Abstract

The Tahltan Bear dog was an indigenous breed kept by the Tahltan First Nation of northwestern British Columbia. This small black and white dog was used to track and hold at bay the black and grizzly bears hunted by their Tahltan masters. The Tahltan Bear dog was designated a distinct breed by the Canadian Kennel Club in 1942 and forty years later, officially declared extinct. As part of a larger study to examine the genetic relationships of Northwest coast aboriginal dogs to modern dogs and wolves, several specimens of Tahltan Bear Dog skins archived at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria were sampled. All specimens were collected around the 1940's and include skins as well as some skeletal remains. mtDNA analysis indicate these animals were indeed aboriginal dogs, although (as for all other breeds), no exclusively Tahltan genetic signature was detected. Osteometric analysis indicates the Tahltan was smaller than other aboriginal North American dogs, perhaps smaller than any other unimproved dog types anywhere. The data presented here adds significantly to the total body of knowledge regarding this breed, which until now encompassed only ethnographic descriptions and a few photographs from the 1900's. Since no archaeological remains of this animal have yet been found, there has been no way to document its history before the mid 1800's. Should any remains be found in the future, however, these data will be indispensable.