The skin cover of the north Alaskan whaling umiak is made of bearded seal or of walrus hide, which has to be split, because of its weight. Occasionally polar-bear skins are used. Lashings of the frame are of whalebone, sinew, and hide. The skins are treated with seal oil and caribou fat, and when the whaling umiak is taken ashore it is usually stored on a stage to keep dogs from destroying the skin cover. In travelling, however, it is sometimes propped upside down on one edge and used as a shelter. In winter the skin is removed and stored; when it is necessary to be replaced on the frame, the skin cover is soaked in sea water for three to five days, after which it is laced on in the usual manner, dried, and then thoroughly oiled. Low, rather wide sledges are sometimes built to carry the umiak overland, or on the ice, but often the regular sledge is used. The boats cannot be sledged against a strong gale because of their windage.

The north Alaskan umiak is usually propelled by paddles, like the Chukchi umiak. These paddles range in length from about 50 to 76 inches, and as a rule have a rather long narrow blade, though a short and wide blade is occasionally found, particularly at Kotzebue Sound and Point Hope. Oars for the Alaskan umiaks range in length from 6 feet 3 inches to 8 feet 6 inches, and also have rather long narrow blades, 3 to 4 inches wide.

The three examples of Alaskan umiaks serve to show the features that are most common in the area. However, models in the U.S. National Museum suggest that there was a greater variety of form and appearance in the past. One model shows the gunwale ends lengthened by pieces shaped very much like the projecting gunwales of the Malay prah. Some show extreme rake at the bow like that of the Koryak umiak but without the rounded gunwale ends. It is impossible to estimate how far the western Alaska umiak model has been affected by the early Russian traders in this area, but it is quite certain that the use of oars can be traced to this influence. The full-sized umiaks, and models and photographs, from the Bering Strait area give no real clues to the possible parentage or direction of spread of the Alaskan umiak types. Occasional details in fittings or construction, such as the gunwale extensions mentioned, seem to duplicate details in primitive Asiatic craft, but the evidence is too scanty to allow a hypothesis based on design and construction alone.

No models or photographs have been found of the extinct types of umiaks once used in the northern part of Hudson Bay and the sketches of early explorers are too crude to allow useful discussion. From such slight evidence it is impossible to say whether the umiaks in this area were of the western or eastern type.

The drawing of a Baffin Island umiak on page 188 is based on measured dimensions of a single boat and upon a small model in the U.S. National Museum. This model conforms in most respects with the drawings and sketches made by Boas.[5] The umiak is a small one, 24 feet 7¼ inches long, 5 feet 8⅜ inches extreme beam, 3 feet 10 inches wide over the chines, and 1 foot 10½ inches deep. These measurements show that the bottom of this type of umiak is wider than that of western types. The bottom is flat, and sheer and camber are both slight. The stem and stern are practically upright and are not formed of knees; rather, they are made by fitting the post into the keelson with an open tenon. Instead of the carved block headboards seen in the Alaskan umiaks, the Baffin Island boat has very wide headboards, and these are tenoned over the posts as in the Asiatic Koryak umiaks. The details of the rest of the framing are not dissimilar from those of the Alaskan umiaks, except that the Baffin Island umiak does not employ any short frames in the end of the hull. The framework is rather heavy and the square-ended appearance of this class of umiak makes it appear more clumsy than is actually the case. The side battens and risers stop short of the posts, and the risers used in this umiak are notched into the side frames, whereas in the Alaskan umiak only the lashings of the riser are let into the frames. The Baffin Island umiaks carry a square sail lashed to a yard, and the mast is placed right up in the eyes of the boat. Boas shows that some of these umiaks have rudders hung on metal pintles and gudgeons, a result of the influence of the white traders, whalers, and sealers who had operated in these waters long before Boas made his investigations. The umiak is rowed in the usual manner, using thong loops as tholes, and is usually steered with an oar or long paddle.

