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“These tents, also their kettles, and some other lumber, are always carried by dogs, which are trained to that service, and very docile and tractable….These dogs are equally willing to haul in a sledge, but as few of the men will be at the trouble of making sledges for them, the poor women are obliged to content themselves with lessening the bulk of their load, more than the weight, by making the dogs carry these articles only, which are always lashed on their backs, much after the same manner as are, or used to be on, packhorses.” – Samuel Hearne, 1770s traveling with the Chipewyan. (From Hearne, S., 1958. A Journey to the Northern Ocean. Edited by R. Glover. Toronto: The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited)

I was shocked when I first read Samuel Hearne’s account of dogs among the Chipewyan of northwestern Canada. That image in my mind of the gallant team of husky dogs pulling a sled laden with goods and its musher over Canada’s frozen northern expanses was tarnished a little.

According to ethnohistorian, Dr. Patricia McCormack, in the western Subarctic the long dog train was mostly a fur trade thing, although more common in the high arctic among the Inuit long before Europeans found the New World: “In the pre-fur trade days, it was mostly women and girls, [among the Mackenzie Basin Dene] not dogs, who hauled the sleds.” (Patricia McCormack 2020:112, In Dogs in the North, Stories of Cooperation and Co-Domestication. Routledge; brackets mine).

In this post I’ll try to answer what role dogs played among Indigenous People and first Europeans in Canada? What did they look like? How long have domestic dogs been in the Americas? What historical evidence (oral, written or archaeological) exists to shed some light on their use and association with humans?

I first became interested in this topic (not only because I’m an avid dog lover) when putting together an exhibit on travel in the fur trade for our new Royal Alberta Museum. And then more recently for a novel of historical fiction I have been working on. My research revealed the history of dogs in Canada is complex. Even partly obscure. It turns out I was also getting some basic facts wrong!

In this post I’ll examine some key works that shed light on the prehistory and history of dogs in Canada. Then I’ll add my two cents worth on what I’ve learned about the fur trade dogs based on the written historic and archaeological evidence I’ve examined.

Indigenous Peoples’ Dogs in Canadian Antiquity

The Prehistoric Archaeological Record

Here’s the first thing I got wrong about domestic dogs in the Americas. They weren’t originally domesticated in the Americas. According to recent evidence and theories, the first domestic dogs arrived in the Americas, probably across Beringia (land once connecting Asia and North America, now the Bering Strait) with humans. And they may have arrived very early.

In a recent article, archaeologist, Daryl Fedje and colleagues conclude from archaeological evidence recovered from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, that the, “…domestic dog was present on Haida Gwaii by ca. 13,100 years ago…. The haplotype D6 premolar is from one of the oldest domestic dogs known from the Americas and its radiocarbon age and DNA results suggest association with a founding population.” (From Daryl Fedje, Quentin Mackie, Duncan McLaren, Becky Wigen, John Southon, 2021. “Karst Caves in Haida Gwaii: Archaeology and Paleontology at the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition.” In Quaternary Science Reviews 272.)

So, the first domestic dogs arrived in the Americas with humans. But why bring them along? And were dogs used for only pulling sleds? It appears not. By the time Europeans arrived in the New World, Indigenous cultures in the Americas used dogs for herding, hauling, hunting, wool for garments, spiritual endeavors, and companionship. Just how much of this diversification of breeds and function occurred in the Americas, as opposed to what was originally brought over from Asia, is still unknown.

And among many cultures the dog was occasionally a source of food. Either because of necessity or preference. Such as at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta, Canada.

