Chukchi Sled Dog
HISTORY
More than a thousand years ago, the
Chukchi carved their villages out of northern Siberia's
stark, inhospitable terrain…a land where the
extremes of winter make life a daily challenge just for
survival. It is there that the Chukchi dog, the
progenitor of today's Chukchi Sled Dog was developed.
Starvation and freezing to death were always
possibilities; hunters left the villages to travel to the
Arctic Coast, searching for seals for meat, skins, and
blubber to fuel their life-saving fires. They needed
tough, resilient and swift dogs to pull the kills back to
the village, no matter the weather, eventually producing
a dog that could work in a team, pull moderate loads, and
complete the job with minimum energy expense.
Quick working dogs that were docile and
intelligent enough to work in teams proved to be most
suited to the work and terrain. They had to be hard,
eager workers that had enough common sense and dedication
to their task to keep from constantly tangling themselves
in the lines of the sled. The Chukchi so valued their
dogs that they often took them into their homes as
guardians for their possessions and companions for their
children. This, no doubt, accounts for much of the
gentleness in the Chukchi Sled Dog personality.
The Chukchi dog's most important trait
was its instinct and desire to run, seemingly endlessly,
it was able to run far and fast. The Chukchi were able to
breed a dog that combined all these traits, and today's
Chukchi Sled Dog traces to those dogs.
The dogs' speed and endurance saved the
Chukchi from being conquered by the fierce Cossacks who
expanded into the fur-rich territory; the natives loaded
their possessions and families on dog sleds and kept
ahead of the marauders from the south. Eventually, the
invaders were trapped, surrounded, and vanquished by the
natives, and the Chukchi were left to live in peace.
In the eighteenth century, Russian
Cossacks began a march across Siberia to conquer the land
and thereby attain all its resources, primarily fur. Most
of the people living in the northern area were rather
primitive tribal groups unable to compete with the
advanced weaponry of the invading Russian army. The
Chukchi people were able to withstand conquest, however,
because their sled dogs always kept them ahead of the
advancing military forces. They could not fight, but they
could run - efficiently. The Chukchi were accustomed to
the Siberian weather; the Russian soldiers were not, and
suffered great losses.
The Chukchi actually forced the
Cossacks to give up their quest to conquer all of the
northern Siberia. The Chukchi lured the Russian forces
into a mountain pass, in which all escape routes were
blocked. Using only sharpened rocks and spears, the
Chukchi inflicted substantial casualties on Russians, who
subsequently withdrew from the area.
Around
the year 1900 a man from Alaska, name of Sepala, and two
other men from the US, went to Siberia. They had heard of
the sled dogs that the Chukchi Indians of Siberia had
created. Each one brought back about 100 dogs each. Now
enters Josef Stalin. In 1919, when the Russians had their
revolution and Stalin went into Siberia to take over for
the USSR he noticed how small the sled dogs were and how
great they were for pulling goods all around the north
east of Siberia. He thought that if the dogs were larger
they could pull heavier loads. So he made the Chukchi
Indians, cross breed them to make them larger. What they
ended up with is a larger dog that could pull a lot of
weight.
This
is the heritage of todays Chukchi Sled Dog.
The Chukchi Sled Dog is, and has for
centuries been, a purebred DOG -- not a wild, half-wolf,
crossbred creature, as the uninformed may suggest. The
Chukchi people of northeastern Asia as an endurance sled
dog originally developed the breed. In 1909, the first
large numbers of these Chukchi dogs were brought to
Alaska to compete in the long-distance All-Alaska
Sweepstakes races, and the Alaskan dog drivers quickly
recognized the ability of these dogs from Siberia.
In the early 1900's the monarchy in
Russia was overthrown and replaced by a Communist regime,
vowing to do away with all "bourgeois" and
elite aspects of Russian life. By the 1930's, the forces
of Communism reached the Arctic North. Because Chukchi
dogs were revered highly and desired by the Chukchi
people, those in the tribe that bred and maintained the
finest dogs had assumed a leadership position and measure
of wealth. Such people were viewed as hindrances to the
forces of collectivization, and most were imprisoned or
killed. In a matter of a few years, the Chukchi dog breed
all but disappeared from Siberia.
Originally bred by
the nomadic peoples of the Chukchi Tribe this tough,
strong dog was able to quickly cover long distances on
very little food. They were bred to have a gentle nature
and were an iatrical part of everyday family life. The
relationship born of mutual need and nurtured by mutual
respect existed between this dog and the Chukchi people.
The Chukchi lived in isolation for centuries before the
outside world discovered it and bought it to other
regions. The present day Chukchi has changed a lot since
entering this country around 1900, but within the current registered
Chukchi Sled Dog breed, recognized only by the National Sanjankah Dog Association, the heart and drive of the beloved
and much prized, Chukchi Sled Dog still lives.
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