Canadian Eskimo Dog | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Origin | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dog ( domestic dog ) |
The Canadian Eskimo Dog or Canadian Inuit Dog [2] is a breed of working dog from the Arctic. Other names include qimmiq [3] or qimmit [4] (Inuit language word for "dog"). The Greenland Dog is considered the same breed as the Canadian Eskimo Dog since they have not yet diverged enough genetically to be considered separate breeds, despite their geographic isolation. [5] [6]
The breed is threatened with extinction, with a 2008 estimate of only 300 purebred dogs. [7] Although once used as the preferred method of transportation by Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, by the 1960s traditional working dog teams became increasingly rare in the North. Contributing factors to the breed's decline include the increasing popularity of snowmobiles for transportation and the spread of infectious canine diseases. [4] [8] Controversy surrounds the intentional killings of a debated number of Inuit sled dogs between 1950 and 1970 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as recent efforts to increase the breed's population.
The first dogs arrived in the Americas 12,000 years ago. However, people and their dogs did not settle in the Arctic until the arrival of two groups from Siberia, the Paleo-Eskimo people 4,500 years ago and the Thule people 1,000 years ago. The Inuit dogs from Canada (Canadian Eskimo Dog) and Greenland (Greenland Dog) descended from dogs associated with the Thule people, who relied on them for transportation from Siberia.
In 2015, a study using a number of genetic markers indicated that these were both the same dog and should not be treated as separate breeds, [6] [5] that they maintain an indigenous heritage that predates colonization and the timing of which corresponds with the arrival of the Thule people, and that they were distinct from Siberian Huskies, Alaskan huskies and Alaskan Malamutes. The maternal mitochondrial DNA sequences of the Inuit dogs were classified as haplotype A31 that indicates a common female ancestor. This haplotype could not be found in other modern dogs; the nearest match was with the 1,000 year–old remains of a dog from Florida. [6]
A 2018 study found that all indigenous dogs originally brought by the first wave of human migration into the Americas, termed the "pre-contact dog" (PCD) clade, are now extinct. The group includes the dogs brought by Paleo-Eskimos 4,500 years ago. The Canadian Eskimo dogs, brought in a later wave by the Thule people, belong to the neighbouring group of Arctic dogs. [9] A 2019 study confirms that these later Arctic dogs were dispersed by the Inuit across North America 2000 years ago, replacing the first wave of PCDs where they go. [10]
The Canadian Eskimo Dog should always be powerfully built, athletic, and imposing in appearance. It should be of "powerful physique giving the impression that he is not built for speed but rather for hard work." [11] As is typical of spitz breeds, it has erect, triangular ears, and a heavily feathered tail that is carried over its back. Males should be distinctly more masculine than females, who are finer boned, smaller, and often have a slightly shorter coat.
Its superficial similarity to wolves was often noted by explorers during the Coppermine Expedition of 1819–1822. They noted that the ears of the Eskimo dogs they encountered were similar to those of American wolves, and their forelegs lacked the black mark above the wrist characteristic of European wolves. The most sure way to distinguish the two species was said to be through the length and posture of the tail, which was shorter and more curved in the dog. [12]
The coat is very thick and dense, with a soft undercoat and stiff, coarse guard hairs. The Eskimo Dog has a mane of thick fur around its neck, which is quite impressive in the males and adds an illusion of additional size. This mane is smaller in females. Eskimo Dogs can be almost any colour, and no one colour or colour pattern should dominate. Solid white dogs are often seen, as well as white dogs with patches of another colour on the head or both body and head. Solid silver or black coloured dogs are common as well. Many of the solid coloured dogs have white mask-like markings on the face, sometimes with spots over the eyes. Others might have white socks and nose stripes with no eye spots or mask.
The size of Canadian Eskimo dogs depends on their sex. Males weigh 30–40 kg (66–88 lb) and stand 58–70 cm (23–28 in) at the shoulder. Females weigh 18–30 kg (40–66 lb) and stand 50–60 cm (20–24 in). [1]
The Canadian Eskimo Dog's temperament reflects its original work and environment. It is loyal, tough, brave, intelligent, and alert. [13] It is affectionate and gentle, and develops a deep bond with its owner and is intensely loyal. When used as sled dogs, they were often required to forage and hunt for their own food. Consequently, many Canadian Eskimo Dogs have stronger prey drive than some other breeds. Owing to their original environment, they take pure delight in cold weather, often preferring to sleep outside in winter. Like most spitz breeds they can be very vocal.
Canadian Eskimo Dogs need a very large amount of exercise. They cannot just be walked, they need higher intensity work, requiring more exercise than many dog owners can give. This need for work and stimulation makes them well-suited for dog sports, such as carting, mushing, and skijoring. They are very trainable and submissive, unlike many spitz breeds, as well as intelligent. The Canadian Eskimo Dog is best kept in a cold climate, and is prone to heatstroke. Its coat is fairly easy to care for most times of the year, needing brushing only one or two times a week. However, when it sheds (which happens once a year) it will need grooming every day.