The following quote is from the link below: “In September 2016, Royal Alberta Museum archaeologists dug up a 1,600-year-old roasting pit at Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta. Notes from the crew: “In the foreground the edge of the roasting pit extends out of the excavation – this is what we first saw in 1990. You can see the big rocks that lined the base of the pit, plus some bison bones just above those. This meal was prepared 1,600 years ago by digging a hole, lining it with big rocks, burning a hot wood fire on the rock in the pit and let it burn down to coals, a layer of willows or similar wet brush laid on the coals, meat – in this case a bison calf and a dog placed on the brush, another layer of brush on the meat, a thin layer of dirt covered the brush and a hot fire built on top of that. It was normally allowed to cook overnight and by all accounts was tasty and tender in the morning. According to one account, bison calf cooked this way was the best food you ever tasted. In this case nobody got to taste it because the pit was mysteriously never reopened.” Courtesy: Royal Alberta Museum.” This story was first reported by Brenton Driedger, 630 CHED. For the full story go to this link. https://globalnews.ca/news/3179491/royal-alberta-museum-to-crack-open-1600-year-old-roasting-pit-with-meal-still-inside/

As my former colleague Bob Dawe of the Royal Alberta Museum pointed out when excavating this feature:

“I have a dog, and I’m sure my dog would be unhappy to hear that I’m digging up one of his ancestors….A lot of dog-lovers are a little concerned that a dog was part of the meal, and as a dog lover myself I find that a little bit bothersome, but people have been using dogs as food in the Americas for 10,000 years and they still use dogs as food all over the world.” (Bob Dawe, Royal Alberta Museum)

One would think then that after 13,000 years there should be a number of Canadian Indigenous dog breeds remaining? Currently the Canadian Kennel Club recognizes only a few ‘Canadian’ dog breeds: 1)Tahltan bear dog; 2) Canadian Inuit dog; 3) Nova Scotia duck-tolling retriever; 4) Newfoundland dog; and, 5) Labrador retriever. You can find more information about these dog breeds at this link: (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dog).

Only the first two breeds may be ancient, belonging to Indigenous Peoples. I’ll touch upon a few of them and then discuss Canadian Indigenous dog breeds and strains that no longer exist, and ones that emerged during the fur trade in central and western North America.

Tahltan Hunting Dogs

Among the Tahltan People of British Columbia, Canada the bear dog was an important hunting companion. In 1915, ethnographer Jame Teit pointed out they were: “…as indispensable to the Tahltan as snowshoes.”

According to Tahltan elder John Carlick :

“If you had a bear dog you could find game. If you didn’t have a bear dog, you starved.”

Although the history is somewhat murky, this breed probably went extinct sometime in the late 1970s or 80s.

For more information about this breed go to this page: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tahltan-bear-dog

The Salish Woolly Dog – a Source of Clothing

According to explorer Captain George Vancouver, when arriving on Canada’s west coast in 1792, Coastal Salish People kept Pomeranian-like dogs:

“They were all shorn as close to the skin as sheep are in England; and so compact were their fleeces, that large portions could be lifted up by a corner without causing any separation….very fine long hair [was] capable of being spun into yarn…This gave me reason to believe their woolen clothing might in part be composed of this [dog] material mixed with a finer kind of wool from some other animal …”

However the relationship between their blankets and their dogs was much more personal for the Salish People. Chief Janice George, who resurrected weaving among the Squamish Nation, writes:

“You should think about blankets as merged objects….They are alive because they exist in the spirit world. They are the animal. They are part of the hunter; they are part of the weaver; they are part of the wearer.”

Unfortunately this dog breed continually declined throughout the 19th century. By c.1900 it too was extinct.

For more information on the Salish Woolly dog go to: https://www.historylink.org/File/11243. Or this link: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/woolly-dog-blankets-coast-salish

Inuit Dogs for Hunting and Pulling

Among the Inuit People, dogs were not only used for travel and hauling goods, they were also important for hunting, especially the dangerous polar bear. The Inuit hunted the large bear with long spears/lances while the dogs constantly harassed the bear to distract it.

I recently found this informative article by Thom “Swanny” Swan entitled, “Sled Dogs of the Early Canadian Fur Trade.” (http://oldschoolak.blogspot.com/2018/07/sled-dogs-of-early-canadian-fur-trade.html). In it he quotes missionary Egerton R. Young’s description of the Canadian Inuit Dog: “The pure Eskimo dog is not devoid of beauty.  His compact body, well furred; his sharp-pointed, alert-looking ears; his fox-like muzzle; his good legs and firm, hard feet; his busy tail, of which he often seems so proud; and his bright, roguish eyes, place him in no mean position among the other dogs of the world.  His colour varies from the purest white to jet black.  I owned two so absolutely white that not a coloured hair could be found on either of them….  The working weight of my Eskimo dogs ranged from sixty to a hundred and thirty pounds.  It seemed rather remarkable that some of the lighter dogs were quite equal in drawing power to others that were very much larger and heavier.” (From Young, E., 1902. My Dogs in the Northland. Fleming H. Revell Company; New York, Chicago, Toronto.)

