Protectors, Aggressors, and Kinfolk: Dogs in a Tribal Community (original) (raw)
Related papers
Wolves at Heart: How Dog Evolution Shaped Whites' Perceptions of Indians in North America
This article explores how, as dogs evolved and were bred into distinct varieties in Europe and North America from precontact to the present, whites in America used them to judge both Indians and themselves as natural improvers. When colonists first compared their own dogs to those of Native Americans, they found Indian dogs too wolf-like and vicious. But as ecological pressures in cities and rural spaces threatened to undo European breeds during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many whites came to doubt their status as nature's masters. It was only during the twentieth century, as whites observed the spread of feral dogs on reservations, that they reimagined Indians and their dogs as savage and themselves as potential rescuers. This study highlights the importance of biological evolution to European perceptions of Indians. It also refines the field of evolutionary history by treating biology and history less as distinct forces and more as mutual processes.
The Mother of Dogs: Women, Power and Dogs in First Nations Societies in Northwest North America
Ivana Fiore, Francesca Lugli (eds.); Dogs- Past and Present: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, 2023
Among the Dene of northwestern North America, dogs are the only carnivores unable to confer animal power to hunters. They are associated with women and are considered to be the ancestors of humans by some Dene. In this paper, I propose that dogs have been stripped of their power because their symbolic role is to counter the naturally strong power of women, whereas men who are naturally without power must seek it through vision quests.
Post-Human Families? Dog-Human Relations in the Domestic Sphere
Sociological Research Online, 2016
In this article I explore the ways in which dogs and other companion species become family members and engage with the argument that this indicates the emergence of post-human families. Using empirical data from responses to a Mass Observation directive on Animals and Humans and in-depth interviews with people who share their homes with companion animals, I explore the ways in which humans and dogs live with each other and the ‘daily practices of kinship’ which constitute them as kin. I argue that practices of kinship blur the species barrier but that human-dog relations take place in the context of unequal power relations which are an inevitable consequence of dogs’ incorporation into families as dependents. I conclude that while it may be possible to identify post-human practices in multi-species households, they exist alongside practices which reinforce the human-animal boundary and that, given the unequal relations of entanglement within which humans and animals interact, attemp...
Human relationships with dogs extend into the deep past, just as they strongly endure in myriad forms in the present. New research in Siberia indicates that humans may have established relationships with wolves as early as 27,000 years ago, and this relationship blossomed into an undisputed case of domestication at least 14,700 years ago (Skoglund et al. 2015). Currently, most research indicates that wolves first joined human society when we were small hunter-gatherer bands around 14,000 years ago (Janssens et al. 2018). After millennia of living in close proximity to humans, a subset of wolves diverged from the larger gene pool as they were physically and cognitively changed by their growing relationships with humans. These became the ancestors of modern dogs. Given that the specific origins and benefits of this relationship are still poorly understood, scientists, as well as dog enthusiasts, continue to wonder how and why humans began sharing their lives with dogs in the first place. Researchers can use ethnographic data in eHRAF World Cultures to better understand how hunter-gatherers use and live with dogs. That being said, the environment, societies, and dog phenotypes have all changed dramatically since ancient times (for a complete description of the theoretical issues involved see Hayter 1994). The ecological relationships recent hunter-gatherers groups have had with dogs may shed light on the use and impact of dogs in ancient societies with similar environments. With this consideration in mind, let’s look at some examples of dog use in recent hunter-gatherer societies living in a few different environments. Exploring the utility of the human-dog relationship may help us understand why we first invited them into our lives.
Townsend Decolonization&Reconciliation Through Dogs
Athabasca University, 2023
The shared history and lived reality which exists between dogs and Indigenous peoples is one of entanglement at the physical, social, emotional, ecological, and cultural levels. While both species have been impacted by the losses and harms rooted in colonial events, genocidal practices reverberate into many lived realities, resulting in psycho-spiritual suffering among humans and non-humans, and the separation of nature and culture and predominant anthropocentrism which fuels unsustainable realities on the planet. Using an Indigenous participatory method combined with ethnographic analysis, this paper examines traditional relationships with dogs among various Indigenous communities, while identifying the distinct challenges and opportunities that dogs present for deconstructing anthropocentric structures. The wholistic health of dogs, humans and the broader interrelated realities are foundational for the decolonization of social and ecological realities, while contributing to true reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous bodies. The findings in this paper advocate for policy changes at health, educational, environmental and Indigenous levels, which acknowledge the non-human world and the human relationship with it, while highlighting the benefits of employing interdisciplinary methods in such pursuits. These relationships are biological, ecological, spiritual and cultural, with all non-humans holding vital roles within their environments and between human communities. The individuals which exist in non-human form, particularly among animals, comprise of sentience, autonomy and their own cognitive experience.
Village dogs in coastal Mexico: the street as a place to belong
Animal and Society, 2020
Village dogs are important for households in coastal Mexico, yet they are seen as out of place by etic stakeholders (public health and wildlife experts, and animal welfarists). Caregivers of village dogs are considered irresponsible, a view that is reinforced by Mexican policy. We describe two contrasting etic discourses in this article that have emerged from ideologies based on human-dog relation theories. The article is part of an ongoing shift in the social sciences that has seen attempts to move beyond an-thropocentrism and to explore human-animal relations outside the parameters of the traditional nature-culture dichotomy. Local narratives hinge on different experiences with dogs. Villagers perceive their dogs as adults, capable of and subject to judgment. Etic discourses are currently the basis for dog management policies. Attaching the label of " irresponsible owner " to the caregivers of village dogs prevents their inclusion as legitimate participants in policy processes.