08/29/2026
We're so excited to welcome Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, author of Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog, and welcome back Leslie Helitsaliga Eastwood for a conversation about Coast Salish weaving and woolly dogs!
Thursday, September 10, 6:30PM at Lopez Center for Community and the Arts, 204 Village Rd.
Until now, there has been very little written about the enigmatic Coast Salish Woolly Dog, orsqwmey’ in the Hul’q’umi’num language. According to Indigenous Oral Histories of the Pacific Northwest, this small dog was bred for thousands of years for its woolly fibers, which were woven into traditional blankets, robes and regalia. Although the dogs were carefully protected by Coast Salish peoples, by the 1900s, the Woolly Dog had become so rare it is now considered extinct.
Co-authored with weavers, Knowledge Keepers, and Elders, The Teachings of Mutton interweaves perspectives from Musqueam, Squamish, Stó:lō, Suquamish, Cowichan, Katzie, Snuneymuxw, and Skokomish cultures with narratives of science, post-contact history, and the lasting and devastating impacts of colonization.
Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa has a MA in educational technology and holds a Master Spinner Certificate from Olds College. She is a researcher of Coast Salish spinning and collaborates with museums and Indigenous communities, sharing her knowledge through research writing, workshops and lectures. Her research and publications focus on Coast Salish textiles, with articles in textile-related. magazines (Spin-Off, Ply, Selvedge) and academic journals (Science, BC Studies). She lives on Protection Island, near Nanaimo, BC.
Leslie Eastwood (Samish) carries the ancestral name Helitseliga, and weaves on a traditional upright coast Salish loom, with a focus on regalia for ceremonial purposes. She apprenticed with Rita Louis (Samish/Paquachin), who's woven blankets have been presented to dignitaries of the British Royal Family. Recently Leslie has retired as General Manager of Samish Indian Nation, and provides demonstrations to raise public awareness, and leads wool weaving workshops to promote wool regalia within the Samish community.
