Mountain goat hair blanket

Woven from mountain goat hair (and possibly hair from the extinct Salish wool dog), this blanket was likely made in the mid to late 1800s. It was acquired in April 1948 by Mrs. Stanley, the Lieutenant Governor’s wife, at an Arts and Welfare Society Conference held at the University of British Columbia.

During the mid-twentieth century an Indian Arts and Welfare movement emerged in the province of British Columbia, which lobbied for increased handicraft production as an economic activity for indigenous peoples across Canada. This led some Indian Residential Schools to adopt certain handicrafts as part of their curriculum – creating souvenir items for the emerging tourism industry.