Kwantlen First Nation Weaver Atheana Picha Revives Salish Woolly Dog

A Canadian Press photograph shows Kwantlen First Nation weaver Atheana Picha with the pelt of a Salish woolly dog at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The breed was once raised by Coast and Interior Salish peoples for its soft undercoat and was nearly lost to colonization; Picha and her community are working to revive it. In a Canadian Press photograph distributed Sept. 8, 2026, at 11:40 a.m. EDT, Atheana Picha, a Kwantlen First Nation weaver, is seen with the pelt of a distinct woolly dog breed. The photo was taken by Darryl Dyck on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The breed was once raised by Coast and Interior Salish peoples. Picha is a member of the Kwantlen First Nation and a weaver. The photograph shows her viewing the pelt while posing for the image. The museum is at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The pelt is from an animal raised for its soft undercoat. That soft undercoat made the woolly dog useful to weavers and gave it a distinct place in Salish life. The woolly dog was not a random community dog. It was a distinct breed with a specific role in Indigenous textile traditions. The breed was shared by Coast and Interior Salish peoples, showing that it mattered across a broad geography. The breed was nearly lost due to colonization. Disruption to Indigenous economies, land, and cultural practice also disrupted the lives of the dogs that depended on those communities. The pelt in the museum is one of the surviving traces of their existence. For Picha, seeing the pelt was a chance to study the very wool that Salish weavers once used. The object preserves the look and texture of the animal's coat. It is a direct material link to a weaving tradition that nearly disappeared. Picha and her community are now working to revive the breed. The goal is to return woolly dogs to Salish lands. That work also reconnects contemporary Salish weavers with the animal that once supplied a key material for their art. The Canadian Press photograph captures a key moment in that effort. Picha is not simply looking at a museum exhibit. She is meeting evidence of a breed that her community is trying to bring back to a living role. On Sept. 4, 2026, Picha posed for the photo at the University of British Columbia museum. The image was distributed four days later, on Sept. 8. Darryl Dyck is the photographer credited by The Canadian Press. Access to preserved materials can help Indigenous communities restore this kind of knowledge. The pelt can show how thick and soft the undercoat was. It can also serve as a reminder of what is being reclaimed. The return of the woolly dog would be significant for Salish cultural revival. Weaving traditions that used wool depended on dogs like these. By reviving the breed, Picha and her community are working to restore both an animal and an art form. The photograph released by The Canadian Press places this revival story before a wider public. It shows a Kwantlen weaver with a rare trace of the past and a vision for the future. The pelt remains in Vancouver, but the work it represents reaches far beyond the museum.