The breeds name and what dog types the breed is based on

I would like to share this summary about the breed name and what I found out about this in both Swedish, Norwegian and English literature. The breed was established as early in the Nordic countries, as in England. Something that many people may not know is that Sweden in cooperation with Norway was the first with a breed standard for the breed, as happened in 1908, the English breed standard was established a year later, in 1909.The breed today named Samoyed can easily mislead people into thinking that these dogs are exclusively bred by the Samoyed peoples. But much of the history suggests that both the Samoyed- and Ostyakpeople typ of dogs are behind the establishment of the breed. Read Helen Corle´s post aboute "notation with pictures of dogs used in polar expeditions" in that file they also writes that som dogs come from the samoyed people and some dogs come from the ostyak people. In the Swedish and Norwigian kynology occurred appellations as:

• Samojedhund sometimes Ostjakhund. 
• Samojedhund/Ostjakhund. 
• Ostjakhund (Samojedhund). 
• Samojedhund (Ostjakhund). 

(Hund = dog)

Alternately each other occurred those names in the Nordic lineage bookkeeping. And in Norway all the way up to 1950. Similarly, there were names in the Swedish literature, but this went over slightly earlier to call them more uniform as Samoyed, perhaps inspired by the Engelsak name for the breed. In the early Swedish literature can also be found the following names and spellings around the breed: 

• Siberian spitz. 
• Laika. 
• Samojede Dogs. 
• etc. 

Here, we conclude that the different varieties of Siberian spitz dogs that we in early Nordic kynology differed from eatchother with different names would later be merged under the name Samoyeddog. In the English literature can read about how Mr. Killburn Scott named the breed after the tribes that bred them. This seems to be a story you've romanticized a part. Of course he was in Siberia and visited one of the Samoyed peoples of Archangels area and likewise he took a dog with him from there. Here I mean that he named the breed after the peoples who, by chance, met in Siberia, but not by the peoples of the majority of the original dogs come from. The majority of the original dogs, the expedition dogs, as well as even some of the directly imported dogs came from an area far more east and from tribes that Mr. Killburn Scott never met. So the claim that he should have named the breed after the nations who raised them is not entirely true. The Samoyed community which kill Mr. Killburn Scott met burn he describes as a reindeer-herding people with mainly reindeer herding dogs. The geographical area of origin of dogs stems from not inhabited exclusively by Samoyed peoples, but also of Ostyak ethnic groups. This is another interesting aspect of the breed name since it was probably both the Samoyed and Ostyak dogs behind the establishment of the breed. The breed would in and of themselves as well have termed Ostyakdog as Samoyeddog. 

The establishment of the currently used western breed name would probably the English influence. By this I mean that the proposition "that the breed is named after the tribes that bred them" is not quite the whole truth. Without the truth is that the breed is named after the type of people that Mr. Killburn Scott of an event encountered during his stay in Siberia.

/Camilla Nyström

Below follows a discussion that continued in the Samoyed history group. There is a lot of interesting stuff to download here.

Jill Wilson
Camilla, are the foundation dogs for the breed in Sweden the same as those in England or are different dogs involved with the establishment of the breed in Scandinavia?

Camilla Nyström
There are some unique origin dogs from Scandinavia but I can not say how well preserved they are in today's lines. The dogs came directly from Siberia, mainly to Norway. Maybe Kristin Nørve or Ingvild Svorkmo Espelien can tell us more about that? =o)

Sarah de Monchy
Before 1908 there was already a formulated standard. In the third edition of the Dutch dog encyclopedia put together by count Van Bylandt, which was published in 1904, the Samoyed as a breed is included. But funny enough in different parts of the encyclopedia as the Samoyed being a primitive breed and not thorough bred for one single purpose can be used for different purposes. And so you find a description in the section for hunting dogs as well as in two other sections. It is also included under different breed names. I cann't look this up now as the enclopedia which consists of two thick books is on the shelf of a bookcase in my house in Amsterdam and I am now in Sweden.

Sarah de Monchy
And a little correction to Camilla Nyström's text: Archangel is not in Siberia but in Russia. Siberia starts at the east side of the Ural mountains. Archangel lies at the coast not far from the Kola peninsula, the most western region where Nenets people can be found, which is also the most eastern part of Lapland, north Scandinavia, homeland of the Sami people formerly named Lapps. Between Archangel and the Ural mountains lay the tundra's with places like Naryan Mar.

Ingvild Svorkmo Espelien
The russians I met used the name Byello-layka for the samoyed (probably not spelled right, though...) - I have not managed to find evidence for a continous line of breeding since the early 1900. My famliy had Samoyeds then and bred them, but the track of these dogs is lost before the 2nd World war.

Tove Horntvedt-Phillips
I would like to share my grandmothers story
Grandfather helped set up the Amundsen expedition to the South Pole
They had a breeding centre in New Zealand for their dogs
Could not bring adult dogs back to Norway but brought some puppies
Grandmother had a male called Giant but no female
She and grandfather asked a fisherman to buy one when next he fished north of Russia. He came back with a female obtained from somewhere on the big pendindula and subsequently the two dogs had at least 3 puppies - I have seen a photo of grandmother driving a horse and small cabriolet with five Samoyeds in the early years of the 1900
Grandfathers name was Edward Michelet
Their dogs must be one of the earliest Samoyeds in Norway
I fell in love myself with the breed 53 years ago and have had one ever since
Now 3 and have bred 13 litters -last litters 9-10-10 puppies!! Male English mum French dad
Female French mum Swedish dad

Tove Horntvedt-Phillips
Would love to find some but grandmother died 34 years ago. My aunt took over but died in her 93. Then her son took over. I asked him years ago but he died suddenly some years back and I do not know where the photo albums ended up now. They are certainly somewhere in Norway but I live in England and France. So difficult to trace. I shall try through my sister but we were a big family and both sister and myself are now 70plus

Sarah de Monchy dis You finns the standard from 1904? I have se that book but I do not understand the language. Maybe You Can out it her i english?

Sarah de Monchy

Coby Rees and Camilla Nyström I have the dog encyclopedia of Van Bylandt in my apartment in Amsterdam. Will be in the Netherlands in the second part of May. I will see if I find the time to scan all the pages on the Samoyed and post them. And all the standards in that book are in three languages: Dutch, French and English. The Cynologic world started very international as a hobby of the upper class in Europe from around 1870.

Above: This is one exampel of a working dog from the past. This picture shows one of Fritjof Nansens last surviving dogs after his journey across Siberia. During his trip, he used samoyed and Ostyak dogs, both dog types are behind todays Samoyeddog. The dog in the picture is taken directly from Siberia and shows a functional working animals.