Hawaiian Poi Dog

Ancient Hawaiian petroglyphic depiction of a native dog, Hawaii Island

A lei niho ʻīlio made from the teeth of the poi dog and olona fiber, Bailey House Museum

The original Hawaiian poi dog were descended from the Polynesian dogs brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesian people. Genetic studies on the New Zealand Kurī dog indicate that the origin of this dog (and therefore probably the Hawaiian dog) is Indonesia. Referred as the ʻīlio in the Hawaiian language, the modern name of this breed is derived from poi, a Hawaiian staple food made from kalo or taro root. Poi was used to fatten the dogs for use as food because meat was too valuable to be used as dog food. Since the Hawaiian Islands did not have large land mammals other than feral hogs, Poi dogs were not needed for hunting. The dogs were never deliberately bred to a standard, but human and natural selection still came into play.

European explorers like Captain Cook encountered pot-bellied, short-legged poi dogs that freely associated with hogs in the village. The dogs had very short hair that could come in any color, but brown poi dogs were regarded as distinct enough to warrant a specific name. The dogs also had peculiarly flattened heads. The latter trait is sometimes ascribed to the diet of the dogs in some unspecified way. Considering that poi does not require chewing, the dogs might have lost the need to maintain strong temporalis muscles; a reduced temporal fossa will cause a dog's head to appear flattened.[1] Poi dogs were considered rather dim-witted and sluggish – any good hunting dog with acute senses would neither make a good poi dog nor be particularly useful on the islands – however, the dogs were strong-willed and not easily commanded.[2]

The poi dog was a two-purpose breed – used for food and as a lucky charm. Unsuited for anything else, the breed declined to extinction as the native religion was abandoned and eating dog meat became unfashionable. Feral dogs of European settlers interbred with the poi dogs, and by the early 20th century at latest, the breed disappeared as a distinct entity.

Vue de Honolulu. lles Sandwich, drawing by Barthélémy Lauvergne, c. 1836. Detail crop shows a spotted dog with prick ears and a long tail.

No surviving artwork or photograph from Hawaiian history are authentically attributed as poi dogs. Often Western artists infused Euro-American characteristics in their 18th-century depictions of the dogs of Polynesia and by the 19th century, the dogs being depicted were of foreign breeds. The lack of details has led historians to guess at what works may be realistic depictions of the breed based on the physical characteristics.[3]

Writers Katharine Luomala and Margaret Titcomb both agreed an unfinished line drawing, dated to c. 1816–17, by French artist Louis Choris, who was part of the exploring expedition of Otto von Kotzebue, may show one of the dogs in center which may resemble the extinct breed. Luomala also claims French artist Barthélémy Lauvergne possibly captured a dog with the same traits in his colored drawing of Honolulu Harbor in 1836.[4][5][6]

Ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs also depict simplified representation of the dogs. They often show the curl tails and pointed ears characteristics of the breed.[4][7]

A female from the Honolulu Zoo program, c. 1969

In 1967, Jack L. Throp, director of the Honolulu Zoo, attempted to bring back the breed through selective breeding of local dogs based on morphological characteristics. The project studied 18th- and 19th-century descriptions of the dog before 1825 and also the surviving skeletal remains of the ancient breed to set a standard. From this, they selected local dogs in Hawaii, who were then bred for the desired traits. By the third generation from the original dogs selected in the program, a female was born with the desired appearance of the ancient breed.[8][9][10][11] Commenting in 1969, Throp noted:

The Honolulu Zoo undertook a project in 1967 to re-create the Polynesian dog. The purpose behind such a project is to tell the story of the animal life of the Hawaiian Islands in a living Hawaiian exhibit. The dog is an important part of the Polynesians' contribution to this story.[8]

The program is thought to have discontinued shortly afterward.[12] In 1976, the crews on the Hōkūleʻa on their expedition to recreate the historical Polynesian voyage between Hawaii and Tahiti brought along a dog from this program which they named Hoku.[13]

Today, the term "poi dog" is most often used to refer to mutts or mixed breed dogs, but also attribute specific characteristics to poi dogs, including the ability to eat anything, a strong will, and a unique appearance composed of different breeds. The term "poi dog" is also colloquially used to describe people of mixed heritage, although the more common term in use is hapa.[14][15][16]

• Kurī – breed of Polynesian dog native to New Zealand
• Marquesan Dog – breed of Polynesian dog native to the Marquesas Islands
• Tahitian Dog - breed of Polynesian dog native to Tahiti in the Society Islands

• Coren, Stanley (2006). The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide to the Thoughts, Emotions, and Inner Lives of Our Canine Companions. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-8087-7. OCLC 61461866.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Haas, Michael (2011). Barack Obama, The Aloha Zen President: How a Son of the 50th State May Revitalize America Based on 12 Multicultural Principles. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-313-39403-4. OCLC 658117495.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hemmer, Helmut (1990). Domestication: The Decline of Environmental Appreciation. Translated by Neil Beckhaus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-34178-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lewis, David (1978). The Voyaging Stars: Secrets of the Pacific Island Navigators. Sydney: Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-216404-7. OCLC 4722789.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Luomala, Katharine (July 1960). "A History of the Binomial Classification of the Polynesian Native Dog" (PDF). Pacific Science. Honolulu: Pacific Science Association. 14 (13): 193–223. hdl:10125/8347. OCLC 78130351.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Luomala, Katharine (April 1962). "Additional Eighteenth-Century Sketches of the Polynesian Native Dog, Including the Maori" (PDF). Pacific Science. Honolulu: Pacific Science Association. 16 (2): 170–180. hdl:10125/5950. OCLC 16324444.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Reinecke, John E.; Tsuzaki, Stanley M. (Winter 1967). "Hawaiian Loanwords in Hawaiian English of the 1930's". Oceanic Linguistics. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 6 (2): 80–115. doi:10.2307/3622760. JSTOR 3622760. OCLC 883144524.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Sharma, Dinesh (2011). Barack Obama in Hawai'i and Indonesia: The Making of a Global President. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-313-38533-9. OCLC 548555647.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Titcomb, Margaret; Pukui, Mary Kawena (1969). Dog and Man in the Ancient Pacific, with Special Attention to Hawaii. 59. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publications. OCLC 925631874.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Williams, Carys (2015). "For the Love of Dog – A Discussion on Dog Domestication with an Ethnographic Focus on the Islands of the South Pacific". Oxford: University of Oxford. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Bay-Petersen, Jan (1983). "Competition for Resources: The Role of Pig and Dog in the Polynesian Agricultural Economy". Journal de la Société des Océanistes. Paris: Societe des Oceanistes. 39 (77): 121–129. doi:10.3406/jso.1983.2793. OCLC 930608583.
• Bryan, William Alanson (1915). Natural History of Hawaii: Being an Account of the Hawaiian People, the Geology and Geography of the Islands, and the Native and Introduced Plants and Animals of the Group. Honolulu: The Hawaiian Gazette Company, Ltd. OCLC 3395236.
• Clark, Geoffrey R. (April 1997). "Anthropogenic Factors and Prehistoric Dog Morphology: A Case Study from Polynesia". Archaeology in Oceania. Sydney: Oceania Publications, University of Sydney. 32 (1): 124–130. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4453.1997.tb00378.x. JSTOR 40387064. OCLC 6015358906.
• Day, Arthur Grove (February 1951). "How to Talk in Hawaii". American Speech. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 26 (1): 18–26. doi:10.2307/453309. JSTOR 453309. OCLC 5552733720.
• Engebretson, George (1997). Poi dogs & Pōpoki. Honolulu: Hawaiian Humane Society. ISBN 9780963115461. OCLC 39089454.
• Luomala, Katharine (1960). Stanley Diamond (ed.). "The Native Dog in the Polynesian System of Values". Culture in History: Essays in Honor of Paul Radin (1st ed.). New York: Columbia University Press: 190–240. OCLC 16324448.
• Luomala, Katharine (1958). "Polynesian Myths about Maui and the Dog". Fabula. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 2 (1): 139–162. doi:10.1515/fabl.1959.2.1.139. OCLC 4958364642.
• Svihla, Arthur (March 18, 1957). "Dental Caries in the Hawaiian Dog" (PDF). Occasional Papers Of. The Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Honolulu. XXII (2): 7–13. OCLC 38440630. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
• Wood-Jones, Frederic (February 1931). "The Cranial Characters of the Hawaiian Dog". Journal of Mammalogy. Lawrence, KS: American Society of Mammalogists. 12 (1): 39–41. doi:10.2307/1373802. JSTOR 1373802. OCLC 5726063100.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dogs of Hawaii.

• Photographs of Hawaiian dog petroglyphs by Jean Charlot
• Photographs of Hawaiian dog petroglyphs at Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu by Christopher M. Butin