The ends of the gunwales of the Baffin Island umiak are cut off a little inside the forward edges of the headboards, making this the only American type that does not have projecting gunwales at bow and stern. The projection of the gunwales undoubtedly serve a practical purpose in lifting the boat out of water, but obviously this is of minor importance. Probably the real reason for these projections is that they originally made building easier by providing space for a retaining lashing when the gunwales were being bent. As the headboards became wider and the spring of the gunwales, in plain view, became less acute, less strain was put on the lashings of the gunwales at the headboards, but by then the projecting gunwales and their retaining lashings were being utilized in lashing on the skin covering at bow and stern. Thus, beginning as a practical solution of a building problem, the projecting gunwales may have eventually become a traditional tribal feature of the umiak in many localities.

The drawing of an eastern Greenland umiak on page 189 was made from measurements taken off during World War II and checked against dimensions, photos, and descriptions of boats from the same territory. In general design and in construction this umiak differs little from umiaks of the southwest coast of the same island. The eastern Greenland boats are, on the average, much smaller than those on the southwest coast due to the more severe ice conditions met in the east. Some of the Greenland umiaks have flat bottoms like the Baffin Island boats, but the V-bottom appears to be more common. The chief characteristics of the Greenland umiaks are the slight rake in the bow and stern, the moderate sheer and camber, and the conservative flare of the sides. The drawing shows the important structural details seen in most of the Greenland umiaks. The floor timbers are on edge instead of on the flat as in Alaskan boats and this seems to be characteristic of all eastern umiak construction, as is the arching of the underside of the floors. Another common structural detail is the passing of the risers through the side frames; in some, however, the risers lie in deep notches fashioned in the inside of the frames. The eastern Greenland umiaks generally have rather wide headboards and somewhat more projection to the gunwales. Like the Baffin Island umiaks, the side battens and risers of the Greenland boats are cut short of the posts, but the ends of these members are commonly supported by frames placed very far fore and aft, and often these frames form brace-supports to the headboard, as in the drawing. The headboards of these umiaks are always tenoned over the top of the posts. Some of the Greenland umiaks have curved side frames which cause the side battens to form knuckles in the skin cover. The eastern Greenland umiaks rarely if ever carry sail, but this is common on the western and southwestern coasts, where a square-sail on a yard is popular, with the mast usually well forward. Hans Egede in 1729[6] found Greenland umiaks fitted with sails of seal intestines and also saw boats about 10 fathoms (60 feet) long; another early writer, Crantz[6] states that umiaks were commonly 36, 48, and even 54 feet long. In the larger umiaks two side battens were employed. The thongs and brace-frames seen in many Alaskan umiaks do not seem to have been used in eastern waters, the use of bracing-frames from stem or stern post to the gunwales probably serving the purpose, but it is noticeable that pictures of Greenland umiaks preserved in some European museums show that the hulls have a tendency to twist not seen in Alaskan boats. The old Greenland umiaks were built with lashed joints combined with pegging, or treenailing. In recent times the use of pegging has increased and iron fastenings are now quite common. Rigid fastenings of the peg and metal types are used only in scarphs and in securing the chines and keelson to the floors timbers, as in the modern Alaskan umiaks.

The Kayak

The Eskimo hunting boat, the kayak, is more widely employed in the Arctic than the umiak, and its variations in model, construction, and appearance are more distinct and numerous. The kayak is a long, usually narrow, decked canoe and is commonly very well finished. In Alaska a few undecked skin-covered canoes, used in rivers, are built on kayak proportions, but the model of these is quite different from that of the Alaskan sea-kayaks; the river canoes are V or flat bottomed, much like the Greenland kayaks. A similar kayak-type canoe, flat bottomed but birch-bark covered, is used by the Yukon Indians. Undoubtedly a number of such types once existed but most of these became extinct before any attempt was made to preserve models or canoes in museums.

Few Eskimo tribes are without kayaks, only those living inland or where the sea is rarely open are unacquainted with these hunting craft. In very recent times some tribes have ceased to use kayaks, employing purchased canoes instead. The kayaks of the Asiatic Eskimos, and those from the Mackenzie to Hudson Bay, are now crudely built and of inferior design. Both the Greenland and the Alaskan kayaks are highly developed. The Greenland kayaks are undoubtedly given more intricate equipment in the way of weapons and accessories than the Alaskan craft, but it would be difficult to decide which is superior in construction and design.

