This is the fascinating story of the Salish Woolly Dog, now extinct, that was common with indigenous people for their wool. Yes, wool. What was the wool used for? Sacred blankets and ceremonial attire.
That is sufficient to explain why and how it is extinct. It was eradicated in order to extinguish indigenous culture.
The story seemed to conclude, with various theories of how the dog became extinct - the indigenous people could get factory-made blankets, the dogs interbred and the line got assimilated, and so on.
The story doesn't die there - the the significant finding of a 160 year old fur pelt in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It was donated in 1859, and lost in the collections until 2000 when it was analyzed to validate textile collections in museums. The dog had likely been a gift from the Salish to the naturalist George Gibbs and its name was Mutton.
The remarkable part is recent - genetic scientists Logan Kistler and Audrey Lin decided to produce a genomic profile. Genetic analysis shows that this was a separate and distinct dog breed. It has existed for at least 5,000 years, and was carefully managed to remain distinct from other dogs to maintain its special woolly fur. The scientists worked with Indigenous Elders to bring the oral histories and knowledge to the project. More on the project process HERE.
You can read a shorter version of this story is in dogtime.comHERE. I heard the story on the CBC radio yesterday - Bob McDonald's science show Quirks and Quarks. He interviewed the scientist who did the genetic analysis.
Here's one of the representations of the Salish Woolly Dog. There are some photos from the 1850s that this would likely be based on.
This is a picture of a light sculpture at the National Gallery - I turned it on its side, and now it looks like little ice crystals.
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