![]() A rez dog at Canyon de Chelly | |
Other name(s) | Rez |
---|---|
Species | Dog |
Rez dog (short for reservation dog) is usually a term for outdoor, stray, and feral dogs living on Native reservations in the United States and Indian reserves in Canada.[1] The term has taken on many connotations, and has to some extent become an emblem of and metaphor for reservations/reserves, life on them, and indigenous North Americans in general. For example, a "rez dog" may refer to a resident of indigenous lands.[2]
The distinction between a rez dog and dogs in general is often seen as emblematic of the difference between indigenous and majority culture ways of life.[3] Untended dogs roaming indigenous lands cause problems that the communities must deal with.[4][5] The dogs are generally thought of as mixed-breed and unsupervised.[6]
A clothing company, "Rez Dog Clothing", has adopted the persona of reservation dogs.[7][8]
The narrator of two chapters of Antelope Woman, by novelist Louise Erdrich, is described as being part Ojibwe reservation dog, part Lakota dog, and part coyote.[9]