The basic models used in Eskimo kayaks are the multi-chine, the V-bottom and the flat bottom. The multi-chine models, except for the river kayak-canoe just mentioned, which probably should be classed as a true open canoe rather than a kayak, are employed throughout Alaskan waters. The geographic boundaries of each basic hull form are rather ill-defined. The multi-chine kayak appears as far eastward as the northwest coast of Hudson's Bay. In this area, however, a V-bottom kayak, now extinct, seems to have been in use on Southampton Island. A flat-bottom kayak, with the chines snied off much like a Japanese sampan, is in use in Hudson Strait, along the shores of Baffin Island and Labrador; a flat-bottom kayak shaped like a sharpie is used on the northwest coast of northern Greenland; and a V-bottom hull is employed on the eastern, southwest, and south coasts of Greenland.

There are variations in each of the basic models, of course, as the tribal designs used vary a good deal. On the whole, the kayak is very carefully built to meet the local conditions of hunting, sea, and land or ice portaging. As a result, some types are far more seaworthy than others and the weight of hull varies a great deal, even within a basic model. The appearance of all the kayaks models, by tribal classifications, show the influence of tradition and, in many cases display, in either shape or decoration, a tribal totem or mark.

The basic requirements in nearly all kayaks are the same; to paddle rapidly and easily, to work against strong wind and tide or heavy head sea, to be maneuverable, and to be light enough to be readily lifted from the water and carried. The low freeboard required makes decking a necessity. In general, the kayak is designed to carry one paddler, but in Alaska are kayaks that can carry two or three paddlers, each in a manhole or cockpit, or a paddler and one or two passengers. It is generally conceded that the kayak built to carry three in this fashion is the result of Russian influence. Nunivak Island kayaks had large manholes that carried two people back-to-back. Where it is desirable to portage the kayak over ice or land for a great distance the boat is very light and is capable of being carried like a large basket, by inserting one arm under the decking at the manhole or cockpit, but where such a requirement is not an important factor, the kayaks are often rather large and heavy. In the majority of types, the degree of seaworthiness obtained is very great. Some types are built very narrow and sharp-ended; these usually require a skillful paddler. Others are wide and more stable, requiring less skill to use. In areas where severe weather is commonly met, the kayaks are usually very strong and well-designed. Where ice or other conditions do not allow a heavy sea to make up, the kayaks are often light, narrow and very low sided—more like racing shells than working canoes. Most Alaskan kayaks come stern to the wind when paddling stops, but most of the eastern craft come head to the wind. Nearly every type has been developed by long periods of trial and error, to produce the greatest efficiency in meeting the conditions of use in a given locality. This has made the kayak a more complicated and more developed instrument of the chase than is to be found in any other form of hunting canoe, due in part, perhaps, to the great craftsmanship of the Eskimo.

The construction of the kayak follows a basic plan. In all kayaks the gunwales are the main strength members, longitudinally. A few designs employ, in addition, a stiff keel member, but most have rather slender and light longitudinal batten systems having little longitudinal strength value, but which in combination with very light frames, give transverse support to the skin cover. Even in the flat-bottom models, the kayaks, unlike the umiaks, depend entirely upon the gunwales for longitudinal strength. The frames are bent and in one piece from gunwale to gunwale in all but a few flat-bottom kayaks, of the sampan cross section; these employ bent frames. The longitudinal batten systems show great variety. The eastern kayaks of the flat-bottom and V-bottom models have three longitudinal battens (including the keel or keelson) in addition to the heavy and often deep gunwale members; these are supported at bow and stern either by stem and stern post of shaped plank on edge as in the Greenland V-bottom kayaks, or by light extensions of the keelson and small end-blocks as in the northern Greenland, Baffin Island, and Labrador types. The multi-chine types of the western Arctic have from seven to eleven longitudinals (including the keelson) in addition to the gunwales. In some of these kayaks there are no stem and stern posts, the battens and keelson coming together at a blunt point in small head blocks; but many types have rather intricate stem-pieces, carved from blocks of wood, and plank-on-edge stern posts. The Asiatic kayaks, curiously enough, exhibit the construction of both eastern and western Arctic kayaks, the crude, small Koryak kayak having a 3-batten V-bottom, while the Chukchi kayak is built like the kayaks on the east side of the Bering Strait. The decking of kayaks is of very light construction; usually there are two heavy thwarts to support the manhole and from one to three light thwarts afore and abaft these. The Alaskan kayaks from Kotzebue Sound southward have ridged decks supported by fore-and-aft ridge-battens from the ends of the hull to the manhole. Elsewhere the deck of the kayak is flat athwartship except at the manhole, where there is some crown or ridging to increase the depth inside the boat, particularly forward of the manhole. In the majority of these kayaks short fore-and-aft battens are laid on the thwarts forward of the manhole to support the skin cover in its sweep upward to the manhole. The transverse frames do not come into contact with the skin cover, to avoid transverse ridges being formed in it; and the longitudinal battens which support the skin cover form longitudinal ridges, or chines, in it.