In 1749, Peter Kalm also described Inuit dogs in Labrador: “For many centuries past they have had dogs whose ears are erected, and never hang down.  They make use of them for hunting, and instead of horses in winter, for drawing their goods on the ice.  They themselves sometimes ride in sledges drawn by dogs.  They have no other domestic animal.” (From Kalm, P., 1772. Travels Into North America: John R, Forster, translator: Volume II: T. Lowdes, London.)

Among many western Plains Indigenous Peoples, dogs carried goods on their backs or pulled goods packed on travois. Even with the advent of the horse, dogs remained important among many Indigenous cultures, especially in northern environs where horses often struggled in the wintertime. But what kind of dogs were they? What did they look like and where did they come from?

Other Canadian Dogs No Longer With Us

Hare ‘Indian’ Dog

Patricia McCormack argues that the domestic dogs among the western Mackenzie Delta Dene were nothing like the later breeds used during the fur trade specifically for hauling large loads. Or like the Arctic pulling dogs. They were built for carrying, not pulling: “…there were probably few or no sled dogs before Europeans arrived in the Subarctic.” (From McCormack 2020:107).

Historic descriptions of Indigenous dogs of the Subarctic do not resemble later dogs in the fur trade, or the Arctic Inuit dogs. These dogs were of, “…various sizes and colours, but all of the fox and wolf breed, with sharp noses, full brushy tails, and sharp ears standing erect…” (Samuel Hearne, 1770s describing Chipewyan dogs. From Hearne, 1958).

According to John Richardson, traveling among the Dene in 1829:

The Hare Indian Dog has a mild countenance, with, at times, an expression of demureness. It has a small head, slender muzzle; erect, thickish ears; somewhat oblique eyes; rather slender legs, and broad hairy foot, with a bushy tail, which it usually carries curled over its right hip. It is covered with long hair, particularly about the shoulder, and at the roots of the hair, both on the body and tail, there is thick wool.” (Dr. John Richardson, 1829. In Fauna Boreali-Americana; or the Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. London: John Murray)

Richardson provides considerably more detail on the breed, but fortunately also provides us with a detailed drawing what it looked like.

Patricia McCormack thinks: “The Hare Indian Dog may have resembled a small Siberian Husky or very small Alaskan Malamute.” Richardson stated this dog was used primarily for hunting, “…being too small to be useful as a beast of burthen or draught.” (Richardson 1829).

North American Dog

The North American Dog is more associated with northern Plains Indigenous Peoples and Peoples living in the southern parts of the Subarctic. According to McCormack, the size of this dog was somewhere between the Inuit dogs and Hare Indian dogs. It was not as strong as the Inuit dog and less affectionate than the Hare Indian dogs.

McCormack thinks by fur trade times this type of dog (perhaps later interbred with heavier European breeds) eventually pulled sleds, carried loads and occasionally was eaten by French Canadian Voyageurs and First Nations Peoples. Northern Indigenous Peoples only started using sled dogs in the 19th century. For example, according to George Franklin, the Dog Rib People of the Mackenzie River District started using dogs to pull sleds between 1824 and 1826.

For more information on the Mackenzie River Basin dogs, read McCormack’s excellent chapter entitled, “An Ethnohistory of dogs in the Mackenzie Basin (Western Subarctic).” In Dogs in the North, Stories of Cooperation and Co-Domestication. Routledge.

