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Description
A hobby of mine is trying to figure out the history of dog breeds for as far as they can be discerned, but also of landraces, types, deviating or unique strains, lines, etc.

So at some point I became curious about Polynesian dogs. (though I strayed a bit from this geographical region once every while as seen below)
Relatively little has been written about it and sources are a pain to find. Once every while some archive picture with a tiny wee dog in the background pops up, but outside of that information is pretty limited.

The thing which bothered me the most about Polynesian dogs (and any island nations really, regardless of where in the world) was that the dogs are often referred to having been found on a specific island group. e. g.: Sandwich Islands, Cook Islands, Society Islands, etc.
Okay, but which islands within those groups are we talking about? All of them? Some of them?

So I started seeing if I could find mentions of dogs on specific islands. It's honestly still a work in process, often made more complex by old naming conventions, name changes throughout the centuries, and phonetic spelling of places in various languages.
But yeah, so far I've found quite a few. sometimes not even a description of the dogs, but just a mention like "yeah dogs totally lived here" or something like that. It's a start I guess.

Descriptions are often very vague, incomplete or leave a lot of room for interpretation, so naturally what I drew here isn't going to be 100% correct.
I'll list the varieties I drew below, and also mention the islands which had dogs but which weren't described.

Banko Island
Banko Island (part of Indonesia - bit off course whoops) was said to be home to a unique variety of dog which looked like a cross between a wolf and a fox. It was a pretty large animal, with an exceptionally large head and small upright ears.
The last time I looked it up, Banko Island was for sale.

Hawai'i
Another one of the more known varieties of dog, the Poi dog was once a distinct Polynesian type of dog rather than a catch-all term for randomly bred dogs found on the island.
The Poi dog was described as low on the leg, sometimes with crooked legs, flattened skulls, upright ears, long backs, and whip tails. They were mostly kept as a food source and a companion and protector of children. They came in various colors, including shades of red and cream, white, or brindle.

Huaheine
On Huaheine (Society Islands), a small solid white dog existed which had long, silky fur. The fur was often used for fancy decorations.

King George Islands
On the King George Islands (French Polynesia), a dog which resembled those of Tahiti was found. They only differed in that they were solid white and had long silky fur.
(so essentially a long-haired, prick-eared, long-backed, short-legged dog).

Laughlan Island
This island was noted to be nearly devoid of animal life, save for a small, feral type of pig, and a very strange dog of a mouse grey color. The dogs were said to make noises like the meowing of cats rather than barking.

Marquesan Islands
It is believed that the dogs went extinct on the islands before European contact because no mentions of the dogs exist before 1813. From that point onwards however, there are several and they continue straight into the late 19th century. The descriptions of the dogs from 1860 match the petroglyphs found on the islands which depict them. They were said to look like "turnspits" (low-legged, often crooked-legged terriers) or Bassets, with long backs, short crooked legs, upright ears, and either wirehaired or soft and smooth coats. They were mainly kept for food purposes, and were still consumed as of the late 19th century, though meat was consumed only once every while with long periods of time in between each meat-based meal.

New Ireland
Also known as the Poull, these were dogs described to look like miniature dingoes. They had pointed muzzles, upright ears, spindly legs, and a smooth coat of a solid white, cream, brown, or white and black pied color.
They were mainly kept as a food source. The dogs also hunted crabs and fish for themselves.

New Zealand
New Zealand was home to the well-known Kuri, but had a variety of different dog types native to it.
The Kuri was of average size and very shepherd-dog-like in build and appearance and came in a variety of colors, not just the most known white with brown or black markings.
Outside of the Kuri, there was the Kararahé which was described by naturalists to be pretty much identical to the Dingo of Australia both in appearance and habits. They were described as a variety of "wild dog", though it was also used by the native populace as a guard dog.
Then there was a dog described by the explorer Marion. It was either solid white or solid black in color, or black with a white muzzle. They were described as very fox-like in appearance with upright ears, though had short legs, long bodies, and a thick tail. They were unable to bark. No specific locality was given for this variety other than "New Zealand".