The timber used in the Eskimo kayak building is usually driftwood. Fir and pine, spruce or willow are available in much of the Arctic for longitudinals. Bent frames are commonly of willow. Scarphing in the framework of kayaks was far less common than in umiaks; the scarphs when found are only in the gunwales. All scarphs are of the hooked type and are usually quite short (the hooked scarph is the best one when the fastenings are lashings). Sinew is generally used in all lashings and for sewing material. The heads of frames are commonly tenoned into the underside of the gunwales and are then either lashed or pegged with treenails of wood or bone to hold them in place. In the joining of frames and longitudinals, the lashings are commonly individual, but in some types of kayak continuous lashings (connections in series using one length of sinew) are occasionally found. Where possible, the lashings are turned in so that the turns cross right and left. In some parts of the framework two pieces of timber are "sewn" together; holes are bored along the edges to be joined and a lacing run in with continuous over-and-over turns. These laced joints are common in the stems of the Alaskan kayaks. Gunwales and battens are most commonly lashed through holes bored in them and in the bow and stern members. Care is taken that all lashings are flush on the outside, so that the skin cover is smooth and chafing will be avoided. Bone knobs at stem and stern heads are used in the Coronation Gulf kayaks in the west and in many Greenland models. Bone stem bands are more widely employed, however, being in use at Kodiak and Nunivak Islands, in the Aleutians, at Norton Sound in Alaska, and in Greenland and Baffin Island in the east. It is probable that these bands were once in wider use than thus indicated. Strips of bone are also used to prevent chafing at gunwale in paddling and for strengthening scarphs in the manhole rim.

It will be noted that all Eskimo skin boats have a complete framing system, which is first erected and then fitted with the skin cover. This is a method of construction very different from that of the birch-bark canoes of the Indians living to the southward of the American Eskimo. The birch-bark canoe is built by forcing a framing system into an assembled cover and holding it in place there by a rigid gunwale structure, to which the bark cover is lashed. This basic structure is used even in the Alaskan area, where there are birch-bark canoes that in hull form and proportions strongly resemble the flat-bottom kayak. The basic difference between the two craft is illustrated by the fact that whereas the removal of the skin cover of the kayak leaves the frame intact, the removal of the bark cover of the kayak-like birch-bark canoes would result in the collapse of the framework, except for the gunwale-thwart structure or, in a few, the chine-floor structure. Because of this basic difference the superficial resemblance of some Indian bark canoes to kayaks has no meaningful relationship to the possibility of the influence of the kayak on the bark canoe, or vice-versa. Some Indian tribes have in fact built skin-covered canoes, as will be seen in chapter 8, but the framework and structural system used is always that of the bark canoe, never that of the Eskimo skin boat. Nor is there evidence that the Eskimo ever used the bark canoe frame-structure in their kayaks or umiaks. Hence, in spite of contact between these peoples, the watercraft of each remains basically different in structural design.

