theories should be accepted with caution, however, 

 as the fundamentally different use requirements for 

 the two types of craft might readily explain the varia- 

 tion in their principles of construction. Hunting 

 would also have been necessary during migrations, 

 as existence depended upon food; the earlier appear- 

 ance of the umiak cannot be assumed on such 

 limited grounds. 



Eskimo skin boats possess remarkable advantages 

 for their employment and conditions of use. Their 

 hulls are light in weight, simple to build, and rela- 

 tively easy to repair, yet they are highly shock resistant. 

 They can carry large loads, yet are fast, they are 

 capable of being propelled by more than one means, 

 and they are exceptionally seaworthy. 



Floating ice is considered a major hazard to craft 

 of all sizes, but the umiak, for example, can resist the 

 shocks of ramming the ice to a degree beyond the 

 tensile strength of the skin covering, by reason of the 

 method of attaching the skin cover to the framework 

 of the hull, and to some extent the form of the boat 

 itself. The skin cover of the umiak is not rigidly 

 attached to the frame in a number of places, but 

 rather is a complete unit secured only at the gunwales 

 and to the heads of stem and stern. This permits the 

 skin cover to be greatly distorted by a blow, so that 

 the elasticity of the material at point of impact is 

 assisted by the movement of the whole skin cover on 

 the frame. Also, the frame itself is flexible and allows 

 distortion and recovery not only within the limits of 

 the elasticity of the wooden frame but also by the 

 movement of the lashed joints In the transverse frames. 

 Some kayaks have similar characteristics, though 

 their small size and the light weight of both boat and 

 loading make its resistance to shock of far less im- 

 portance than that of the umiak. 



Light weight is a highly desirable characteristic for 

 small craft in the Arctic, since it permits the boat with- 

 out the aid of skids or other mechanical contrivances 

 to be removed from the water and carried over ob- 

 structions, and to be transported either by sledge or 

 by manual portage over long distances. Lightness 

 is obtained in the Eskimo skin boats by the small 

 number and small size of the wooden structural mem- 

 bers used in their construction. The resulting light 

 weight hull permits heavy loading in proportion to 

 the size of the boat, and it allows building with a 

 minimum of material, in a country where such ma- 

 terials as wood are scarce and hard to obtain. 



For all small craft in Arctic waters, where distances 

 between sources of supply may be great and the time 



that the water is open to navigation is relatively 

 short, speed is an important and desirable attribute 

 that permits movement with a minimum of effort. 

 The exigencies of Arctic travel make it further desirable 

 that small craft be capable of propulsion under paddle, 

 oars, sail, or low-powered gasoline motors. The 

 umiak, because of its form and weight, can be modi- 

 fied to meet this requirement without loss of other 

 desirable attributes, and to a slightly lesser degree, 

 the same may be said of the kayak. 



Simplicity in construction and repair are also 

 basic requirements in the Arctic, where an emergency 

 may make it necessary to repair or rebuild a damaged 

 boat out of materials available nearby with the mini- 

 mum of tools and under adverse weather conditions. 

 The Eskimo has produced a boat construction that, 

 as will be seen from the descriptions that follow, to a 

 high degree meets this requirement. 



Exceptional seaworthiness is required, as most 

 Arctic waters are subject to violent storms; the Arctic 

 skin boats have been developed with forms and 

 proportions to meet this condition. In this matter, 

 the light and flexible hull structure gives a special 

 advantage. The kayak, in its highest state of evolution 

 and in skillful hands is perhaps the most seaworthy of 

 all primitive small craft. The umiak is a close second, 

 but of the two, the kayak is safer under all conditions 

 of Arctic travel. 



The load-carrying capacity of skin boats has been 

 mentioned. The Eskimo umiak is notable in this 

 respect, exceeding the curragh and even craft pro- 

 duced by modern civilization. The umiak pos- 

 sesses this advantage because of its very light hull 

 weight in combination with a nearly flat bottom 

 and flaring sides. The resulting hull-form allows 

 heavy loading with relatively little increase in draft, 

 as the flaring sides cause the displacement to in- 

 crease rapidly with the slightest increase in draft. 

 Though a similar form exists in the lumberman's 

 drive boat, the greater hull weight of this type makes 

 it inferior to the umiak. Light draft when loaded 

 has very definite advantages in the Arctic, for it 

 allows loading and unloading on the beach or afloat, 

 and allows the boat to be beached at points where 

 this would not be possible with a deeper hull. The 

 light draft also makes the umiak easy to propel 

 manually. 



The imperative need for very efficient water- 

 craft has made the Eskimo seek improvements, and 

 as his needs altered, so have his skin boats. Con- 



180 



