When humans walked
across land joining Asia and America more than 10,000 years ago
they were followed by wild, Primitive Dogs. These
ancestors of the Native Americans spread out and settled in
Groups, or 'Tribes' and the dogs stayed near them where it was
easy to find water and scavenge food.
Gradually,
people and dogs became friends and the people provided food and
the dogs guarded the camps. The dogs mated with coyotes,
wolves and other dogs and gained their wolf and coyote-like
appearance, intelligence and alert, natural instincts.
Eventually, the dogs came to rely on the Native Americans who
trained them to herd their horses and other animals, track and
hunt with them, and pull light loads when the Tribe moved to
another camping ground.
The different
Tribes exchanged dogs for breeding purposes and a variety of
'American Indian Dog' developed. Although they varied in
small ways they all kept their coyote-like appearance and
natural instincts.
Mating with
coyote made the dogs special for the Native Americans because
one of their religious beliefs was the coyote was the first
living creature on Earth. Unfortunately, the early
European settlers and the soldiers sent to protect them as they
took the land from the Native Americans disliked them because
they thought they were too much like the wild coyote. As the
number of settlers increased and the Native Americans decreased
the American Indian Dog almost died and only a few remained.
They would have
died out altogether if Kim La Flamme had not devoted his time to
rescuing and preserving their bloodlines and ensuring the
authenticity of the surviving dogs.
Kim, the founder of
Song Dog Kennels in Oregon U.S.A., started with just two dogs
from his own Native American relatives and over forty years has
brought the breed to where there are now more than 250
certified, authentic dogs in the American Indian Dog Registry.
The Registry ensures the purity of the Breed and avoids
misrepresentation of coyote, wolf dog and other mixed dog
breeds.
With the growing
interest in our early culture and increasing knowledge of Native
American history, the American Indian Dog is becoming better
known in North America, and has made an appearance in Europe.
If you couldn't
identify the dog that appeared in the movie 'Braveheart' with
Mel Gibson, it was an authentic American Indian Dog.
Links
History
of the AMERICAN INDIAN DOG from Kim La Flamme in Selma, Oregon
This is the most
authoratative site on the American Indian Dog and Links to the
Official Registry
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