The almost universal method of constructing the kayak is first to shape and fasten together the gunwales and thwarts, with stem and stern pieces fitted as required, then to fit and place a few transverse frames to control the shape of the craft. Next the longitudinals are fitted and, finally, the remaining transverse frames are put in place. In some types the manhole rim is now fitted but in others the manhole rim is put on after the skin cover is in place, as some kayaks (the Alaskan) have the skin cover placed over the manhole rim and others have it passed under. The skin cover is stretched and sewn over the frame and is rarely secured to it by lashings except at the manhole. Due to the shape of bow and stern, in some types, difficult and tedious sewing is required to stretch the skins over the ends of the hull. Much of the sewing is completed after the skins are stretched over the hull and held by temporary lacings. The blind seam is used but in many kayaks the lap is very short, about ⅜ inch being common.

The covering most widely used in Alaskan kayaks was the bearded seal skin and with the Aleuts the skin of the sea lion was the most popular. Throughout the eastern Arctic seal skin was the preferred covering though caribou skin was occasionally used by the caribou Eskimos in the central Arctic. The heavy, thick hides were first piled and "sweated," until the hair became loose then the skins were scraped until they were clean. They were thin and light and could be air dried and stored until ready for use. The skins had to be well soaked before being stretched over the frame of a kayak or umiak. When dried out on the boat frame they were oiled in the usual manner. It is claimed by the Eskimos that walrus skin, though strong, is not as good as the bearded seal or the sea-lion skin for boat covers, as the latter two held the oil longer and did not become water soaked as quickly as the walrus hide.

The paddler's seat in most kayaks consists of a portion of heavy skin with fur attached. Sometimes this is supported by a few short, thin battens laced loosely together. These, and the fur seat sometimes are as long as the paddler's legs. No back rest is known to be used. The seat, and any batten supports, are loosely fitted and are not part of the permanent kayak structure.

The kayak is usually entered by floating the boat near a stone or low bank and stepping into it with one foot, which has first been carefully wiped. With the body steadied by placing the paddle upright on the shore, or outside the kayak, the other foot is then wiped and placed in the boat. The paddler then slides downward and works his legs under the deck until he is seated with his hips jammed into the manhole rim. Getting out of a kayak is almost the reverse of this process. Great care is exercised to avoid getting dirt into a kayak, as it might chafe the hide cover. Hence the care in wiping the feet before entering. The practice of entering the boat ashore and throwing man and kayak into the water, undoubtedly very rare, is said to have been practiced not only at King Island but in some parts of Greenland. Both Alaskan and Greenland hunters often lashed two kayaks together, in order to rest in rough weather. Many kayakers using the narrow models laid the paddle athwartships across the deck to help steady the kayak when resting or throwing a weapon; this is basically the same as holding the sculls of a racing shell in the water, to steady the boat. Lashing two kayaks side by side, or parallel with spacing rods, was commonly done to enable the craft to ferry persons or cargo across streams. Some Alaskan Eskimo thus converted kayaks into catamarans and then fitted a mast and sail, but such an arrangement was never used in rough water.

The methods used by a paddler to right a capsized kayak, without aid and while he was still in the cockpit, have aroused the interest of many canoeists. It was used by the King Islanders, some of the Aleuts, and the Greenlanders, who at times, it is said, would deliberately capsize their kayak to avoid the blow of a heavy breaking sea, then right it when the sea had passed. The Eskimo are reported to be gradually losing this skill, but in late years European and American kayakers have learned this method, called the "kayak roll," of righting a decked canoe with paddler in place. It follows in general the Greenland method. In the Appendix (p. 223) is an illustrated description of the kayak roll, supplied by John Heath.

Traditionally, the weapons used by kayakers were darts and harpoons, the bow not being employed, since wetting would damage the weapon. Various forms were used, and many were thrown with the "throwing-stick" to increase the range and force. An inflated bladder or skin was often carried to buoy the harpoon line and tire the game. Bolas and knives were also carried. All eastern kayaks appear to have been propelled with the double-blade paddle, but folklore suggests that the single-blade kayak paddle may have once been used. Greenland kayaks have been reported as carrying a small square sail, but this was actually a hunting screen, or camouflage, to hide the paddler and cause the seal to mistake the canoe for a cake of ice. It was a 19th-century addition, as was a fin attached to the kayak to counteract the effect of the screen in a beam wind. Any effect it had as a sail in a kayak was unintentional, of course: it was dismounted in strong winds or when not required for hunting.

