Respect Caretaking Committee, a group of Elders, knowledge keepers and community members from Stó:lō communities. Dr. David Schaepe, director of the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, noted the Stó:lō have a strong connection to the pelt because it comes from their region and territory.

The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people also have a long history with woolly dogs. Debra Sparrow, a master weaver from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, said her grandfather told her that every village had woolly dogs, that they were like gold because their hair was mixed with mountain goat hair, then roved and spun.