Tag Archives: Hudsons Bay Company

History, Indigenous Nations History

Gumbooting Through The History Of Mansons Lagoon

Once or twice a year, visitors are given an opportunity to ‘gumboot’ into the natural and human history of Mansons Lagoon. This is a joint event put on by the Cortes Island Museum and Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). Jane Newman provides the glimpse into the lagoon’s past. In the following article, Cortes Currents supplemented her account with materials from the Museum and additional genealogical records found on the web. 

Jane’s account started with a description of Mansons Spit during the precolonial era. 

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Clothing, Indigenous Nations

After years of exploitation, the iconic Cowichan sweater is being protected with a new fair-trade program

Editor’s note: Prior to the colonial era, Coast Salish Peoples used mountain goat wool, dog hair and plant fibres in their woven textiles. Cowichan sweaters were produced after the arrival of sheep and European two-needle and multiple-needle knitting techniques. According to Marianne P. Stopp, The first documented instance of Coast Salish knitting took place at the Sisters of St. Anne Roman Catholic mission in Duncan, in the Tzouhalem district, which opened in 1864.

By Mike Graeme, Indiginews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The art of knitting Cowichan sweaters has been in Zena Roland’s family for generations.

Her grandmother knit sweaters for the likes of Bing Crosby — and Roland herself has been practicing the craft almost her entire life, for more than 50 years.

But although the Cowichan sweater has become an iconic symbol of the West Coast, cultural appropriation and the exploitation of artisans has made the craft unsustainable for many knitters who need to make a living.

“We weren’t getting a good price for a while and it wasn’t worth doing,” Roland said.

Now, Roland is part of a group of Coast Salish knitters who are reclaiming their work crafting Cowichan sweaters, with a new initiative that pushes back against the unfair wages and design theft that has stifled their practice for decades.

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Animals, History, Indigenous Nations History

A Breed Apart: What was the Coast Salish woolly dog, and can we bring it back?

Editor’s note:  Salish Woolly dogs are believed to have been common throughout Coast Salish territories, so were most likely kept by the ancestors of the Homalco, Klahoose and Tla’amin First Nations. The oldest remains of this breed date back 4,000 years and were found in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. Sheep wool is believed to have replaced dog wool in Indigenous communities after 1862.

By Mina Kerr-Lazenby, North Shore News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

If you had been wandering the Coast Salish territories of British Columbia some 4,000 years ago, rambling dense woodland and visiting village longhouses, you would likely have spotted a number of small, white, flocculent pooches.

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