Shown above is the plan of an Asiatic Koryak kayak. This type, used in the Sea of Okhotsk and on the Siberian coast of Bering Sea, is the only distinctive Asiatic type; the Chukchi of the Siberian side of Bering Strait uses a kayak that is on the same model as the one found at Norton Sound, in Alaska. The Chukchi kayak differs only in the ends, which are wholly functional and without the handgrips that distinguish the Alaskan type. There is also a crude Chukchi river kayak, covered with reindeer skin, but its design is not represented in an American museum.

The Koryak kayak is a hunting boat well designed for use in protected waters, but is rather weakly built. In general form it is much like the hunting and fowling skiffs formerly used in America. The plan idealizes the kayak somewhat, for the boat is crude in finish. The only example available for study, in the American Museum of Natural History, is in poor condition. The hull is short, wide and shallow, rather V in cross section, and there is a slight camber in the deck. The length of the Koryak kayak rarely exceeds 10 feet, the beam is from 24 to 26 inches, and the depth between 8 and 9½ inches. The manhole rim is of large diameter, high and without rake. The gunwales, although rather slight, are the strength members. The keelson, a thin, flat batten, forms the stem and stern posts; it is stiffened amidships by a short batten lashed inside the frames. The chine battens are also slight and do not reach the stem and stern. The frames are widely spaced and are wide and thin, in one piece from gunwale to gunwale. There are but two thwarts; these are strong and support the manhole rim, showing inside the cockpit. Two thin longitudinal battens afore and abaft the manhole, support the deck, in addition to a light centerline ridge-batten. On the kayak illustrated the outboard battens appear to have had additional support at one time from two pairs of stanchions standing on frames at the chines, with their heads secured to the deck battens; a pair being placed before and abaft the manhole. A small plank seat appears to have been used and the boat was propelled by two short one-hand paddles, secured to the manhole rim by lanyards made of thongs; these would be only efficient in smooth water. The cover is made from bearded seal skins and passes under the manhole rim being sewn to the rim on the inside at the top, by coarse sewing passed through holes bored in the manhole rim. There are two thong lifting handles or loops, one at bow and stern. This kayak is the most primitive of all types and the smallest as well. The Koryaks are not daring canoemen and do not venture into rough water. Nevertheless, this type of kayak is said to be fast and highly maneuverable.

Compared to the Koryak, the Alaskan kayak is tremendously advanced. The Aleuts are daring and accomplished kayakers, and their craft are among the finest in the Arctic. The Kodiak Island kayak of 1885, shown above, represents one type used in this area and that from Unalaska, shown below, the other. The Kodiak boat is rather short and wide, measuring 15 feet 1 inch in length, 29 inches beam and 14 inches depth to ridge batten of the deck just forward of the manhole. The boat has the humped sheer found in many Alaskan kayaks and is intended for use in stormy waters. Its large manhole, also a feature of the Nunivak Island kayak, permits two persons to be carried, one facing forward to paddle and the passenger facing aft, or the space can be used to carry cargo. The drawing shows the construction and requires no detailed explanation. Kayaks from the Aleutian Islands eastward to Kodiak use rod battens; only the gunwales and keelson are rectangular in section. The frames are thin flat strips bent in one piece from gunwale to gunwale. The ridge-batten of the deck is laminated, in two pieces. The deck beams and thwarts are notched into the ridge-batten and lashed. The bow piece is carved from a block, and the longitudinals are lashed to it, each in a carefully fitted notch. The sternpost is formed of a plank. The skin cover passes over the manhole rim and a line passed outside the rim holds the skin down enough to form a breakwater. The skin cover is sewn to the inside lower edge of the rim, thus covering it almost completely.