Dogs in the Fur Trade

I had one other question (aside from what they looked like and where they came from) about the fur trade dogs pulling sleds. Where did the fur traders learn to use dogs to carry or pull sleds? If dogs teams pulling sleds in the fur trade didn’t originate among western Indigenous Peoples living on the Canadian Plains and Subarctic, then where did the practice come from? From the research Thom Swan conducted, French Canadians used dog teams to pull sleds as early as the late 1600s.

For example, in 1688-89 LaHontan observed sleds “drawn by great dogs” in Quebec. By the 18th century sled dogs became even more important in French Canada. According to Peter Kalm in 1749:   “In winter it is customary in Canada, for travellers to put dogs before little sledges, made on purpose to hold their cloathes, provisions, &c.  Poor people commonly employ them on their winter-journies, and go on foot themselves.  Almost all the wood, which the poorer people in this country fetch out of the woods in winter, is carried by dogs, which have therefore got the name of horses of the poor people.  They commonly place a pair of dogs before each load of wood.  I have, likewise seen some neat little sledges, for ladies to ride in, in winter; they are drawn by a pair of dogs, and go faster on a good road, than one would think.  A middle-sized dog is sufficient to draw a single person, when the roads are good.” (From Kalm, P., 1772. Travels Into North America: John R, Forster, translator: Volume II: T. Lowdes, London.)

Many French Canadians came west with the fur trade in the late 18th century possibly bringing with them the practice of dog sledding. This however begs the question. Where did they pick up the practice since it certainly didn’t originate in Europe? According to some authorities, they learned of it from the Inuit People who had more actively practiced it for centuries. In fact as Kalm’s earlier quote suggests French Canadians adopted it from Inuit People in Labrador.

It was from these Indigenous dog strains, especially the North American dog eventually mixed with European breeds to make them bigger and stronger, that the fur trade dog emerged. Loads became bigger, requiring larger, stronger and more dogs. Winter on the Canadian prairies and northern boreal forests were harsh. Horses were not as tough, tractable or as fast as a good dog team. And special provisions (hay and shelter) were required for them to survive during the severe Canadian winters.

There are numerous quotes and images about dogs in the fur trade. Some of the most insightful and humorous ones come from people visiting the 19th century Hudson’s Bay Company Fort Edmonton, in central Alberta, Canada. Fort Edmonton had one of the largest dog populations in the West. It was one of the few forts I know of that had separate dog kennels and even a dog handler or keeper. As some of the following statements suggest, both good and bad things came from this ‘cozy’ arrangement.

For example, in 1862 Alexander Fortune commented on the importance of the Edmonton dogs: “In the Fort were some six hundred dogs belonging to the Company or their employees. Dogs were used on toboggans by the Company and in case of failure of buffalo meat, dogs were used for food. They were held in great esteem there. In fact they were often used in place of horses, taking in provisions from the plains, when the snow was too crusted or unfit for horses to travel. Such howling and barking as these dogs indulged in was terrifying and disagreeable.” (From: Fortune, A. L., The Overland Trip from Ontario to Edmonton 1862. University of British Columbia, Special Collections and University Archives.)

Further north along the Peace River, at Fort St. John’s in 1822, the one horse the HBC owned languished in the barn most of the winter while dog teams hauled back thousands of pounds of meat to feed the fort population. “They are a long way off, this man has been six days coming….A long way to go for meat….when living themselves and their dogs for so long time on their way.” (December 24th, 1822, HBC Fort St. John’s Journals)

The Earl of Southesk, while visiting Fort Edmonton, also mentioned the large pack of fort dogs. His description suggests that the fort strains were large, resembling wolves:

“There are more dogs here than any other place I know. They are mostly of the Indian kind, large, and long-legged, and wolfish, with sharp muzzles, pricked ears, and thick, straight, wiry hair….Most of them are very wolfish in appearance, many being half or partly, or all but entirely wolves in blood….” (From: Southesk, J. C., 1875. Saskatchewan and Rocky Mountains: A Diary and Narrative of Travel, Sport, and Adventure, During a Journey Through the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Territories in 1859 and 1860. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas)

Southesk continues to describe how important a dog team was for hauling goods:

“In winter these dogs draw sleighs and do nearly all of the work of the country….they are highly valued by their owners, and a team of fine, good, well-trained dogs will bring a handsome price, especially when the winter snows begin to come on.” (Early of Southesk, 1859)

In fact, according to missionary John McDougall, despite the constant howling and fighting among the dogs at Fort Edmonton, all the men could think about was their dogs: “The sole topic of conversation would be dogs. The speed and strength and endurance of a dogtrain occupied the thoughts of most men, either sleeping or waking.” (From: McDougall, J., 1971. Parsons on the Plains. Don Mills: Longman Canada Ltd.)

