Dogs and Their Humans in Pacific Island Interspecies Cultures

Dogs and Their Humans in Pacific Island Interspecies Cultures explores diverse canine–human relationships in ancient and contemporary Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Australia. Anthropologically combining ethnographic, archaeological, biological, and linguistic evidence, the chapters demonstrate that from Hawaiian backyards to the Australian outback, both dogs and humans act differently depending on the cultural conditions connecting them in their multispecies communities.

This book rewards readers with a profound understanding of the intricate and dynamic relationships between dogs and humans, highlighting the significant impact these interspecies interactions have on shaping cultural and ecological landscapes that affect empathy, customs, genes, and ecosystems.

Roger Ivar Lohmann is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Trent University, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. His interspecies household in Markham includes a human called Heather M.-L. Miller and two rescue Shiba Inus: Wasabi (a would-have-been meat dog from a slaughterhouse near Beijing, China) and Shoga (a former puppy mill mother abandoned on the streets of Scarborough, Ontario).