Do Indigenous American Peoples’ stories inform the study of dog domestication?
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Abstract
I discuss the article “Relationships Between Indigenous American Peoples and Wolves 1: Wolves as Teachers and Guides” (Fogg et al. 2015) and the book “The First Domestication: How Wolves and Humans Coevolved” (Pierotti and Fogg 2017). The article proposed that published stories about interactions between indigenous American peoples and wolves (Canis lupus) provide insight into wolf-human relationships as humans began domesticating wolves. In the book, the authors offer a theory of how wolves and humans coevolved by building on the information in the article and the authors’ long experience with captive and pet wolves, wolf-dog hybrids, and dogs. I (1) present arguments and evidence that question the value of indigenous American stories for drawing conclusions about the relationship between early humans and wolves 14,000 yrs BP; (2) demonstrate how indigenous American stories contradict documented information about wolf biology, behavior, and known interactions with humans; and (3) point out important information not considered by the authors about wolf attacks on humans and the importance of rabies in the wolf-human relationship.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Do Indigenous American Peoples’ stories inform the study of dog domestication? |
| Series title | Ethnobiological Letters |
| DOI | 10.14237/ebl.10.1.2019.1474 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year Published | 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Society of Ethnobiology |
| Contributing office(s) | Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center |
| Description | 7 p. |
| First page | 69 |
| Last page | 75 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |