The Predator prequel movie, Prey, was released on Hulu on Friday, August 5th. The film juxtaposes the Yautja and the hunters of the Comanche tribes on the northern Great Plains of 1719. Amber Midthunder’s Naru was the main character of the novel, but Sarii, her dog, was a great help to Naru.
The hunting team’s canine companion was an indispensable tool at their disposal and during the film he was even involved in many attacks against the Predator. Sarii helps the Native American hunters in their search for a missing child, eventually leading them to the Yautja.
In the film, the devoted friend assists Naru in all her hunting endeavors and later helps her track down the enigmatic hunter i.e. the Predator.
The history of Native American dogs is explored with Sarii in Prey (2022).
While Sarii’s canine character became one of the most endearing aspects of the film Prey, it also provided an intriguing historical connection between Native Americans and their use of native dogs for hunting.
According to a 2009 LiveScience article by Meredith F. Small on human migration to the Americas, people from Asia who crossed the Bering Strait are said to have been the first to bring dogs to the continent. Meanwhile, Ruth Callahan, a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, provided more theoretical details in a study titled Dosementation of Dogs and Their Use on the Great Plains.
According to the above research, the tribes used the dogs to protect camps, to hunt, to pull, or to carry cargo, and, curiously, to guide youth when the tribes moved to other camps. Dogs are said to have descended from wolves. To protect the children during the migration, Ruth suggested tying them to reliable dogs.
The alliance between man and dog, formed more than 14,000 years ago, has stood the test of time.
Meanwhile, a 2013 study reported in The Royal Society claimed:
“Dogs have been used for a wide variety of activities, including hunting, sledding, hauling, protection, companionship, religious and therapeutic purposes, and as a source of food. Dogs were domesticated in America at least 10,000 to 8,500 years ago, making them the only animal domesticated there for a long time.”
Similar studies over the years have mostly indicated that the early specimens of the American dingo (also known as the Carolina dog) descended from the canine species brought by Asian immigrants.
Sarii, the dog in Prey, the 2022 prequel to Predator, is a smash hit across the internet
Numerous tweets expressing their support for the American dingo appeared after Coco the dog portrayed Sarii in Prey. Coco’s age at the time of recording is uncertain, but he reportedly made his acting debut in the film Prey (2022).
Sarii was portrayed by Coco, an American dingo, in Prey (2022). Sarii’s portrayal in the film as an American dingo was historically accurate as the subspecies’ potential ancestors were native to American territory. Dan Trachtenberg, the film’s director, spoke to Dexerto about his experience working with Coco on set. He revealed:
“very stormy. very spirited The question “Will Coco like making a name for herself and doing what she has to do?” is one we always dread on the job site. Even if getting there sometimes required a journey, she always succeeded. It was pretty exciting and when we finally got a great shot with Coco there was a lot of cheering.”
The filmmaker also revealed that George Miller’s 1981 blockbuster Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, in which the title character was accompanied by an Australian Cattle Dog, served as Sarii’s (aka Blue Heeler) influence.