Tag: Paul Kane

Mistaken Indigenous Wool Dogs

By Grant Keddie. June 3, 2023. Introduction It has occasionally been assumed that photographs of small white dogs with Indigenous people or on Indigenous reserves in late 19th and early 20th century are “wool dogs”. This is not likely the case as these dogs had become extinct as a physical type before this time period. The dog images referred to above do not fit specific characteristics of the wool dogs and are most likely one of several varieties of small white dogs introduced from Europe as far back as the 1850s. See Appendix 1 for the images and commentary on dogs suggested as wool dogs. In 19th century British Columbia non-Indigenous dogs were brought here by explorers, gold miners, surveyors, … Continue reading “Mistaken Indigenous Wool Dogs”

The Imaginary Plank Houses of Henry Warre

By Grant Keddie.  2013. Introduction Captain Henry Warre, while on a spy mission for the British Government, painted a detailed water-color that shows the view looking north along the west side of Fort Victoria ( Figure 1). The image, painted on September 27, 1845, shows at least four traditional style First Nations plank houses adjacent to the Fort. The presence of these more permanent style plank houses has caused some confusion in the placing of various First Nations villages or encampments. Other images of Fort Victoria drawn or painted around the same time period clearly show that these plank houses did not exist. Based on the available evidence it is clear that the plank houses painted by Henry Warre in … Continue reading “The Imaginary Plank Houses of Henry Warre”