A good team of dogs became a source of pride and prestige in fur trade society. Even by the 1820s in the Peace River Country, fort employees while traveling, preferred starvation over eating their precious dog team: “Two men arrived from New Caledonia on the 15th they were 21 days coming starved very much reduced to eating shoes and even a pair of leather Trousers one of them had.” (February 6th, 1823, HBC Fort St. John’s Journals)

And eventually these mushers began racing their dogs to see who had the fastest team. In the 1870s Metis, Peter Erasmus, describes preparations for dog races below Fort Edmonton on the frozen North Saskatchewan River. They attracted some of the best dog ‘mushers’ in the Canadian West: “The preparations the week before Christmas took on a new tempo of activity. Every dog driver and team were rushing supplies of fish to the fort for the dog trains of the expected visitors….The two days before Christmas was a bedlam of noise as each new dog team arrived. Every arrival was a signal for all the dogs of the fort and those of the Crees camped nearby to raise their voices in a deafening uproar of welcome or defiance as their tempers dictated…” (From: Erasmus, P., 1976. Buffalo Days and Nights. Calgary: Glenbow-Alberta Institute.)

The Dog’s New Role in the Fur Trade – Speed and Endurance

As the fur trade spread across northwestern Canada, not only were dogs indispensable for hauling goods on sleds, often surpassing horses, they took on a new role – that of quickly moving mail to the many fur trade posts scattered over a territory covering thousands of miles. Not only were tough dogs needed, now speed and endurance became important.

Already in the 1820s travel and communications between the northern Peace River Posts was important. In 1822 Hugh Faries, in charge of Fort St. John’s (near the present-day Fort St. John’s, British Columbia, Canada), together with four other men traveled downriver to Dunvegan in two days. The distance between the two forts is approximately 125km (~76 miles) along the river. The dog teams and their men traveled about 63km (38 miles) a day.

What I find remarkable about these and other stories I’ve read, is not only the strength and fitness of the dogs, but also the fitness of the mushers. In deep snow they broke trail for the dogs or ran beside the sleighs instead of riding on the back. They wore many thin layers of clothing that breathed well in freezing temperatures, so as not to capture the moisture off their bodies and freeze on the clothing. The wool capote became a very necessary article for travel.

According to Metis, Norbert Welsh, on the Canadian prairies the sled dogs were not ‘Eskimo’ dogs, but very strong:

“I had my dogs well harnessed, plenty of bells on them and ribbons flying all over. These dogs were of common breed—we could not get Eskimo dogs—but they were strong. Each dog could pull four hundred pounds and race with it. I had a young Indian driving one team. We went very fast over the plains. Sometimes we would ride on the sleigh, and sometimes we would run beside or behind it.” (Compiled by Lawrence Barkwell, Louis Riel Institute. Quote from Mary Weekes, 1994. The Last Buffalo Hunter (Account of Norbert Welsh), Calgary: Fifth House)

In an article Rupert Leslie Taylor (MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 27, 1970-71 Season), entitled “The Winter Packet“, describes the importance of the dog teams to move the mail quickly between posts. (http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/winterpacket.shtml)

This mail service was known as the ‘Winter Packet’. The ‘packet’ was a heavy leather case used to transport mail, reports and orders to and from Rupert’s Land to the Governor and Council in London, England. Dogs now took on a new role in the Canadian West – Movers of Information.

