Early American Settlers Ate Indigenous Dogs
A new study reveals that Jamestown settlers resorted to eating canines during famine
Many studies have gradually started to take a deeper dive into how European colonisation led to the death of nearly all North American dogs. Various historical accounts are left to indicate how dogs of both European and Indigenous descent became objects of interest, disdain, and exchange. Some accounts report how early settlers, faced with death, resorted to eating their loyal companions. These times of famine are recorded in the archaeology, and many dog remains have been found in early European settlements. Yet, until recently, it was unclear if these dogs were European, Indigenous, or of mixed ancestry.
Remains from the Jamestown Colony in Virginia were analysed to clarify where these dogs originated. The analysis showed Indigenous dogs lived at Jamestown, and even more intriguingly (or disturbingly), they had been butchered and eaten.
I have dogs. Would I eat them? I want to say no. But when staring death in the eye, humans have resorted to much darker things.
History of Native and European Dogs
Native Americans valued their dogs for companionship, fowling prowess, fur, and social and cultural identity symbols. Some Native American groups even buried their dogs in graveyards, such as the dog cemetery at Weyanoke Old Town, which contained over 100 dog remains.
When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought along their loyal companions. They employed them to help with daily tasks such as herding, hunting, guarding, and as symbols of social status.
Dogs connected and created tensions between the Indigenous and the Europeans. In 1608, Captain John Smith and Captain Newport of Jamestown gifted the Powhatan paramount chief Wahunsenacawh one of King James I’s greyhounds. The dog was treated with great respect and was fed ‘as if he fed himself.’ At the same time, dogs were used to attack local populations. European accounts of indigenous dogs would often describe them as mongrels and curses, bemoaning their lack of apparent breed.
To Europeans, breeding dogs was an art, and to be master over them was to show control of man over beast—something they perceived lacking among the Indigenous populations. The tasks indigenous dogs were employed for were not viewed favourably by the Europeans, who saw much greater value in dogs who could hunt (deer), herd, haul goods, and easily be distinguished by breed.
Breeds were a tricky thing; in many Indigenous villages, the local chief or headmen would dictate which dogs would be allowed to breed, thus creating a distinct local type of dog with similar features, such as blue eyes or a certain kind of fur, examples included the Nenana dogs of the mainland or the Katzbue of the Bering Coast. However, the surrounding villages and regions usually exchanged sufficiently, so these dogs never developed into district breeds. Think Malamute vs. Canadian Inuit Dog, but with even less genetic, geographic, and physical distinction.
Jamestown’s Early Years
Jamestown was founded in 1607 and was the first permanent settlement established by the English. Earlier attempts by Europeans to establish an enduring presence in the area had failed, likely due to the region’s dangerous and extremely harsh conditions.
Just one year after its establishment, two-thirds of the original settlers had succumbed to disease, malnutrition, and violence. Subsequent waves of colonists brought hundreds of new souls to the colony, but many left or died soon after arrival. Between 1606 and 1612, severe drought made agricultural productivity difficult and burdened the local Tsenacomocoans, who supplied the English with resources. By 1609, most of the neighbouring tribes had become hostile to the English, and their trade ceased. In 1610, during the Starving Time, a particularly devastating winter when food shortages and fractured leadership ravaged Jamestown, the colony was almost abandoned due to the preceding harsh winter, drought, poor harvest, lack of supplies, and violence between the colonists and neighbouring tribes.
Wahunsenacawh and his forces laid siege to Jamestown for six months during the Starving Time, trapping most of the colonists within the fort with dwindling supplies and no means to resupply. In the spring of 1613, the Jamestown colonists kidnapped Wahunsenacawh’s daughter, Matoaka (Pocahontas). As restitution for this kidnapping, Wahunsenacawh demanded
“two bone combs such as Captain Newport had given him (the wooden ones his own men can make); a hundred fishhooks, or if he could spare it, rather a fishing seine; and a cat and a dog”.
Political relations were only reestablished in 1614, but while ties between the colony and Wahunsenacawh’s tribe stabilised, relations with the rest of the Tsenacomocoans began to deteriorate. Only thirteen years after its founding, in 1620, Jamesown’s population began to stabilise. However, sustained population growth would not be achieved until a decade later.
Living with and Eating Dogs
Unlike many other early colonies, Jamestown was not only close to native American tribes but also had some of the greatest numbers of dog remains. During excavation, 181 bones were identified as belonging to canines, comprising a minimum of 16 individuals (but they could be much more). The remains were excavated from three distinct periods: the first pertains to the first years of settlement (1607–1609), the second to the Starving Time, and the third to the post-Starving Time (1610–1617).
The remains show evidence of having been burnt, butchered, and cut up. The dogs consumed weighed around 10–31 kgs and likely would have been around the size of a modern springer spaniel, beagle, or bull terrier.
Dog consumption was not unheard of in the Americas; neither was it exclusively an Indigenous or European thing. For centuries, many Native Americans would eat dogs; some considered puppies a delicacy. The Aztecs, Native Caribbeans, and people from South and Central America also relied heavily on dog meat, often castrating and fattening the animals for consumption. Europeans had also been no stranger to dog consumption, although, by Jamestown’s founding, dog consumption had become a last resort for times of need.
Travellers, such as Lewis and Clark, had to eat dogs in the Winter of 1806; Lewis even wrote that after overcoming their cultural bias, many in the party, including himself, had become ‘extreamly (sic) fond of their flesh’. Even preferring it over elk or venison.
With this in mind, a DNA analysis was performed on the dog bones that showed signs of butchering. The results revealed that almost one-third of the butchered dogs were of indigenous descent. Specifically, the mtDNA (Mitochondrial DNA passed down via the mother) revealed they were of indigenous matrilineal descent. This means they could have been the result of either two indigenous dog parents or one indigenous dog mother and a settler dog father.
The fact that indigenous dogs existed in Jamestown was of no surprise, given the historical evidence of Indigenous peoples living within Jamestown. Various reports detail Native Americans living or working in the colony; by 1612, the Spanish ambassador Pedro de Zúñiga reported that 40 or 50 men of Jamestown had Native American wives (with an overall population between 200–300 people, 40 or 50 Native American settlers is a rather substantial amount).
It is likely that as the Tsenacomocoans worked and settled in Jamestown, they took their local dogs with them. This is attested by the large quantities of Indigenous artefacts recovered with many of the dogs’ remains.
The preservation of mostly indigenous dog ancestry further indicates that neither the Europeans nor the Indigenous seem too pressed to prevent local dogs from coming and going within the fort’s boundaries. These dogs may have been companions of the Tsenacomocoan residents, or perhaps they were the result of trades between the locals and settlers. At least until 1619, when the First Virginia Assembly outlawed the trade of English dogs to the Indigenous;
“That no man do sell or give any of the greater howes to the Indians, or any English dog of quality, as a mastive, greyhound, blood hound, land or water spaniel, or any other dog or bitch whatsoever, of the English race”.
However, this decree does not seem to have applied the other way around, with indigenous dogs still being traded.
Interestingly, the study also highlights that indigenous dogs were only consumed in the early settlement and post-Starving Times.
While the authors do not explore the reasoning behind this, I speculate several factors could have influenced it. The simplest explanation would be that the remains of indigenous dogs consumed during the Starving Time have not been excavated or found yet.
On the other hand, we know that Europeans viewed indigenous dogs as lesser. Upon arriving in Jamestown, many colonists took their European dog breeds. When they had hard times and had to choose between eating loyal old Fido or the indigenous mongrel, they maybe found it easier to do the latter. Meanwhile, during the Starving Times, the fort of Jamestown was sieged. This meant the free movement of the local Native Americans and their dogs would probably have also ceased. Without even the option to trade for indigenous dogs, the colonists could do nothing more than eat their European dog breeds. Similarly, after the starving times, a decent percentage (16,7% — 25%) of the population comprised Native American people, who likely had brought their dogs with them. When faced with hard times, these dogs were again on the menu for lack of choice and sheer desperation or because the settlers still predominantly viewed the lesser indigenous dogs as easier to butcher and consume than their valuable bloodhounds and greyhounds.
This research sheds light on the harsh realities many colonists faced when they came to the Americas. It also reveals the social dynamics and importance of dogs for both the Indigenous and the Europeans. It shows that even well-studied histories, such as those of Jamestown and its settlers, still contain unknown details waiting to be uncovered.
Faced with death, the colonists of Jamestown and many other early settlements in the Americas faced difficult choices: eat Fido or eat Grandma?
The settlers of Jamestown found a third option: eat the mongrel.
Could you ever consider eating a dog or cat? Let me know your thoughts, and if you’d like to support me further, why not Buy Me A Coffee?
References
- Derr, M., 2004. Dog’s Best Friend: Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship. University of Chicago Press.
- Murphy, E.M., 2001. Medieval and post-medieval butchered dogs from Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Environmental Archaeology, 6(1), pp.13–22.
- Rusek, R.A., 2013. “ Nothing Tame about Them”: Dogs and the Symbolism of Civility in the Jamestown Settlement.
- Thomas, A.E., Hill, M.E., Stricker, L., Lavin, M., Givens, D., de Flamingh, A., Witt, K.E., Malhi, R.S. and Kitchen, A., 2024. The Dogs of Tsenacomoco: Ancient DNA Reveals the Presence of Local Dogs at Jamestown Colony in the Early Seventeenth Century. American Antiquity, pp.1–19.
- Winchcombe, R., 2023. The Limits of Disgust: Eating the Inedible During Jamestown’s Starving Time. Global Food History, pp.1–23.
