Kurī

The Kurī is an extinct breed of Polynesian Dog kept by Māori people. It was introduced to New Zealand by the Polynesian ancestors of the Māori during their migration from East Polynesia in the 13th century AD. According to Māori tradition, the demigod Māui transformed his brother-in-law Irawaru into the first dog.

Kurī
Origin	New Zealand
Breed status	Extinct
Dog (domestic dog)

Kurī specimen, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 1924

Description

Kurī were bushy-tailed, with short legs and powerful shoulders. Their coat colour ranged from yellowish brown to black, white, or spotted. Like other Polynesian dog breeds, they howled instead of barked.

Use

Kurī were a source of food for Māori, and considered a delicacy. British explorer James Cook sampled kurī on his 1769 voyage and declared that it was almost as tasty as lamb.

Kurī were also used to hunt birds. In addition, Māori used their skins and fur to make dog-skin cloaks (kahu kurī), belts, weapon decorations and poi.

Extinction

Kurī were seen widely across New Zealand during Cook's first voyage in 1769. The kurī became extinct in New Zealand in the 1860s, following the arrival of European settlers; the breed was unable to survive interbreeding with European dogs. The remains of the last known specimens, a female and her pup, are now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

See also

• Hawaiian Poi Dog – breed of Polynesian dog native to Hawaii
• Marquesan Dog – extinct breed of Polynesian dog native to the Marquesas Islands
• Tahitian Dog - extinct breed of Polynesian dog native to Tahiti in the Society Islands
• Polynesian dog
• Askal
• Taiwan dog
• Philippine forest dog
• Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
• List of dog breeds
• List of extinct dog breeds

Further reading

• Alto, Jan (1970). The Maori Dog: A Study of the Polynesian Dog of New Zealand. Auckland: M.A Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland. OCLC 277831950.
• Allo, Jan (1971). "The Dentition of the Maori Dog of New Zealand". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 8: 29–45. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42906162. Wikidata Q58676884.
• Allo Bay-Peter en. J. L. 1979. The role of the dog in the economy of the New Zealand Maori. In Anderson. A. J. (Ed). Birds of a Feather: Osteological and Archaeological papers from the South Pacific in honour of R. J. Scarlett: 165- 181. British Archaeological Records. International Series 62.
• Anderson, A. J.; Clark, G. R. (March 2001). "Advances in New Zealand Mammalogy 1990–2000: Polynesian Dog or Kuri". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 31 (1). Wellington: Royal Society of New Zealand: 161–163. doi:10.1080/03014223.2001.9517645. OCLC 4901500463.
• Anderson, Atholl (1981). "Pre-European Hunting Dogs in the South Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Archaeology. 3. Dunedin: New Zealand Archaeological Association: 15–20. OCLC 605733958.
• Black, G. J. (March 1922). "A Maori Dog-skin Cloak (Kaha Kuri)". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 31 (1). Wellington: The Polynesian Society: 59–63. JSTOR 20701862. OCLC 6015242651.
• Clark, Geoffrey R. (1995). The Kuri in Prehistory: a Skeletal Analysis of the Extinct Maori Dog. MA thesis, Anthropology Department, University of Otago
• Clark, Geoffrey R. (April 1997). "Anthropogenic Factors and Prehistoric Dog Morphology: A Case Study from Polynesia". Archaeology in Oceania. 32 (1). Sydney: Oceania Publications, University of Sydney: 124–130. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4453.1997.tb00378.x. JSTOR 40387064. OCLC 6015358906.
• Clark, Geoffrey R (1997a). "Osteology of the kuri Maori: The prehistoric dog of New Zealand". Journal of Archaeological Science. 24 (2): 113–126. Bibcode:1997JArSc..24..113C. doi:10.1006/jasc.1995.0098.
• Clark, Geoffrey R (1997b). "Maori Subsistence Change: Zooarchaeological Evidence from the Prehistoric Dog of New Zealand". Asian Perspectives. 36 (2): 200–219. JSTOR 42928408.
• Clout, Stephanie Dale (2003). The archaeology, ethnography and mitochondrial genetics of the extinct Polynesian dog : a select annotated bibliography : submitted to the School of Communications and Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Library and Information Studies. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. OCLC 904068456.
• Colenso, William (1877). Notes on the Ancient Dog of the New Zealanders. Christchurch: Kiwi Publishers. ISBN 978-1-877145-09-4. OCLC 950892251. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Coutts, Peter; Jurisich, Mark (1973). "Canine Passengers in Maori Canoes". World Archaeology. 5 (1): 72–85. doi:10.1080/00438243.1973.9979554. JSTOR 124154.
• Fletcher, H. J. (March 1912). "No. 235. The Kuri-maori, or Native Dog". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 21 (81). Wellington: The Polynesian Society: 184. OCLC 1762632.
• Greig, K; Boocock, J; Prost, S; Horsburgh, KA; Jacomb, C; et al. (2015). "Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of New Zealand's First Dogs". PLOS ONE. 10 (10): e0138536. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1038536G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138536. PMC 4596854. PMID 26444283.
• 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 (July 1960). "A History of the Binomial Classification of the Polynesian Native Dog" (PDF). Pacific Science. 14 (13). Honolulu: Pacific Science Association: 193–223. hdl:10125/8347. OCLC 78130351.
• Luomala, Katharine (April 1962). "Additional Eighteenth-Century Sketches of the Polynesian Native Dog, Including the Maori" (PDF). Pacific Science. 16 (2). Honolulu: Pacific Science Association: 170–180. hdl:10125/5950. OCLC 16324444.
• Murison, W. D. (1877). "Note on the wild dog. Appendix to Gillies. R. Note on some Changes in the Fauna of Otago". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 10: 306–324.
• Salmond, Anne (2003). The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10092-1. OCLC 249435583.
• Skinner, W. H. (September 1914). "The Ancient Maori Dog". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 23 (3). Wellington: The Polynesian Society: 173–175. JSTOR 20701078. OCLC 6015299748.
• Titcomb, Margaret; Pukui, Mary Kawena (1969). Dog and Man in the Ancient Pacific, with Special Attention to Hawaii. Vol. 59. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publications. OCLC 925631874.
• 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.
• White, Taylor (1891). "Article LI.—On the Native Dog of New Zealand". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 24. Wellington: Royal Society of New Zealand: 540–557. OCLC 2256259.
• White, Taylor (1894). "Article LXX. Te Kuri maori (the Dog of New Zealand). A Reply to the Rev. W. Colenso". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 26. Wellington: Royal Society of New Zealand: 585–600. OCLC 2256259.
• White, Taylor; Editor (March 1912). "No. 233. The Kuri-maori, or Native Dog". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 21 (81). Wellington: The Polynesian Society: 138–139. OCLC 1762632. {{cite journal}}: |author2= has generic name (help)
• Wilson, Andrew (March 1913). "Notes and Queries: The Native Dog (Kuri Maori)". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 22 (1). Wellington: The Polynesian Society: 42. JSTOR 20701019. OCLC 811588371.
• Wood, Jamie R.; Crown, Cole; Theresa, L; Wilmshurst, Janet M. (2016). "Microscopic and ancient DNA profiling of Polynesian dog (kurī) coprolites from northern New Zealand". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 6: 496–505. Bibcode:2016JArSR...6..496W. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.03.020.