The Unalaska kayak of 1894 (below) is a better known type. This design is used throughout the Aleutians and on the adjacent mainland as far east as Prince William Sound. It was also employed in the Pribilof Islands and at St. Matthew, having been used by Aleuts engaged in sealing expeditions there. All kayaks of this type do not have the same bow and stern profiles as the example; some have the bifid bow built with the portion above the slit arched upward higher than the outer stem-piece and so more prominent; there are also minor variations in the stern. The shape of the hull, however, is consistently maintained throughout the area in which this type is used. Though the deck is ridged, it is relatively low compared to that of the Kodiak kayak, and the thwarts supporting the manhole are heavily arched and in one piece from gunwale to gunwale. The construction is like that of the Kodiak kayak, but the gunwales and upper longitudinal battens, instead of meeting the stern post, end on a crosspiece well inside the stern to give the effect of a transom stern. However, some Aleut kayaks have the normal sharp stern after the fashion of the Kodiak kayak, but without the projecting tail or handgrip, and nearly all have two thwarts between the after manhole thwart and the stern and three forward of the fore manhole thwart. The skin cover passes over the manhole rim as in the Kodiak type. The bow block is sometimes built up of two blocks sewn or laced together. Strengthening pieces of light plank are sometimes fitted from the bow block aft; these are laced to the top inside edge of the gunwales and pinned to the stem block to form long breast-hooks. In some kayaks with the square stern, only the gunwale is supported by the crosspiece on the stern, the two battens on each side being supported by the last frame only, about 6 inches inboard of the crosspiece.

This type of kayak is the only one known to have been built with more than one manhole. The two-hole kayak is an Aleut development used in whaling and sea-otter hunting, so far as is known; the paddler sits in the after manhole. Measurements of a two-hole kayak in the United States National Museum show it to be 20 feet 7¼ inches long, 23 inches beam, and 9½ inches deep to top of gunwale. The manholes are about 46 inches apart edge to edge and the foremost is about 8 feet from the bow.

The three-holer, commonly believed to have been introduced by the Russians, was used by Russian officers, inspectors, and traders in their explorations and travels on the Alaskan coast. One of these boats measures 24 feet 8⅜ inches long, 30 inches beam, and 10½ inches deep to top of gunwale. The center manhole is commonly larger in diameter than the other two and is used for either a passenger or cargo. The fore edge of the fore manhole is 8 feet to 8½ feet from the bow and the other manholes are from 4 to 4½ feet apart edge to edge. A large example of this class of kayak measures 28 feet 1½ inches long, 38½ inches beam and 12 inches deep to top of gunwale. Probably none exceed 30 feet in length. Both the single-and the double-blade paddle are used by the Aleuts, but the double blade is preferred in hunting. The paddle blades are rather narrow and leaf-shaped, with pointed tips.

The plan of a kayak from Nunivak Island (about due north of Unalaska and roughly halfway to St. Lawrence Island) is shown on page 198 (fig. 180). This type of kayak is obviously related to that of Kodiak Island, for it has approximately the same lines and proportions. Only the profiles of bow and stern exhibit marked differences. Perhaps the most striking feature of the Nunivak kayak is its bow, which might represent a seal's head; a hole through the whole bow structure forms the eyes and also serves functionally as a lifting handle. The stern profile is simpler than that used in the Kodiak kayaks. The example shows the mythological water monster Palriayuk, a painted totem that once distinguished the Nunivak kayaks; missionary influence has long since erased such decorations from Alaskan kayaks. Whereas the Kodiak kayak has eleven battens (including the keelson) in its frame, the Nunivak kayak has nine, and all the longitudinals in it are rectangular in section. Differences in dimensions of Nunivak and Kodiak kayaks are remarkably slight, the greatest length reported for either type is about 15 feet 9 inches and the greatest beam is about 32 inches. Both types have a large manhole and carry a passenger back-to-back with the paddler. The single-bladed paddle is used. The kayak is sometimes transported over ice by means of a short sledge, by one man, but it is otherwise rather heavy to portage. Highly regarded by all who have had contact with it, this is generally considered one of the safest and most useful of the Alaskan kayaks.

