Coast Salish textiles: research, writing, and story.
I’m Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa. I research and write about the textiles of the Pacific Northwest Coast, with a specialisation in Coast Salish traditions and materials, as well as teaching workshops on spinning and fibres.
My work brings together deep technical knowledge of fibres and spinning, historical and cultural research, and writing meant to hold a general reader’s attention. I am lead author of The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog (Harbour Publishing, 2025), second author of a 2023 paper in Science on ancient Woolly Dog genomics and Indigenous Knowledge, and a co-investigator on ongoing DNA research into Coast Salish Woolly Dogs. I am a Research Associate with the Smithsonian and with Vancouver Island University’s Anthropology Department, and I hold a Masters Certificate in Spinning — a six-year specialist qualification with a thesis-level research project on Coast Salish spinning.
I live on an island in the Salish Sea, in Snuneymuxw territory.
The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog
Awards: Third place, BC Historical Federation Historical Writing Competition (June 2026) · Shortlisted for the 2026 Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, BC and Yukon Book Prizes.
The pelt of a dog named “Mutton” languished in a drawer at the Smithsonian for 150 years until it was, almost accidentally, rediscovered. Written with weavers, Knowledge Keepers, and Elders from the Musqueam, Squamish, Stó:lō, Suquamish, Cowichan, Katzie, Snuneymuxw, and Skokomish Nations, The Teachings of Mutton interweaves oral history, ancient DNA, post-contact colonisation, and the reawakening of Coast Salish woolly dog knowledge.
Harbour Publishing, 2025. Paperback, 264 pages.
“Conscientious and accessible, The Teachings of Mutton weaves a charming and informative history… the intertwined histories provided by Salish knowledge keepers reveal the nuanced Indigenous sciences of dog husbandry, spinning, weaving, and the cultural significance of Woolly Dogs while telling a lively story.”
— Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, PhD, Director, Bill Holm Center, Burke Museum
— Nancy J. Turner, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of Victoria
“A ‘must read’ for anyone wishing to know more about weaving arts, dog breeds, Indigenous cultures and/or history in northwestern North America.”
What I do
Research & writing
Long-form research writing for scholarly and general audiences: books, peer-reviewed papers, magazine features, and book reviews on Coast Salish spinning, weaving, dyes, tools, and material culture.
Workshops & teaching
Public education through workshops, guest lectures, and teaching for spinners, weavers, and community groups across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Museum collections work
Analysis and consultation with museums including the British Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum, the Royal BC Museum, the Smithsonian, MoA at UBC, and the Burke Museum — identifying yarns, fibres, tools, and techniques.
Scientific research
Interdisciplinary scientific research bridging textile history, oral history, and ancient genomics. Second author of the 2023 Science paper on Coast Salish Woolly Dogs and a co-investigator on ongoing DNA research.
Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa 