For nearly a thousand years, Greenlandic sled dogs, or Qimmit, have accompanied Inuit communities across the frozen expanses of the Arctic. A recent genetic study reveals the ancient origins, regional diversity, and cultural importance of these four-legged companions

For over a millennium, sled dogs have traversed Greenland’s icy landscapes, pulling Inuit hunters across sea ice and tundra. A study published on July 10 in the journal Science recognizes the Greenland sled dog, the Qimmeq, not only as a robust working animal but as a genetic time capsule of migration, culture, and survival in the Arctic.

The product of nine years of research, the study was led by the Qimmeq Project, a collaboration between Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland), the Greenland National Museum, the University of Copenhagen, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. It traces the intertwined roots of the Arctic sled dog across time and space, revealing how humans and dogs have forged a shared destiny in one of the most extreme environments on Earth.

”We started the Qimmeq Project 9 years ago,” explains in a press released published on 10 July Morten Meldgaard, assigned professor at Ilisimatusarfik and co-author of the study. ”The first results lead to new questions that we have continued to investigate. Now one of the worlds leading journals Science has published an article with our latest results about Qimmeq´s immigration into Greenland, about genetically discrete sled dog types in North, West, and East Greenland and about the now extinct Northeast Greenland sled dog that may have immigrated to Greenland unexpectedly early.”

A Lost Lineage Resurfaces

The study’s most significant discovery concerns a population of sled dogs once native to Northeast Greenland. For over 800 years, these dogs, genetically distinct from other Qimmit, lived in isolation after migrating with early Inuit hunters from what is now Nunavut, Canada. By around 1850, both humans and dogs had disappeared from the region, leaving behind only bones, fur, and DNA.

For Tatiana Feuerborn, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the National Institutes of Health, the findings challenge the established timeline of Inuit migration. “A thousand years ago – around the year 1000 – the Inuit of Nunavut kept the ancestors of the Qimmit of Greenland. It appears that the early Inuit and their dogs settled Northeast Greenland from Nunavut and after only a few centuries the dogs with the inuit moved south and populated West Greenland and Southeast Greenland. Thus the dogs have revealed to us that together the inuit and Qimmit may have arrived several centuries earlier to Greenland than previously thought.”

The sled dog was thus not merely a tool for transport or hunting, but a central figure, and witness, in Arctic human history.

Three Regions, Three Genomes

The study also confirms that today’s Qimmit are not a homogenous group. Greenlandic sled dogs can be divided into three genetically distinct populations corresponding to three geographic regions: Kitaa (West), Tunu (East), and Avanersuaq (North). These divisions mirror the three Greenlandic dialects: Kalaallisut, Tunumiit oraasiat, and Inuktun. Many hunters can identify these regional types based on the dogs’ appearance and skills.

The authors of the study hope that these results will encourage the preservation of these lineages. “We have studied how Qimmeq genes have changed through centuries and we have identified different patterns in the variation in the different Qimmeq populations,” explains Anders Johannes Hansen, Professor of Genetic Identification at the University of Copenhagen, in the press release issued by the Qimmeq Project.
“The patterns also mirror periods of starvation and epidemics, where dog populations have diminished.”

Preserving a Living Memory

The story of the Qimmeq neither begins nor ends in Greenland. Its roots go back to Siberia, where an ancient canine breed adapted to Arctic conditions nearly 9 000 years ago. From there, sled dogs spread across the polar world. A direct ancestor of the Greenland Qimmeq lived in Alaska about 4 000 years ago. A close genetic match was found with a dog that lived more than 3 700 years ago, one of the oldest known links between modern sled dogs and ancient Arctic ancestors.

Unlike most domestic dog breeds, Arctic sled dogs, including the Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, and Canadian Inuit Dog, have a higher proportion of wolf DNA. This may have been intentionally selected at times. “Knowledge holders from Avanersuaq tell of occasional crossing of female dogs with arctic wolves,” says Manumina Lund Jensen, PhD student at Ilisimatusarfik and co-author of the study. “During bear and muskox hunts in Umingmak Nunaa (Ellesmere Island) the female dog would be tethered in wolf territory with food for a week. If a male wolf came by the meet could result in mating and off-spring.”

Despite these traditions, recent genetic analyses have found no trace of modern wolf-dog hybrids. Perhaps the hybrids were not strong or reliable enough for Arctic life, or perhaps the regions with the highest overlap remain under-sampled.

Another mystery is the near-absence of European dog breeds in the Qimmeq gene pool, despite over 400 years of colonial presence. One possible explanation is that dogs with European genes were simply not good sled dogs and therefore did not persist in the population. Strict 20th-century regulations banning foreign breeds from sled dog regions may also have helped prevent genetic mixing.

There are, however, a few remnants. A skull dated 1958, labeled “last Labrador dog,” and some fur trim from 19th-century women’s clothing have been found to contain European dog DNA. These are fleeting traces of a crossbreeding that never took hold.

Today, Greenland’s sled dog population stands at only 15 000, a 50% drop in just a few decades. Climate change, snowmobiles, and the decline of traditional lifestyles all pose threats. While the dogs remain genetically healthy, scientists are particularly concerned about the small Tunu population. “The 50 % reduction of the sled dog populations all over Greenland in the past decades does not appear to give inbreeding problems yet,” warns Anders Johannes Hansen, “but it is wise to be alert and take precautions if it becomes necessary. Greenland has already lost one unique dog population, and we want that to be the last.”

The findings of the Qimmeq Project go far beyond genetics. They tell a story of survival shared between humans and animals, a story of cultural exchange, extinction, and memory. In a world where both tradition and biodiversity are increasingly under threat, the Qimmeq reminds us of what we stand to lose. And what still can be saved.