328 ' TIIK POINT HAUK(J\V KSKIMO. 



jrEAN8 or LOCOMOTION ANM) I'UANSPOltTATION. 



call the rest (if the Eskimo race, the natives 

 iiiak. (11 iian-dw, light, skiu-covered cauoe, 

 •ejit at the middle, where there is a liole or 

 its. Although nearly every male above the 

 n manageone of these eanoes, they are much 

 ;ni by any other iOskinid u liose lialiits have 

 ' -Arctic highlaiidcrs.- \\li<, lia\c no boats, 

 ■ria and their Clinckclie c(iniiiani(ins. The 

 ig the season nf (ii>eii water, und then but little 

 hoodof the villages. Those who remain near 

 use tiie kuiak chietly for making the short 

 exeursidiis Ki the lakes and streams inland, already desciibed, after 

 reindeer, and liir making short trips from camp to eaniii along the coast. 

 At Pernyu the.\ are used in setting the stake-nets and also for retriev- 

 ing fowl which have fallen in the water when shot. 



According to Dr. Simjison' the men of the parties which go east in 

 the summer travel in their kaiaks after reaching the open water "to 

 make room in the large boat for the oil-skins." We obtained no infor- 

 mation regardingthis. It is at this time, probably, that the kaiak comes 

 sjiecially in play tor s]iearing molting fowl and "tiapiiers", and for catch- 

 ing seals with t he ki'ikiga. They manage tlie kaiak witli great skill and 

 confidence, but we never knew them to go out in rough weather, nor 

 did we ever see the practice, so fretpiently described elsewhere, of tying 

 the skirts of the waterproof jacket round the coaming of the cockpit so 

 as to exclude the water. 



Itshouhl. however, be borne in mind that from the reasons above 

 stated our opportunities for observing the use of the kaiak were very 

 limited. At all events it is certain that the people depend mainly on 

 the umiak, not only I'or traveling, but for hunting and fishing as well, 

 which places them in strong contrast with the Greeiilaiiders, who are 

 esscnl hilly a race of kaiakers and have conseqitently developed the boat 

 and its appendages t(i a high state of perfeetiou. 



We brought Ikiiiic une complete full-sized kaiak, with its paddle, No. 

 57773 [539], Fig. .J.'.s,! and /(, which is a very fair representative of the 

 canoes used at I'oint Barrow. This is 19 feet long and l.s inches wide 

 amidships. The gunwales are straight, except for a very sli^^hi shcei at 

 the bow, and the cockpit is '21 inches long and 18J inches w ide. it has 

 a frame of wood, which appears to be all of spruce, held together by 

 treenails and whalebone lashings, and is coveied with white-tanned seal- 

 skins with tlie grain side out. The stoutest part of the frame is the two 

 gunwales, each 3^ inches broad and .^-inch thick, tiat, and rounded off on 

 the upper edge inside, running the whole length of the boat and meet- 



'Ol>. lit.],. 2(!J. 



