The First Domestication: Examination of the relationship between indigenous Homo Sapiens of America and Australia and Canis lupus

We examine relationships between humans and wolves in North America and Australia based on the stories about and from Indigenous peoples, which indicate respect for and recognition of the ecological roles of wolves, which probably results from an ancient kinship. Europeans identify more with the domesticated form of wolves, domestic dogs, which are kept by millions of people in North America and are the one species domesticated by virtually every culture on the planet. Canis lupus was the first species domesticated by humans, because wolves share a similar family structure to humans and accept joining human groups more easily than species that do not live in large extended social groups, such as the coyote. Humans learned early in their evolutionary history of benefits of sharing their lives and settlements with wolves, which suggest that wolves may even have had a role in shaping human social structures and ecological niches.