The Cowichan sweater of Vancouver Island
Above is an example of the Cowichan sweater, photo courtesy Cowichan Tribes. The Cowichan tribes are part of the coastal Salish Nation, long renowned for their fine weaving, so it’s not surprising the Cowichan people quickly adapted their own designs to the knitting they learned from white settlers. The Cowichan sweater is unique in that it has a collar and was traditionally knit all in one piece, and while nowadays the sweaters sometimes have a heavy metal zipper, they’re otherwise unchanged. Many sweaters have traditional Salish motifs on front and back, often killer whale, salmon, eagles or deer. I grew up with one of these – a proper pullover one with no seams – and many British Columbians would have had a similar one. The wool is not dyed – darker sheep produce the dark brown and grey wool for the designs. Natural lanolin is left in the wool so that the sweaters shed water in the wet BC climate. These sweaters show up in popular culture all the time, though most of them are cheap knockoffs – to a British Columbian eye, the ones in The Big Lebowski and Starsky and Hutch are obvious fakes. Updated designs are fine, but it’s the quality and weight of the wool that counts; the fibres should be natural in colour, not dyed; and banded arms with traditional Salish weaving patterns.
Since it’s one of the most iconic BC designs it seemed fitting that a custom-designed Cowichan sweater would be proposed for the Olympics, as part of the giant merchandising circus we’ve been subjected to here in BC for the past few years. Well-known Cowichan knitter Emily Sawyer-Smith, above, produced the Olympic design sweater you can see being presented below to BC’s premier Gordon Campbell, at left, and Jacques Rogges, IOC president, at right. This actually seemed like a great development but to the shock of many, and despite the fact that the well-organized Cowichan bands had assembled enough knitters to supply the Olympics with these sweaters, The Hudson’s Bay department store created controversy by claiming the Cowichan knitters’ output would be too small and instead having odd faux Cowichan sweaters made for their official line of 2010 Olympic clothing - in China. (Photo at bottom). However, despite that fact that the public considers The Bay’s sweater to be a “cowichan,” The Bay claims it is not – and in some ways it’s right. Many however still consider their design to be theft. More here about the conflict over trademark and cultural property, and you can also read about the meeting held between the Bay and the Cowichan band here. In the end, after threats of Olympic relay disruptions and a lot of media coverage, an accommodation was reached at the end of October – real Cowichan sweaters will be sold at two Olympic pavilions as well as at the Hudson’s Bay. But the story doesn’t end there for First Nations art at the Olympics, where many other imported art objects are being sold as “authentic aboriginal art” and are edging out true First Nations art. See that story here.
Above is the weird hybrid knockoff being sold at the Hudson’s Bay Company as an official 2010 Olympics souvenir. It clearly references the Cowichan sweater, but it has the look of those mass-produced curling sweaters (often with belts), and its wool is dyed, unlike the wool in an authentic Cowichan. Maroon is just wrong. While there is no completely standard design for these sweaters – they are after all a culturally hybrid product – the above knockoff seems poor on many levels, and as a British Columbian I’m a bit embarrassed that this is how the world is going to see our craft and design. What was the Hudson’s Bay Co. thinking? For successful innovations in Cowichan designs , Emily Sawyer-Smith’s Olympic rings design is great, and so is CBC broadcaster Grant Lawrence’s sweater, below. Further below is Canadian WWII officer Cecil Merritt in a Cowichan sweater sent to him by relatives in Vancouver – he’s photographed here in a Nazi prisoner of war camp along with fellow officers.
For more discussion on the sweater and its appropriation, see KnowBC and UBCWiki. Authentic Cowichan sweaters can be found at places like Authentic Cowichan Indian Knits, 424 W. 3rd St, North Vancouver, 604-988-4735, or online from individual makers, like this. Below is a somewhat odd pair of sweaters, given the fraught historical relationship of the church to First Nations (photo from Wikipedia by Marg Miekle):
Tags: "Grant Lawrence", aboriginal art, BC, British Columbia, china, corporate Olympics, Cowichan, Cowichan sweater, cultural appropriation, Emily Sawyer-Smith, favourite, First Nations, Gordon Campbell, Hudson's Bay Company, import, IOC, knitting, textiles, The Bay, travesty, Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Vancouver Island, VANOC, wool
February 12th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I’m canadian and did not buy the knock-off sweater when I shopped as I want the real thing. Shame on all of us who keep sending our business off shore we are selling our people out and all this should be stopped.
February 20th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
At least Hudson Bay did not steal Emily Sawyer-Smith’s design. Imagine how American quilters felt when our American quilt patterns began to be made in China. It is truly a shame when a culture is stolen!
February 20th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
A further comment to clarify…
The first part of my above comment sounds as if it is okay to make the faux sweaters. That was not my intent. Hudson Bay should’ve stuck with authentic Cowichan sweaters…not the knock-offs. Not only have they infringed on the rights of the original makers, they have also suckered consumers. Shame!
February 20th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
It’s rampant. You can just imagine, too, how the Inuit people felt about having their sacred inukshuk appropriated as a cartoon logo for the 2010 Olympics…
February 20th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
I am not a Canadian, but many years ago I purchased the yarn, pattern and knitted
two cowichan sweaters.. I admire their unique designs and can’t believe they had these farmed out to China.. no wonder things are in such a muddle..
February 20th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Welcome to the “world of greed.” It seems to be the way the whole world. Nobody seems to want to do what is RIGHT. It’s all about doing what is expedient and profitable. I DETEST it!
