On the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest is an area known historically as King George’s Sound. It separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island, a part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The network of inlets is also known as Nootka Sound, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, it had an important role to play in maritime fur trade, as a protected anchorage for European vessels, and as a gateway to China and other hard-to-reach countries east of Europe. In fact, when James Cook and his Royal Navy expedition first saw a few woolen blankets made by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people who used yarn made of dog hair,  he was on Vancouver Island in Nootka Sound.

We conclude the only part of this post that we know is factual. We transition now into murkier waters as we share what we know about the Nototka, also seen as the Nootka Sound Dog, Nootkankoira, or Nootka Dog.

We came upon this dog when reading about spitz-type dogs. Back in the day, such a canine was exhibited in the Zoological Gardens in England, a dog that was described as resembling a large Samoyed. One source speculated that the fanciful name given to the dog – the Nootka Sound Dog – was made up by a circus proprietor, but a bit more digging lead us to another that stated that the Nootka Sound Dog was indeed a real Canadian breed of dog, now extinct, its scientific name Canis laniger nolis.

One esoteric reference point on wool referred to a long-ago dog that had been called the Nootka Sheepdog, so named not because it herded sheep, but because it was used to collect yarn for wool weaving. The dogs were regularly sheared like a sheep, their hair mixed with other fibers and woven into fabric for clothing. Interestingly, we read once again that in 1842 or 1843, the Zoological Society of London acquired a few “nootkasalme” with the goal of breeding them for the needs of the wool industry in Britain, but for reasons not explained, the project never got launched, and soon after, the entire breed became extinct.

We mention this not only because of the interest our readers have in chiengora, yarn or wool spun from dog hair, but because the “dog nerds” among you might encounter the Nootka Sound Dog when researching spitz-type breeds.

Image: From 1884, Spitz Dogs