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CA-K135Indigenous peoples & reconciliation

Coast Salish knitters and the Cowichan sweater

A Cowichan sweater with a Thunderbird design, handmade by Cowichan artisan Dora Wilson, photographed in 2017.
A Cowichan sweater with a Thunderbird design, handmade by Cowichan artisan Dora Wilson, photographed in 2017. Cowichan Sweater · ExTrance · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.
Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

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In the late 19th century, Cowichan knitters drew on generations of Salish wool-working knowledge to create the Cowichan sweater, a distinctive weatherproof garment. Skills and patterns are passed along family lines, and the handmade sweater is a globally recognized symbol of the Cowichan First Nation and of Canada.

Scope & context

The sweater and the knitting tradition behind it, not commercial imitations or the wider history of the Cowichan (Quw’utsun) people.

Sources behind this record

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