of the exact location where this kayak was found, 

 nor any information on the builders; if it is from the 

 Mackenzie, the type now appears to be wholly 

 extinct and there has been nothing in recent times 

 in the vicinity faintly resembling it. The kayak is a 

 well-built, safe, strong boat; the high stern would aid 

 it in coming head to sea and wind when paddling 

 stopped; and it resembles, more than most, the early 

 explorers' drawings of Arctic kayaks. The very high 

 ends indicate that it was not used where high winds 

 are common, despite the otherwise seaworthy design 

 and construction, and regardless of the documentation, 

 it now seems certain that this kayak came from some- 

 where in the eastern Arctic. 



To the eastward of the Mackenzie, the kayaks are 

 narrow, spindle-shaped and very low sided, in the 

 manner of the northern Alaskan boats. The drawing 

 of figure 192 was made from the remains of a kayak 

 from Coronation Gulf and to insure accuracy was 

 compared with photographs and measurements of 

 some Copper Eskimo kayaks. This kayak is charac- 

 terized by a rather marked reverse sheer and a 

 strongly raked manhole rim. The deck forward of 

 the manhole sweeps up very sharply, but with a 

 different profile than is seen on the north coast of 

 Alaska; the deck of these eastern kayaks sweeps up 

 in a very short hollow curve instead of the long convex 

 sweep popular in Alaska. The ends of the hull 

 finish in small bone buttons; the skin cover passes 

 under the manhole rim, as in the Cape Krusenstern 

 and Point Barrow types. A two-bladed paddle is 

 commonly used. The hull design is more stable 

 than that at Point Barrow and the ends are somewhat 

 fuller, giving the boat a rather parallel sided appear- 

 ance; it has longitudinal battens from the bottom of 

 the hull, one the keelson; the gunwales are channelled 

 on the inside and are very light and neatly made. 

 The frames are split willows, round on the inside. 



The Caribou Eskimo kayak preserved in the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History is the best example of 

 the type found. The drawing of figure 193 shows the 

 features of this particular type; the construction is 

 about the same as that of the Point Barrow kayak 

 but is much lighter and weaker. The peculiar pro- 

 jecting stem is formed of a stem block, scarphed to 

 the gunwales; to it the beak piece is attached with a 

 lashing. The sharply turned-up stern is formed in a 

 similar manner by two pieces joined together at 

 the tip and lashed to the stern block; this stern 

 construction is similar to that of the eastern Arctic 

 kayak shown in figure 192. Both caribou hides and 



seal skins are used to cover the Caribou Eskimo kayak. 

 The seams are rubbed with fish oil and ochre, a 

 method also used extensively along the north coast 

 of Alaska to paint the framework of both kayaks 

 and umiaks. 



The Netsilik Eskimo kayak is related to the Caribou, 

 but is less stable and has different bow and stern 

 profiles. The example shown in the drawing of 

 figure 194 requires little discussion; the cover is of seal 

 skin. These kayaks are used only in hunting caribou 

 at stream crossings and are not employed in sealing. 

 The very narrow bottom and narrow beam make 

 this the most dangerous of all kayaks in the hands 

 of a paddler unaccustomed to such craft. Neither 

 the Caribou nor the Netsilik kayaks are very sea- 

 worthy and their construction is inferior. They are 

 characterized by rather heavy gunwales but the other 

 members of their structures are very slight. 



No examples remain of the old kayaks once used on 

 the Gulf of Boothia, at Fury and Hecla Strait, and 

 on the west side of Foxe Basin. Early explorers in 

 this area found kayaks, but the types used have been 

 long extinct. One kayak, supposed to have been 

 built at Southampton Island, had been preserved by 

 a private collector, but when measured was in a 

 damaged state. Shown in figure 195, it does not con- 

 form with the old description of kayaks from the Mel- 

 ville Peninsula but does agree reasonably well with 

 the Boas model of a kayak from Repulse Bay in the 

 U.S. National Museum (USNM 68126). On this 

 basis it would appear that in Boas' time this form of 

 kayak was also used on the east side of the Melville 

 Peninsula. The design resembles to some extent the 

 kayaks from the southwest coast of Greenland, 

 but the stern is like that used in some Labrador 

 craft. This old kayak was very light and sharp, 

 rather slightly built, but very graceful in model 

 so far as could be determined from the remains of 

 the craft. The foredeck camber is ridged and 

 carried rather far forward. If the identification of 

 this kayak should be correct, it is apparent that the 

 eastern model of the kayak once extended as far 

 west as the west side of Foxe Basin. 



The kayak of lower Baffin Island, in figure 196, 

 is flat-bottomed, long, and rather heavy. The 

 gunwale members are very deep and the keelson and 

 chine battens are quite heavy. This type has a 

 slight side-batten between chine and gunwale — in 

 all, five longitudinal members besides the gunwales — • 

 hence this example is the sole exception to the 

 3-batten construction that may be said to mark the 



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