According to J. J. Hargrave: “The starting of the Northern Packet from Red River is one of the great annual events of the Colony. It occurs generally about 10^th December, when the ice having been thoroughly formed and the snow fallen, winter travelling is easy and uninterrupted. The packet arrangements are such that every post in the Northern Department is communicated with through its agency. The means of transit are sledges and snowshoes. The sledges are drawn by magnificent dogs, of which there are three or four to each vehicle, whose neatly fitting harness, though gaudy in appearance, is simple in design and perfectly adapted to its purposes, while the little bells attached thereto, bright looking and clearly ringing, cheer the flagging spirits of men and animals through the long run of a winter day.” (From J. J. Hargrave, 1871. Red River)

In 1878, N. M. W. J. McKenzie, a former servant of the Company, wrote:

“The greatest of all trips was the winter mail packet from Montreal to the mouth of the Mackenzie river in the Arctic Ocean, by dogs. The packet had to go through on time at all cost….Three men and two dog trains generally ran it through, the extra man always ahead on snowshoes when the snow was either too deep or too soft for the dogs to make time.

This was the trip that proved who the best man and best dogs were for that winter, and their fame would be all over the country before next winter.” (From N. M. W. J. McKenzie, 1921. The Men of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 1670-1920. Ft. William : [Times-Journal Presses.)

AND YOU THOUGHT CANADA POST WAS SLOW!

Dogs Continue into the 20th Century

The role of dogs, as a primary mode of travel, steadily declined during the 20th century. But in many parts of the Canadian North, with no roads or rails, they continued to be important. Especially in the winter.

At the turn of the 20th century, other private entrepreneurs set up trading businesses in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories to compete with the Hudson’s Bay Company. One of those men was Edward Barry Nagle. In 1887 he joined James Hislop to develop the Hislop and Nagle fur trading company along the Athabasca River and Mackenzie River. For more about this man and his exploits, read: The Prospector: North of Sixty (biography), Lone Pine Publishing (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 1989, by Jordan Zinovich.

Ed was an avid dog lover and had some incredible dog teams. Fortunately for us, he left behind a large collection of photographs of his dog teams from that time period. A few are worth publishing here for what they reveal about the breeds and their use.

Dog Paraphernalia and Sleds

Dog paraphernalia began to appear with the introduction and development of dog teams in the fur trade. And continued into the 20th century. Many of you probably haven’t heard of ‘standing irons’, or ‘tuppies’ – decorated iron rods and fancy blankets decorated with bright colored ribbons and cloth. Sleigh bells were also attached around the dog’s neck, irons, or tuppies. Often before the team arrived at the fort the dogs were decked out in their best attire: “Three days later our dogs, bearing the smartest of dog cloths and with sleigh bells ringing merrily, rattled into Edmonton….” (From Warburton Pike 1892. The Barren Ground of Northern Canada. New York: Macmillan & Co.)

“…all the dogs gaudily decorated with saddle-cloths of various colors, fringed and embroidered in the most fantastic manner, with innumerable small bells and feathers…Our carioles were also handsomely decorated…” (Paul Kane, 1967. Wanderings of an Artist Among the Indians of North America Edmonton: Hurtig, 1967: 270-271)

In many of the above historic images you see two types of dog sleds: 1) the open sled, resembling a toboggan; and, 2) the carriole, often ornately decorated. According to Danelle Cloutier: “The term “carriole” was first used to refer to horse-drawn sleighs, especially the lightweight open sleighs used in French Canada. Throughout the fur trade era, the term described toboggan-style sleds with sides made from hide or canvas and birch boards for planking.” (From Danelle Cloutier, 2016. Canada’s History: https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/transportation/hbc-carriole

The Fur Trade Archaeological Evidence

Artifacts

When excavating at fur trade sites in western Canada we find few direct traces of dogs in the archaeological record. However, there are exceptions. At the NWC/HBC Fort Vermilion I (c.1798 – 1830), and a few other fur trade posts, we found sleigh bells similar to those shown in historic paintings and photographs used for dog teams. And we found thousands of small glass colored seed beads at those forts. Some of these beads were likely used to adorn those tuppies.

Animal Bones

I’ve also examined faunal remains recovered from the various fur trade forts in Alberta. In almost every fort faunal assemblage we identified canid bones mixed in with other wild game animal bones. The problem we have is distinguishing between wolf and domestic dog from just the skeletal remains.

In the Table below I simply lumped the bones into Canid, which could be either dog or wolf. Canid remains make up between one and three percent of all the animal bones we find. Also the Table shows: 1) Northern Alberta forts have a higher percentage of canid remains than the Central Alberta forts; and, 2) Early Period (c.1780s – 1830) forts have a higher percentage of canid remains than later period forts.

While some of these bones may represent the natural deaths of dogs living at the posts, others invariably ended up in the fort cooking pots when times got tough and other food was in short supply:

“The men all hunting and fishing, but very unlucky….We are now in a very alarming situation, not having a mouthful to eat.  The children are always going about the fort crying for something to eat.” (Journal entries, NWC Fort Dunvegan, northern Alberta, Canada, 1806)

Also, along the North Saskatchewan River, 1859 was particularly tough according to William Gladstone, visiting Fort Edmonton:

“…the men sent by the Boss to the plains came back empty-handed. For two weeks we starved and then a lot of us bought a couple of dogs from the Stoney Indians and killed them. Dog meat is not bad as any one can tell you who has eaten sausages.” (From William Gladstone, 1985. The Gladstone Diary. Travels in the Early West. Lethbridge: Historic Trails Society of Alberta)

Looking Ahead

Both the historic records and the archaeological remains are informative about the presence and importance of dogs for both Indigenous and Euro-Canadians. But they leave a lot to be desired. We still can’t answer some basic questions about dogs in the fur trade, or earlier, even though we have considerable numbers of bones to work with (but unfortunately not at prehistoric archaeological sites). We can’t even accurately identify these remains to genus level (i.e., wolf or dog).

This somewhat frustrating state of affairs led me recently to contact one of the foremost experts on prehistoric domesticated dogs, Dr. Robert J. Losey, University of Alberta. I asked Dr. Losey whether DNA samples taken from those bones might be more informative than what we had discovered about dogs so far. Here’s his response:

“Study of the nuclear DNA of these canids would definitely identify them as dogs, wolves, or coyotes, and even provide evidence for hybrids or earlier introgressions between the three species. If the right portions of the genome are targeted, such studies could also reveal details about coat color, body size, and even adaptation to starch-rich diets. In a few cases, DNA studies are now even focusing on the microbiomes of ancient dogs, revealing how their digestive systems are adapting to human food environments.”

So, in the future by applying DNA research to the fur trade canid remains, we may be able to answer some basic questions about them that we currently can’t:

• more accurately determining whether they are dog, wolf, or coyote;
• whether the dogs got bigger over time as the historic records suggest;
• what regional and temporal differences existed among the dog breeds;
• the rate that European breeds were being introduced into the local strains.

I’m confident that with these advanced techniques the next decade will bring answers to some of these questions.

Our Vanishing Canadian Dog Breeds

We have already lost a number of Canadian dogs breeds: 1) the Salish woolly dog; 2) Tahltan hunting dog; 2) Hare Indian dog; 3) North American dog. There likely were others over the last 14,000 years or longer that have left no record. And they were lost for various reasons – changing economies and technology, disease, and interbreeding, to name a few.

As Thom Swan points out, the Canadian Inuit dog only survives because of efforts of a few determined people to save it: “The breed might have gone extinct if not for the efforts of the Eskimo Dog Research Foundation created by William Carpenter and John McGrath. The foundation purchased dogs from remote Inuit camps and began breeding them to increase their numbers.”

Swan has also has tried to replicate the now extinct North American dog from the historic descriptions. His two dogs, Orion and Capella, are examples of the North American dogs used by northern Indigenous peoples; perhaps for centuries.

I am one of the thirty-two percent of Canadian households who owns at least one dog. I’m a spaniel guy and love the breed for both their hunting abilities and companionship. In Canada over the centuries the domestic dog served many purposes for many people. And came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. But we all probably shared one common thing with our dogs – their constant, devoted companionship.

“When the Man waked up he said, ‘What is Wild Dog doing here?’ And the Woman said, ‘His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.’” — Rudyard Kipling