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The Hudson's Bay Company and leaders of the Cowichan Tribes are meeting today in the hopes of resolving a sweater dispute that has been threatening to tarnish the Olympic image.

When the Bay included in its official line of Olympic clothing a version of the world-famous Cowichan sweater, traditional native knitters who make the distinctive knitted garments complained their century-old brand had been infringed and they had been treated with disrespect.

The dispute became so heated that last week the RCMP sent an officer to the reserve, in Duncan, B.C., to find out if there was going to be a demonstration when the Olympic flame passes through.

Ernest Elliott, general manager of the Cowichan Tribes, said he's hopeful a meeting with a senior official from the Bay, at the band offices, will result in a mutually beneficial agreement.

A spokesman for the Bay confirmed there are meetings planned but declined further comment, saying a statement would likely be issued later in the week.

Mr. Elliott said even if there is an agreement with the Bay, however, a “show of sweaters” is still likely to go ahead when the Olympic flame reaches Duncan on the weekend.

“It will be a silent protest. People will wear their sweaters. It's a show of pride more than anything,” Mr. Elliott said. “There isn't any talk about a noisy protest or disruption of any kind.”

Mr. Elliott said that when the Bay rolled out its Olympic fashion line earlier this month, members of the Cowichan Tribes were dismayed to see a sweater that looked a lot like the famous Cowichan sweater.

In a statement at the time, the Bay said, “our hand-knit premium sweater is not a Cowichan sweater,” but rather is a contemporary design that “nods towards this icon of Canadian fashion.”

The Bay had initially approached the Cowichan Tribes about possibly producing the Olympic sweater, but decided the band couldn't meet the company's requirement “for consistent quality, speed to market and volume for delivery.”

Mr. Elliott agreed the knitters, who do everything by hand, would have been challenged to meet the Bay's requirements. But he said they would have loved to have made some contribution.

Mr. Elliott said the planned talks will focus on possibly having Cowichan knitters providing some of the Olympic sweaters in the Bay collection.

“We are hoping to have knitters, using the Bay's pattern and the Bay's wool, producing some Olympic sweaters,” he said. “We do appreciate what the Bay is trying to do and hopefully there will be a solution everyone is happy with.”

Mr. Elliott said even if Cowichan knitters do make Olympic sweaters using the Bay's pattern, which features two facing elk heads on the front, and using the Bay's colours and wool, there will still be some subtle differences.

“What [the Cowichan knitters] make will be different from the sweaters in the stores now,” he said. “The Bay's sweaters are hand knit, but they are done in panels, which are then assembled into sweaters. Our knitters will knit each sweater as one piece, in the traditional way,” he said.

Tewanee Joseph, chief executive officer of the Four Host First Nations, a group which acts as the key contact point between the Games organizers and aboriginals, said he's pleased the Bay is trying to work things out.

Mr. Joseph said he raised the issue with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympics when news first broke that the Cowichan Tribes had been cut out of sweater production.

He said VANOC members supported the need to find a solution.

Mr. Joseph met with Hudson's Bay officials in Toronto last week and suggested the company try to resolve things with the Cowichan Tribes.