Historically, Inuit would put their dogs to the harness as soon as they could walk, and would acquire the habit of pulling sledges in their attempts to break free. At the age of two months, the pups would be placed with adult dogs. Sometimes, ten pups would be put under the lead of an older animal, coupled with frequent beatings from their masters, which would educate the pups. [12]
The Inuit never considered the dog as part of the animal kingdom (uumajuit), but merely as a tool for human existence. [14] It was, and still is (to a very limited extent), used by the Canadian Inuit as multi-purpose dogs, often put to work hunting seals and other Arctic game, and hauling supplies and people. Explorers noted that the dogs were capable of tracking a seal hole from a great distance, and were occasionally used to hunt polar bears. The dogs were reported to be so enthusiastic in hunting bears that, sometimes, their handlers shouted "nanuq" [15] (Inuktitut name for the bear) to encourage them when pulling sledges.
The dogs however would not pursue wolves, and would howl fearfully at their approach. [16] Frozen dog urine was used by Inuit as a medicine, and their fur was more prized than that of wolves, due to its greater resistance to wear. [14] [17] In times of famine, the dogs would be used as an emergency food source. [14] Though once assumed to be a tamed wolf or wolf-dog hybrid by explorers, [16] including Charles Darwin due to similarities in appearance and vocalisations, [18] genetic testing has shown that the Eskimo dog has no recent wolf ancestry. [19]
The breed is currently threatened with extinction. In the 19th century and early 20th century, this breed was still in demand for polar expeditions, and approximately 20,000 dogs lived in the Canadian Arctic in the 1920s. However, the breed had declined significantly by the 1960s. The breed had once been accepted for showing by both the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC); however, in 1959 the AKC dropped the breed from its registry because of extremely low numbers. [20] The Canadian Eskimo Dog and Greenland Dog are sometimes considered the same breed by authorities, although the Greenland Dog can be criticized for lacking any proper breeding program, questioning its validity as a pure breed. [21]
Since the 1970s interested parties that include the Eskimo Dog Research Foundation (EDRF) have worked to increase the breed's numbers. The EDRF was founded in 1972 and largely funded by the Canadian Government and the Northwest Territories Government, with some support from the CKC. [22] The EDRF purchased dogs from the small (about 200 dogs) population remaining in the Canadian Arctic from remote Inuit camps on Baffin Island, Boothia Peninsula, and Melville Peninsula. [22] The EDRF then began breeding dogs in order to increase numbers.
Brian Ladoon also bought dogs in the 1970s from the northern communities of Canada and started breeding after being given the mission of saving them by Bishop Omer Alfred Robidoux of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson. He switched from Malamutes and Huskies to the CEDs, and after breeding for 30 years still has the largest genetic stock colony of Canadian Eskimo Dogs in the world. The modern breed originated from a relatively high number of founders, thus ensuring sufficient genetic variability to avoid inbreeding.
The Canadian Eskimo Dog is currently used in sled dog teams that entertain tourists and for commercial polar bear hunting. By law, polar bear hunting in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut must be conducted by dog team or on foot. [23] [24] The requirement is partly for safety reasons; the working dogs can better sense when a polar bear is around, whereas the sound of a snowmobile motor masks any sign of a polar bear. On May 1, 2000, the Canadian territory of Nunavut officially adopted the "Canadian Inuit Dog" as the animal symbol of the territory, [2] [25] thus sealing the name of their traditional dog (qimmiq) in the Inuktitut language.
Between 1950 and 1970, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police slaughtered Inuit sled dogs. The Inuit refer to this as the qimmiijaqtauniq. Estimates of the number of dogs killed range from 1,200 to 20,000. [26] [27] In some communities, elders have alleged that this destruction was conducted in order to intimidate the Inuit and to intentionally disrupt their way of life. [28] In response to these allegations, in 2005 the RCMP conducted an internal investigation on the killings. Its report concluded that dogs were indeed killed, but for public health purposes – to remove sick, dangerous, and suffering animals. However, the report also acknowledged that the RCMP rarely followed ordinances that required dogs to first be captured and owners to be notified before killings, that owners had no recourse against unreasonable killings, and that the justification for killings were not always explained to the Inuit. The report denies that any dogs were killed as part of a plot against the Inuit. The Qikiqtani Inuit Association denounced the report as "biased, flawed and incomplete." [4] [29] [30] The association later commissioned its own report, which criticized the RCMP's killing of dogs heavily while still finding no deliberate conspiracy against the Inuit. [31]
In August of 2019, Canadian Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett made a wide ranging apology to the Inuit of Baffin Island, including for the slaughter and forced decline of Inuit dogs. This was the third of a series of apologies made for the historic abuse, mistreatment, and forced relocation of the Inuit, and came with a CA$20 million donation to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, of which $700,000 will go towards the annual Nunavut Quest dog sled race for 7 years. [31]
The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as Labrador. The Inuit languages are one of the two branches of the Eskimoan language family, the other being the Yupik languages, which are spoken in Alaska and the Russian Far East. Most Inuit people live in one of three countries: Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark; Canada, specifically in Nunavut, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, the Nunavik region of Quebec, and the Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut regions of Labrador; and the United States, specifically in northern and western Alaska.
