Greenland Sled Dogs Shares a Deep Legacy With Humans, New Study Claims

The relationship between Inuits and their sled dogs has been documented across decades. One of the breeds of these sled dogs sheds new light on the legacy of this relationship and also solves certain mysteries of human settlements in Greenland, according to IFL Science. Greenland sled dogs, also known as Qimmeq (Qimmit plural), have spent centuries serving humans, but now, they are facing threats that challenge their very existence. Researchers have gathered insights through further investigation that could be used to protect this breed and continue the relationship. The findings have been detailed in Science.

Greenland Sled Dogs

Past investigations have concluded that sled dogs have been living in the Arctic for the last 9,500 years. For one breed, the "Greenland Sled Dogs," experts have noted an interaction with humans spanning around 1,000 years. The breed could be one of the oldest of its kind roaming the planet. In the study, researchers trace the pathway undertaken by this breed from its ancient origins up to the present day, according to Popular Science. The breed became a distinct and isolated group a millennium ago. It was during this isolation that they transformed into working dogs for the Inuit. Even to date, they are exclusively bred by mushers for pulling sleds and providing assistance in hunting.

Tatiana Feuerborn, lead study author and a paleogeneticist at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, claims that this unique 1,000-year partnership sets them apart from other Arctic dogs, none of whom share such a long history with humans. The partnership is unique because Qimmeq has been performing the same task for the same people. Other breeds, like Alaskan huskies and malamutes, are now grown as companion animals, rather than sled pullers, diversifying their functions. 

Investigation of Qimmeq's Legacy

The team sequenced 92 whole dog genomes for the investigation. The genomes span from ancient times to the present day. Older samples came from the museum, while the modern ones were provided by Greenlandic mushers. The samples were categorized into three groups: samples dating back to before contact between the Inuit and Europeans, post-contact until 1998, and from 1998 to modern times. All the groupings were compared to each other, and also contrasted with DNA taken from an ancient Siberian Zhokhov dog, a 3,700-year-old dog from Teshepuk Lake in Alaska, several modern dogs, wolves, and black-backed jackals.

The study backed past assertions that the breed originated in Siberia around 10,000 years ago. Results showcase that Qimmeq genetics remained stable throughout their trajectory from Siberia to Greenland. The insights indicate that Qimmeq first moved with people from across the Arctic ice into Alaska, and then accompanied humans across the Canadian Arctic to the northwest of Greenland. The similarity between Qimmeq genomes and thousands-of-years-old Alaskan and Canadian dogs further asserts that the breed spread across the North American Arctic fairly quickly in one to two centuries, before isolating itself as a group. 

Relationship with Humans

The sled dog genetic markers reveal that Qimmeq arrived with Inuits in Greenland between 800 and 1,200 years ago. This finding is valuable as it indicates that Inuits arrived in Greenland before the Vikings. "There's been this debate back and forth…so now this might push a little more towards the earlier arrival of the Inuit into the North," Feuerborn shared.

The study also revealed that the oldest dog genomes are split into four groups: northern, western, eastern, and northeastern populations. These findings align with what is assumed about human settlements established by the Inuits: that they lived in distinct groups and that there was hardly any intermixing. The findings also confirmed that Inuits developed in the region both in a clockwise and an anticlockwise direction from the northern settlement point.

Researchers are hopeful that their study will help conservationists to protect Qimmeq in the long run. The breed has faced challenges in the form of climate change and modern technologies, dwindling their numbers from 25,000 in 2002 to 13,000 in 2020. All the markers, despite the decline, indicate that the breed is still in a stable position. Feuerborn believes that one of the ways the dogs can continue to thrive is by maintaining their relationship with humans, who can care for them. Many people are now choosing automobiles over the breed for sledding, but she believes not only is it dangerous for the Qimmeq, but also humans. "Unlike a snowmobile, sled dogs aren't going to break down and they're not going to run out of gas," she shared. "They definitely are the optimum resource."