Rez dog (short for reservation dog) is usually a term for
outdoor, stray, and feral dogs living on
Indigenous reservations in the United States and Canada. The term has taken on many
connotation
A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.
A connotation is frequently described as either positive o ...
s, and has to some extent become an emblem of and metaphor for reservations, reservation life, and Native Americans in general. For example, a "rez dog" may refer to a Native American resident of a reservation.
The distinction between a reservation dog and American dogs in general is often seen as emblematic as the difference between
First Nation
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
and
majority culture
A dominant culture is a cultural practice that is dominant within a particular political, social or economic entity, in which multiple cultures co-exist. It may refer to a language, religion/ritual, social value and/or social custom. These f ...
way of life. Untended dogs roaming First Nation reservations and other rural First Nation communities cause problems that the communities must deal with. They are generally thought of as mixed-breed and unsupervised.
In commerce and literature
A clothing company, "rez dog clothing", has adopted the persona of reservation dogs.
The narrator of two chapters of ''
Antelope Woman'', by novelist
Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich ( ; born Karen Louise Erdrich, June 7, 1954) is an American author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American characters and settings. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian ...
, is described as being part
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
reservation dog, part
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
dog, and part coyote.
See also
*
Carolina Dog
The Carolina dog, also known as a yellow dog, yaller dog, American Dingo, or Dixie Dingo, is a breed of medium-sized dog occasionally found feral in Southeastern United States, especially in isolated stretches of longleaf pines and cypress s ...
*
Native American dogs
Native American dogs, or Pre-Columbian dogs, were dogs living with people indigenous to the Americas. Arriving about 10,000 years ago alongside Paleoindians, today they make up a fraction of dog breeds that range from the Alaskan Malamute and ...
*
Pariah dog
Pye-dog, or sometimes pariah dog, is a term used to describe an ownerless, half-wild, free-ranging dog that lives in or close to human settlements throughout Asia. The term is derived from the Sanskrit ''para'', which translates to "outsider".
...
*
Mixed-breed dog
A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongrel ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rez Dog
Dog types
American Indian reservations
Feral dogs