Figure 1 ?6 



Koryok Koyok 



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Koryak Kayak, drawn from damaged kayak in ihc American Museum of 

 Natural History, 1948. 



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 9^2 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 amidshijxs 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 gun- 

 wale 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 primiti\e 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 



195 