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.
The Siberian Husky is a medium-sized working sled dog breed. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family. It is recognizable by its thickly furred double coat, erect triangular ears, and distinctive markings, and is smaller than the similar-looking Alaskan Malamute.
Ellesmere Island is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of 196,236 km2 (75,767 sq mi), slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total length of the island is 830 km (520 mi).
Baffin Island, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas, and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is 507,451 km2 (195,928 sq mi) with a population density of 0.03/km2; the population was 13,039 according to the 2021 Canadian census; and it is located at 68°N70°W. It also contains the city of Iqaluit, which is the capital of Nunavut.
A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in harness, most commonly a sled over snow.
The Alaskan Malamute is a large breed of dog that was originally bred for its strength and endurance, to haul heavy freight as a sled dog. It is similar to other arctic breeds such as the husky, the spitz, the Greenland Dog, Canadian Eskimo Dog, the Siberian Husky, and the Samoyed.
Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada, located on northern Baffin Island. To the Inuit the name of the place "is and always has been Mittimatalik." The Scottish explorer Sir John Ross had named an arm of the sea that separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island as Pond's Bay, and the hamlet now shares that name. On 29 August 1921, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its trading post near the Inuit camp and named it Pond Inlet, marking the expansion of its trading empire into the High Arctic.
The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by the year 1000 and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region. The appellation "Thule" originates from the location of Thule in northwest Greenland, facing Canada, where the archaeological remains of the people were first found at Comer's Midden.
Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that maintain arctic breed traits represent an ever-changing crossbreed of the fastest dogs.
The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region or the Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name for Baffin Island. Although the Qikiqtaaluk Region is the most commonly used name in official contexts, several notable public organizations, including Statistics Canada prior to the 2021 Canadian census, use the older term Baffin Region.
Inuktitut, also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, to some extent in northeastern Manitoba as well as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It is one of the aboriginal languages written with Canadian Aboriginal syllabics.
The Greenland Dog is a large breed of husky-type dog kept as a sled dog. They were brought from Siberia to North America by the Thule people 1,000 years ago, along with the Canadian Eskimo Dog. The Canadian Eskimo Dog is considered the same breed as the Greenland Dog since they have not yet diverged enough genetically to be considered separate breeds, despite their geographic isolation.
The Inughuit, or the Smith Sound Inuit, historically Arctic Highlanders or Polar Eskimos, are an ethnic subgroup of the Greenlandic Inuit. They are the northernmost group of Inuit and the northernmost people in North America, living in Greenland. Inughuit make up about 1% of the population of Greenland.
Inuit are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (traditionally), Alaska, and Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut languages, also known as Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, and also as Eskaleut. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.
The Inuit are an indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America. The ancestors of the present-day Inuit are culturally related to Iñupiat, and Yupik, and the Aleut who live in the Aleutian Islands of Siberia and Alaska. The term culture of the Inuit, therefore, refers primarily to these areas; however, parallels to other Eskimo groups can also be drawn.
Inuit Nunangat refers to the land, water, and ice of the homeland of Inuit in Canada. This Arctic homeland consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the territory Nunavut (ᓄᓇᕗᑦ), Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Qimmit a Clash of Two Truths or Qimmit, un choc deux vérités is a 2010 Canadian documentary film directed by Joelie Sanguya and Ole Gjerstad about the Inuit and events in the years around 1960 that affected their semi-nomadic lifestyle and in particular the killing of their sled dogs (Qimmit). Some believe this was done deliberately by the government to force them off their land. The Qikiqtani Truth Commission looked into the affair and reported that there was no conspiracy. Different viewpoints from the Inuit and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are heard in the film. The film is co-produced by Piksuk Media and the National Film Board of Canada.
Native American dogs, or Pre-Columbian dogs, were dogs living with people indigenous to the Americas. Arriving about 10,000 years ago alongside Paleo-Indians, today they make up a fraction of dog breeds that range from the Alaskan Malamute to the Peruvian Hairless Dog.
The Alaskan husky is a breed of medium-sized working sled dog, developed specifically for its performance as such.