February 20th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I actually went and spoke to a woman from the Cowichan band who was selling her knitting in the First Nations area, next door to the Four Host Nations pavilion at the Olympics. She had some really stunning sweaters, and a hat made by her 80 year old mother who doesn’t knit so much anymore thanks to arthritis. I was talking to her about the whole Hudson’s Bay sweater scandal and she just sort of shook her head. About the Bay sweaters she said “they’re cheap! They’re going to look awful in 6 months! A real Cowichan sweater lasts decades.” Apparently she has seen 100 year old Cowichan sweaters – the old type, with lots of lanolin and almost wiry wool. It’s amazing people are willing to line up for 3 hours for cheap souvenirs.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:21 am
I had no idea until now that origin of Cowichan sweaters was in BC Canada. When I was in Alaska in the mid 60′s I purchased wool yarn from an American company, and knit my very first “Alaskan” [or so they called it up there] sweater. After that I made several more. I still have my oldest daughter’s sweater and it is still in very good shape after 50 years. Any one who has the opportunity to purchase an original, should do so. You don’t need any other jacket or coat if you have one of these in your closet. As far as sending products out of the country, no matter what country it is, it should not be done. I would love to have an authentic Cowichan sweater and not a knock off. But as long as I make my own, I feel that I am not hurting anyone. Cultural arts of all countries should be studied and revered by all.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:52 pm
If you are “knitting your own,” you are not trying to make a profit with “knock-offs.” I bet that your work is beautiful and you are preserving a wonderful part of BC culture. My hat off to you. I love to knit, but I’m not sure if I am good enough to do work like what is shown my the TRUE Cowichan sweaters on this site.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:02 pm
I’m sure hand-knitting your own sweaters is homage, not knockoff. And Jan, I’m sure you can do it. If you can find proper wool with lanolin in it, even better. I am going to post some sources for the wool as well as the sweaters soon. AMac, that’s very interesting – it’s true, when the sweaters are made from the proper wool, they don’t disintegrate.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Does anyone have a link or name of someone who will make an original Cowichan sweater? It would be much appreciated. Looking for one with Olympic colors like Hudson Bays design except hand made. One for myself and spouce. A gift for our anniversary.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Hi Stephen, the problem is that as soon as you have those colours, it’s not a Cowichan sweater anymore, because those use a different sort of natural, undyed, lanolin-heavy wool. I’m sure local knitters could make you a handknit copy of the Olympic sweater in your area?
February 27th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
LB,
I’m very curious to know how these cowichan sweaters are cleaned. Because someone on here is knowledgeable to state they can last for decades and some for even 100 years, I’m very interested in how they are kept. If they do have a lot of lanolin in them then washing or dry cleaning would remove that natural resistance to the weather, would it not?
I lived on the Island(VI) and I know how much pride is put into these Cowican sweaters. I’m so glad they stood their ground. I’m also wondering if the contract they negotiated with VANOC was a good one for them. It seemed to me that any orders they could have filled were left much too late into the scheme of things. Are they still filling these orders?
February 28th, 2010 at 12:01 am
I’m not sure if many of these sweaters were sold at the two Olympic outlets, or at the Bay, but I hope so.
The authentic Cowichan sweaters will continue to sell. Many Salish women are knitting them still and you can find some of these knitters online, and many knitters also sell to shops. The level of lanolin in the wool now is not quite as high as it once was.
Little known fact: baby shampoo in tepid water is an excellent cleaning method – for many fabrics, not just sweaters.
There’s a good entry here which has some interesting information:
http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/LeslieAlbers
“if the sweater is not washed too often, say about once every four or 5 years in very mild detergent so as not to remove the natural oils, the sweater will have a life span of about 80 years” (TCS, n.d.)!”
March 1st, 2010 at 12:40 am
Where can I get the yarn and patterns? I’ve made a few icelandic sweaters but have always wanted to make myself a Cowichan sweater. I live in Post Falls Idaho.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:09 am
The sweaters, to be authentic, have to be made by Salish women, which is probably why authentic patterns are rare. I haven’t seen those in BC. Originally the patterns were specific to the wearer’s clan and family. Apparently there are patterns out there, but I wouldn’t know… does anyone else? And there’s also the tricky matter of finding the proper local wool with the lanolin still in it.
This link discusses the wool and the hardy sheep used to make it:
http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/LeslieAlbers
This forum might interest you – other knitters looking for patterns:
http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-61622.html
March 1st, 2010 at 1:40 pm
To Stephen who posted on Feb. 23rd, looking for someone to knit two of these sweaters, let me just say that I am an avid knitter/teacher and have already begun developing a pattern from this design to knit one for myself. If you are still interested in hiring someone to knit your gift sweaters, please contact me at my email address: seapurl1@gmx.com . I will gladly work on these for you, as well.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:50 pm
It is my understanding that part of the reason the Hudson’s Bay design was chosen over a more traditional pattern is that they wanted to include Canada’s red maple leaf into the design. As soon as that decision was made, as you can see from the above comments, the official sweater stepped out of the realm of traditional Cowichan design. The goal then became to include elements found in more traditional sweaters, but to incorporate the red maple leaf from Canada’s flag and the color red into certain aspects of the sweater’s design while maintaining the overall character of a product associated with Canada’s history and culture. The final product became a blend, but I do not believe it was intended as a knockoff because Hudson’s Bay Company very clearly stated it was not a Cowichan sweater.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:13 am
Hello
I was wondering if you could knit a plain sweater with a crew neck top meant for a man. it would have no embelishments other than the yarn chosen.
Best Wishes,
Diana
August 21st, 2010 at 1:34 am
Diana,
I do knit, but not here on my design blog! I’m just the writer here. Perhaps one of the readers on this site would be interested? If anyone wants a knitting job, comment here and I’ll put you together with Diana.
Lindsay