[1][2] While most famous as the progenitor of the Siberian husky (and related to the Alaskan Malamute), Chukotka Sled Dogs almost died out during the Soviet era due to lack of interest in preserving genetically purebred examples and have only recently made a resurgence.

[1] Archeological evidence from before 500 AD indicates that local populations were relying heavily on whales as a food source and that dogsled was the primary means of transporting marine mammals to human settlements.

[5] At this time, "Esquimaux" or "Eskimo" was a common pejorative term for native North American Arctic inhabitants, with many dialectal permutations including Uskee, Uskimay and Huskemaw.

Jafet Lindeberg, his friend and supervisor at Pioneer Mining Company, had brought the puppies from Siberia as a gift for the explorer Roald Amundsen, whom he hoped would use them for his upcoming expedition to the North Pole.

In 1930, the Soviet Union halted the exportation of dogs from Siberia and the American Kennel Club recognized the Siberian Husky as a breed.

[9][5] In the 1950s and 60s, improvements in infrastructure and mechanized travel coupled with a prohibition on subsistent whaling resulted in the collapse of indigenous sled dog populations in Chukotka.