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Gear for a sled-dog team

The gear for a sled-dog team includes a dog harness, a towline, and a bridle. With this gear, an Inuk can travel by dogsled over sea ice and snow-covered land.

Harness

All the dogs of the team wear a harness (anu) to pull the sled (qamutiik) and its load. Each harness is made to measure, taking into account each dog's characteristics, movements, size, and role in the team. Each dog has a shoulder strap of bearded-seal leather and two other X-shaped straps on its chest for optimal traction. A towline is attached to its harness through a half-moon-shaped piece of caribou antler (sanniruujaq).

Towline

The towline has an ivory toggle at one end and a loop at the other. The loop is passed through the sanniruujaq of the harness, while the bridle (which joins the dog to the sled) is passed through the ivory toggle. Each dog is attached to the sled by its own towline.

Bridle

The bridle is the backbone of the dog-team. It not only attaches the dogs to the qamutiik but also spreads the sled's load across all of them. It is attached to the front of the sled on both the right and the left through a bone pin in a loop. On its other end, the bridle has a loop and a half-moon-shaped piece that can be opened to insert the towlines and then closed.

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Picture gallery

  • A set of leather and bone items. Left: a leather harness with a wide strap and straps forming an X. A half-moon-shaped piece is attached to the end of the harness. Above the harness: a towline, rolled up, with a loop at one end and a bone toggle at the other. Right: a leather bridle, rolled up, with several loops, two small bone pieces, and a half-moon-shaped piece attached to one of its ends.

    Dog harness, towline, and bridle

    Dimensions: Lengths harness : 100 cm, towline : 330 cm, bridle : 450 cm

Video capsule

Learn what Natalino Piugattuk has to say about the harness, one of the components of this set

Natalino Piugattuk: My name is Natalino Piugattuk. I'm from Igloolik.

I was born just recently, well a while ago now, in 1948.

I was born on September 18th. I have been around since,

and I'm now 74 years old. I don't know a whole lot in Inuktitut,

but I do know a bit. I have forgotten

some terms pertaining to Inuit ways.

I'm going to speak about the dog harness. When

people see a dog harness, they think that is all it is.

There are different terms, like this is the anu [in inuktitut] and it has an urnguaq [in inuktitut].

This is the urnguaq. It has a sakiaguti [in inuktitut], [Natalino goes over each part of the harness from the back to the front].

It's made to fit here [Natalino points again at the back of the harness which has a short lanyard and a half-moon-shaped object attached at the end], so it has a tasiguuti [in inuktitut].

It has a tasiguuti, so it has a sanniruujaq [in inuktitut]. This sanniruujaq is made from an antler.

This harness is made from bearded sealskin.

The whole thing is called the anu.

The parts are named urnguaq, sakiaguti, and aariaguti [in inuktitut]. These are the terms that go with it.

It is how it is. The skin is no longer going to be used at all times.

We now use materials. This may be one of the last ones.

I still have some at home, but we now rarely

see them made like that anymore. This is

all I have to say about it. This little anu is known as an anu by anybody who sees it.

It's known to everyone, and especially to people

who use them, maybe unknown to those who don't use them.

This is what this is. Thank you.

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