Frame of Kayak, Nunivak Island, Alaska, with young owner beneath. 

 {Photo by Henry B. Collins.) 



employing purchased canoes instead. The kayaks 

 of the Asiatic Eskimos, and those from the Mac- 

 kenzie 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 bound- 

 aries 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, southw-est, 

 and south coasts of Greenland. 



According to the Danish classification of the coasts of 

 Greenland, "Polar" is north of Cape York, "North- 

 ern" is above Disko Island, "Central" is from Fre- 

 derikshaab to north of Disko Bay, "Southern" is from 

 Julianhaab to Cape Farvell, and "East" is Angmag- 

 salik and vicinity. 



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 free- 

 board required makes decking a necessity. In 

 general, the kayak is designed to carry one paddler, 



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