King Island, at the entrance to Bering Strait, is the home of the kayak shown on page 198 (fig. 181). The King Islanders are noted as skillful kayakers and their kayak generally follows the Nunivak pattern, but is narrower and more V-shaped in cross section, and the stem and stern are also distinctly different. The King Island craft has a bold upturned stem ending in a small birdlike head, with a small hole through it to represent eyes and to serve for a lifting grip; the stern is low and without the projections seen in the Nunivak type. The fitting of the cockpit rim of the U.S. National Museum kayak is unusual; the rim is not supported by thwarts but rather is made part of the skin cover and therefore can be moved. This seemed to be intentional, for there is no evidence of broken or missing members, but John Heath considers this not typical. A watertight jacket with the skirt laced to the manhole rim is worn by the kayaker to prevent swamping. This practice was common among Eskimo working in stormy waters. A warm-weather alternate was a wide waistband, with its top supported by straps over the shoulders and the bottom laced to the manhole.

A somewhat similar but slightly smaller kayak was used at Cape Espenberg; in these the upturned bow ended in a simple point. The sterns were alike in both types. The Cape Espenberg kayak had a fixed cockpit rim however, as in the Nunivak type. Both types employed the single-bladed paddle.

A little to the South, in Norton Sound, the long narrow kayak shown on page 198 (fig. 182) is popular. These are somewhat like the Nunivak kayaks in cross section but with far less beam. They have a slight reverse, or humped, sheer and are very sharp ended. The peculiar handgrips at bow and stern are characteristic, though the shape and size of the grips vary among the villages; the style shown is that of St. Michaels. A single-bladed paddle is used. This type is very fast under paddle, but requires a skillful user in rough water. The Norton Sound kayaks are very well finished and strongly built.

From Kotzebue Sound, at Cape Krusenstern, along the north coast of Alaska to near the Mackenzie Delta, the kayaks are very low in the water, long, narrow, and spindle-shaped at the ends. They are distinguished by a very strong rake in the manhole rim, with an accompanying prominent swell in the deck forward of the manhole. They are built with seven longitudinal battens (including the keelson) in addition to the gunwales. In several examples seen, the latter are sometimes slightly channelled on the inside, but this may have been the result of shrinkage in the pith of the timber used and not intentional. These kayaks are very light and easily carried. Both single-and double-blade paddles are employed; the single blade is usually used in travelling.

On page 201 are shown a kayak from Cape Krusenstern (fig. 186) and one from Point Barrow (fig. 187). It is reported that these types have now gone out of use. In these boats no stem or stern posts exist, these usually being replaced by small end blocks. The only important difference in the two types shown is in the style of crowning the deck, which is ridged in the Cape Krusenstern kayak but more rounded in the Point Barrow kayak. In spite of their narrow beam and obviously unstable form, these kayaks are said to have been used by rather unskillful paddlers. In general, they were not employed in rough weather but were seaworthy in skillful hands.

Though the North Alaska type of kayak, as illustrated by the Point Barrow model (fig. 187), may be said to represent the structural design of kayaks to the eastward as far as Foxe Basin, the Mackenzie Delta kayaks are on an entirely different model. Due to migration of numerous groups of Eskimo to this area in the last seventy years, the design of kayaks here has undergone a great change. In figure 188 appears the plan of a modern Mackenzie Delta kayak.

The design is marked by a very narrow flat bottom or a wide keel combined with the V-bottom. These boats are well-built and are light and graceful. The wide keel is formed by a thick plank keelson which narrows at bow and stern and is bent up to form the stem and stern. The chine pieces run fore and aft and are lashed to the stem and stern thus formed. The gunwales are about ¾ by 1⅛ inches. The frames are about ¼ by ⅝ inch bent in a strongly U-shaped form, with their ends tenoned into the bottom of the gunwales. The keelson is only about ⅜ inch thick and the chines are rather wide thin battens; about ⁵⁄₁₆ by 1¼ inch. Some kayaks have an additional batten in the sides above the chines. The deck is slightly ridged for nearly the length of the boat. The stem and stern are carried up above the sheer to form prominent posts; some builders carry them higher than shown. The construction is neat and light and the boat is very easily paddled. Its narrow beam makes it somewhat treacherous, however, in unskilled hands. A double-bladed paddle is generally used with this kayak. While the form appears to vary little among individuals of this class, the construction varies, particularly in the number and dimensions of the longitudinals. Frames are spaced rather consistently 5 to 6 inches apart.