Figure 185 



Western Alaskan Kayak, Cape Prince of Wales, 1936. 

 {Photo by Henry B. Collins.) 



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 1 98 (fig. 1 82) 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 charac- 

 teristic, though the shape and size of the grips vary 

 among the villages; the style shown is that of St. 

 Michaels. A sLngle-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 Krusen- 

 stern (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 diflference 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 illus- 

 trated 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. 



200 



