page_title: Polynesian Dog
section_title: History and distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Polynesian Dog / History and distribution
caption_attribution_description: Kuri, Maori or native dog. Dominion Museum collection.
context_page_description: The Polynesian Dog refers to a few extinct varieties of domesticated dogs from the islands of Polynesia. These dogs were used for both companionship and food and were introduced alongside poultry and pigs to various islands. They became extinct as a result of the cross-breeding that occurred after other breeds of dogs were introduced. Modern studies done on the DNA of the Polynesian dogs indicate that they descended from the domesticated dogs of Southeast Asia and may have shared a remote ancestor with the dingo.
context_section_description: These dogs were introduced by the ancestors of the Polynesian people during their settlement of the far-flung islands with a few major archipelagos developing isolated breeds.
  Notable breeds include:
  Hawaiian Poi Dog – introduced to the Hawaiian Islands
  Kurī – introduced to New Zealand
  Marquesan Dog – introduced to the Marquesas Islands
  Tahitian Dog – introduced to the Society Islands
  Tuamotuan Dog – introduced to the Tuamotus, this may have been a longer-haired version of the Tahitian Dog. Described by British naturalist Georg Forster.
  The distribution of Polynesian dogs on other islands was somewhat patchy. Islands like Mangareva, Tokelau and the Marquesas possessed domesticated dog populations after initial settlement that went extinct before the arrival of European explorers. On Easter Island, no evidence or traces of dogs have been found in middens around the island or in the oral tradition of the Rapa Nui people. They were virtually absent from Western Polynesia (i.e., Samoa and Tonga) by the time Europeans arrived. However, dogs brought on European ships were recognized by the natives when they were introduced as items of trade, indicating a universal cultural recognition of dogs across the islands. While the Maori brought dogs to New Zealand, the Moriori had no dogs in the Chatham Islands at the time of European discovery.
caption: Kurī specimen, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 1924
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