Pohnpei
This island had a very peculiar dog native to it. It was solid white in color with black patches of color, a smooth coat, long tail carried low and prick ears, but it was of the size and build of a Great Dane. It lived on the island in a feral state, and no nearby islands had any dogs of this size or type, which is why it was believed they may have been introduced at some point.
At least one of these was brought on board of a Russian vessel.

Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands had dogs native to it, but they weren't described into detail, only how they served as food and how their teeth were used as currency.
A wild dog however was said to be native to the Solomon Islands which was similar to the Dingo. That's the one I drew here.

Samoa
Samoa actually had several different types of dog native to it at one point or another.
One was a reportedly wild dog living in the mountains of Savii and Upolo which was of a lead grey color with large prick ears, and either very short to no hair.
Another variety was some kind of greyhound which the natives did not want to part with, and yet another some type of terrier with red eyes and flesh colored hips.

Tahiti
Tahiti had dogs which varied in size and appearance, with dogs varying from the size of a small bichon to a large spaniel. They were mainly kept as a food animal. They had pointy muzzles, prick ears, large heads, small eyes, and mostly brown and white colors.

Tonga
Tonga was mentioned to have native dogs which became rare towards the end of the 19th century. Some disagreement existed concerning their origin. Tonga natives said they introduced the dogs to both Tonga and Fiji, while European explorers believed the dogs had an Asian origin or even descended from French marooned dogs and dogs introduced from Fiji.
No description was given, but due to the dogs serving as food and Europeans thinking they may be Asian in origin, I just drew them as a pariah type dog which the Polynesian dogs largely resemble anyway.

Vanuatu
I didn't actually find a description of this dog, but an early 20th century photograph of one which came from the island. It looked very similar to the other island dogs and was of the pariah type, with prick ears, a smooth coat, a whip tail, and a solid white color with small patches of color.

Other islands:

Bougainville and Buka island
These islands had the same type of dogs as those of New Ireland, and they greatly resembled the dingo.

Cook Islands
Also known as the Hervey Islands, these were mentioned to have dogs native to them both by Cook and other visitors. They were never described into detail though.

Futuna and Alofi
Also known as the Hoorn or Horne Islands, these were home to native dogs in the past and they were noted to be present upon first contact by Europeans. The islands had close and regular trading relations to Tonga, though these were broken after European arrival. European dogs failed to thrive on the islands, most likely due to the climate.

New Caledonia
These islands were first home to native dogs of a solid red or white and red spotted color, though later became replaced with an ever-growing population of mixed descent feral dogs.

New Britain
New Britain had inland, native dogs which were very occasionally eaten.

Otaheite
Part of the Sandwich Islands group, this island was said to be home to a fairly large white dog pied with reddish brown, upright ears, a fan tail, and some longer fur along the extremities.
Due to their similarity to the Kuri, many speculate that the drawing and description was actually based on the latter and it was a case of mistaken identity.
Other descriptions mention white and pied dogs with a fan tail, but lower on the leg with a longer back and often crooked legs which were bred for food.

Pardy and Elizabeth islands
These are part of New Zealand I believe. (Not to be confused with the Parry and Elizabeth islands of northern Canada, lol.)
These were noted to have prick eared "mongrel" dogs native to them which greatly resembled those of Port Julian.

Vavoo
This island belongs to the Tonga territory. It had dogs native to it, though a local king ordered all of them to be killed during the 19th century (save for the favorite dogs of the chiefs) because they hunted his favorite type of game, the Kalai. They were reportedly never very numerous on the island, and an estimated 50 to 60 were killed, the meat which was eaten by some of the chiefs.

Also known as Puka Puka, Doteuse or the Honden Eilanden, the Dutch name was given after the many, barkless dogs the Dutch explorer Schouten saw when he first discovered the island in 1616. (honden = "dogs" in Dutch). Kotzebüe, who visited in 1816, doubted these claims as he found no dogs there.
The dogs were said to resemble those of Europe and were barkless.

Description
A hobby of mine is trying to figure out the history of dog breeds for as far as they can be discerned, but also of landraces, types, deviating or unique strains, lines, etc.

So at some point I became curious about Polynesian dogs. (though I strayed a bit from this geographical region once every while as seen below)
Relatively little has been written about it and sources are a pain to find. Once every while some archive picture with a tiny wee dog in the background pops up, but outside of that information is pretty limited.

The thing which bothered me the most about Polynesian dogs (and any island nations really, regardless of where in the world) was that the dogs are often referred to having been found on a specific island group. e. g.: Sandwich Islands, Cook Islands, Society Islands, etc.
Okay, but which islands within those groups are we talking about? All of them? Some of them?

So I started seeing if I could find mentions of dogs on specific islands. It's honestly still a work in process, often made more complex by old naming conventions, name changes throughout the centuries, and phonetic spelling of places in various languages.
But yeah, so far I've found quite a few. sometimes not even a description of the dogs, but just a mention like "yeah dogs totally lived here" or something like that. It's a start I guess.

Descriptions are often very vague, incomplete or leave a lot of room for interpretation, so naturally what I drew here isn't going to be 100% correct.
I'll list the varieties I drew below, and also mention the islands which had dogs but which weren't described.

Banko Island
Banko Island (part of Indonesia - bit off course whoops) was said to be home to a unique variety of dog which looked like a cross between a wolf and a fox. It was a pretty large animal, with an exceptionally large head and small upright ears.
The last time I looked it up, Banko Island was for sale.

Hawai'i
Another one of the more known varieties of dog, the Poi dog was once a distinct Polynesian type of dog rather than a catch-all term for randomly bred dogs found on the island.
The Poi dog was described as low on the leg, sometimes with crooked legs, flattened skulls, upright ears, long backs, and whip tails. They were mostly kept as a food source and a companion and protector of children. They came in various colors, including shades of red and cream, white, or brindle.

Huaheine
On Huaheine (Society Islands), a small solid white dog existed which had long, silky fur. The fur was often used for fancy decorations.

King George Islands
On the King George Islands (French Polynesia), a dog which resembled those of Tahiti was found. They only differed in that they were solid white and had long silky fur.
(so essentially a long-haired, prick-eared, long-backed, short-legged dog).

Laughlan Island
This island was noted to be nearly devoid of animal life, save for a small, feral type of pig, and a very strange dog of a mouse grey color. The dogs were said to make noises like the meowing of cats rather than barking.

Marquesan Islands
It is believed that the dogs went extinct on the islands before European contact because no mentions of the dogs exist before 1813. From that point onwards however, there are several and they continue straight into the late 19th century. The descriptions of the dogs from 1860 match the petroglyphs found on the islands which depict them. They were said to look like "turnspits" (low-legged, often crooked-legged terriers) or Bassets, with long backs, short crooked legs, upright ears, and either wirehaired or soft and smooth coats. They were mainly kept for food purposes, and were still consumed as of the late 19th century, though meat was consumed only once every while with long periods of time in between each meat-based meal.

New Ireland
Also known as the Poull, these were dogs described to look like miniature dingoes. They had pointed muzzles, upright ears, spindly legs, and a smooth coat of a solid white, cream, brown, or white and black pied color.
They were mainly kept as a food source. The dogs also hunted crabs and fish for themselves.

New Zealand
New Zealand was home to the well-known Kuri, but had a variety of different dog types native to it.
The Kuri was of average size and very shepherd-dog-like in build and appearance and came in a variety of colors, not just the most known white with brown or black markings.
Outside of the Kuri, there was the Kararahé which was described by naturalists to be pretty much identical to the Dingo of Australia both in appearance and habits. They were described as a variety of "wild dog", though it was also used by the native populace as a guard dog.
Then there was a dog described by the explorer Marion. It was either solid white or solid black in color, or black with a white muzzle. They were described as very fox-like in appearance with upright ears, though had short legs, long bodies, and a thick tail. They were unable to bark. No specific locality was given for this variety other than "New Zealand".

Pohnpei
This island had a very peculiar dog native to it. It was solid white in color with black patches of color, a smooth coat, long tail carried low and prick ears, but it was of the size and build of a Great Dane. It lived on the island in a feral state, and no nearby islands had any dogs of this size or type, which is why it was believed they may have been introduced at some point.
At least one of these was brought on board of a Russian vessel.

Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands had dogs native to it, but they weren't described into detail, only how they served as food and how their teeth were used as currency.
A wild dog however was said to be native to the Solomon Islands which was similar to the Dingo. That's the one I drew here.

Samoa
Samoa actually had several different types of dog native to it at one point or another.
One was a reportedly wild dog living in the mountains of Savii and Upolo which was of a lead grey color with large prick ears, and either very short to no hair.
Another variety was some kind of greyhound which the natives did not want to part with, and yet another some type of terrier with red eyes and flesh colored hips.

Tahiti
Tahiti had dogs which varied in size and appearance, with dogs varying from the size of a small bichon to a large spaniel. They were mainly kept as a food animal. They had pointy muzzles, prick ears, large heads, small eyes, and mostly brown and white colors.

Tonga
Tonga was mentioned to have native dogs which became rare towards the end of the 19th century. Some disagreement existed concerning their origin. Tonga natives said they introduced the dogs to both Tonga and Fiji, while European explorers believed the dogs had an Asian origin or even descended from French marooned dogs and dogs introduced from Fiji.
No description was given, but due to the dogs serving as food and Europeans thinking they may be Asian in origin, I just drew them as a pariah type dog which the Polynesian dogs largely resemble anyway.

Vanuatu
I didn't actually find a description of this dog, but an early 20th century photograph of one which came from the island. It looked very similar to the other island dogs and was of the pariah type, with prick ears, a smooth coat, a whip tail, and a solid white color with small patches of color.

Other islands:

Bougainville and Buka island
These islands had the same type of dogs as those of New Ireland, and they greatly resembled the dingo.

Cook Islands
Also known as the Hervey Islands, these were mentioned to have dogs native to them both by Cook and other visitors. They were never described into detail though.

Futuna and Alofi
Also known as the Hoorn or Horne Islands, these were home to native dogs in the past and they were noted to be present upon first contact by Europeans. The islands had close and regular trading relations to Tonga, though these were broken after European arrival. European dogs failed to thrive on the islands, most likely due to the climate.

New Caledonia
These islands were first home to native dogs of a solid red or white and red spotted color, though later became replaced with an ever-growing population of mixed descent feral dogs.

New Britain
New Britain had inland, native dogs which were very occasionally eaten.

Otaheite
Part of the Sandwich Islands group, this island was said to be home to a fairly large white dog pied with reddish brown, upright ears, a fan tail, and some longer fur along the extremities.
Due to their similarity to the Kuri, many speculate that the drawing and description was actually based on the latter and it was a case of mistaken identity.
Other descriptions mention white and pied dogs with a fan tail, but lower on the leg with a longer back and often crooked legs which were bred for food.

Pardy and Elizabeth islands
These are part of New Zealand I believe. (Not to be confused with the Parry and Elizabeth islands of northern Canada, lol.)
These were noted to have prick eared "mongrel" dogs native to them which greatly resembled those of Port Julian.

Vavoo
This island belongs to the Tonga territory. It had dogs native to it, though a local king ordered all of them to be killed during the 19th century (save for the favorite dogs of the chiefs) because they hunted his favorite type of game, the Kalai. They were reportedly never very numerous on the island, and an estimated 50 to 60 were killed, the meat which was eaten by some of the chiefs.

Also known as Puka Puka, Doteuse or the Honden Eilanden, the Dutch name was given after the many, barkless dogs the Dutch explorer Schouten saw when he first discovered the island in 1616. (honden = "dogs" in Dutch). Kotzebüe, who visited in 1816, doubted these claims as he found no dogs there.
The dogs were said to resemble those of Europe and were barkless.