Height Alaskan Malamute: 64 cm, Chihuahua: 15 – 23 cm Lifespan Chihuahua: 17 years, American Eskimo Dog: 16 years Mass Alaskan Malamute: 38 kg, Chihuahua: 1.5 – 3 kg Representative species Alaskan Malamute, Chihuahua, Carolina Dog, Hare Indian Dog, Canadian Eskimo Dog | ||
Native American dogs are dog landraces & breeds raised, created by, and living with people indigenous to the Americas.
Contents
Prehistory
Whereas the appearance of dogs have been traced in America for at least 10,000 years, well datable dog fossils appear in South America only between 7,500 and 4,500 YBP. Findings for dogs in South America get only denser by 3,500 YBP but seem to be restricted to agriculture in the Andes. The oldest finding of a dog for Brazil is dated as 1701 and 1526 cal BP, and for the Pampa in Argentina the oldest is dated as 930 BP.
Lineage
In 2013, a genetic study of modern and ancient canids found that 64% of the dogs sampled were sister to a 14,500 years before present wolf sequence from the Kesserloch cave in Switzerland, with a most recent common ancestor estimated to 32,100 years before present. This group of dogs matched three fossil pre-Columbian New World dogs dated between 1,000 and 8,500 YBP, which supported the hypothesis that pre-Columbian dogs in the New World share ancestry with modern dogs and that they likely arrived with the first humans to the New World.
The dogs of native Americans were described as looking and sounding like wolves.
The Hare Indian is suspected by one author of being a domesticated coyote based on its historical description.
Historical purposes
Culinary
Depending on the people, dog meat could be taboo, only eaten in famine; just not generally eaten; or a normal element of their cuisine, used in either daily life or as a delicacy. Dogs were more commonly eaten amongst people who lived on the great plains, but not all great plains cultures partook in it. Some of the cultures that ate dogs were:
Hunting
The village dogs of the great plains were occasionally used to help hunt small game. Other dogs, such as the Tahltan Bear Dog, were bred to hunt larger game
Herding
In the Andes region of South America some cultures like the Chiribaya and Inca used herding dogs, such as the Peruvian shepherd dog.
Lap dogs
Mexica nobles occasionally kept tlalchichi, the ancestor of modern Chihuahuas, as pets.
Retrieving
The Innu of modern eastern Canada used the Innu Canoe Hunting dog for retrieving shot waterfowl.
Sledding
Some northern cultures, mainly the Inuit-Yup'ik, developed dogs for sledding; such as the ancestors of the Alaskan Malamute.
Watch dogs
The pariah dogs of many nations served use as watchdogs.
Modern times
Most Native American dog breeds are extinct. The ones that survive have bred extensively with Colonial-originated dogs to the point where they are much more European in genetic structure than ancient American dogs.
Breeds and landraces
Extinct, classified breeds:
Ancient breeds & landraces:
Breeds/landraces crossed to the point where American genetics are nearly nonexistent:
Standardized breeds that were previously landraces:
Breeds Falsely advertised as Native American originate: