# Indigenous Peoples Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677 "2015-11-27T01:59:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677/21 "2015-11-29T18:02:09Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > The Newfoundland dogs are descended from dogs that were indigenous to the island. > > [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_(dog)) Did you click on the link to the origin race? The [St. John’s water dog](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John's_water_dog)? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677/22 "2015-11-29T18:11:08Z")
Some good research on the [history of the Newfoundland here](http://retrieverman.net/2012/04/20/teasing-apart-the-history-of-the-newfoundland-dog-the-st-johns-water-dog-and-the-retrievers/). It’s not at all clear what the breed even looked like hundreds of years ago. It’s easy to see how some dogs brought from Europe lived alone in the wild for a time and when discovered by new settlers were believed to be indigenous or the descendants of dogs left by Viking explorers, but all the facts point at a European origin. > [@](#): > > One should be dismissive that the Newfoundland derived from Norse dogs. The last indigenous people of Newfoundland, the Beothuks, kept no dogs, and thus, there would have been no one to care for the surviving colony of purported “Norse water dogs” once the Norse colony was abandoned. At the time Richardson was writing this piece, it had not been confirmed that the Norse had ever come to Newfoundland. It had merely been suggested through reading the sagas. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677/23 "2015-11-29T18:27:25Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > The Newfoundland dogs are descended from dogs that were indigenous to the island. > > [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_(dog)) By “indigenous to the island” the article means that the breed originated there, not that it was there before Europeans brought dogs there post-1500. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677/24 "2015-11-29T18:35:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Did you click on the link to the origin race? The [St. John’s water dog](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John's_water_dog)? I assume you mean this part: > [@](#): > > Little is known of the types that went into its genetic makeup, although it was probably a random-bred mix of old English, Irish and Portuguese working dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677/25 "2015-11-29T18:37:15Z")
Interesting. I will have to go and look at _gasp_ paper books. I have a fair number of books on the Newfoundland dog (I researched the breed before getting one). I posted the Wiki link because most Newfoundland breed pages will say the same thing: that the dogs were descended from indigenous dogs. mea culpa I will have to go back and check for the nuance that **Colibri** points out. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677/26 "2015-11-29T19:58:37Z")
It looks like Newfie’s are now considered to be of European origin, but they don’t know how the presumed European (Tibetan mastiff type) dog got there. Theories range from fishermen to Norse travelers to landbridge. It appears that each of these theories has been discredited by someone, so it’s not entirely clear. They also theorize that the mastiff type dogs may have inter-bred with native dogs to create the resulting breed. References to the breed dates back to the early 1600’s. Sources: [AKC website](http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/newfoundland/) and [Jo Ann Riley’s, “The Newfoundland”](http://www.amazon.com/Newfoundland-Gentle-Giant-Ann-Riley/dp/1577790618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448827001&sr=8-1&keywords=Jo+Ann+Riley+Newfoundland) Apologies for muddying the thread. My own ignorance was fought at least. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-peoples-question/738677.md?page=1)