Ocean Kayak History

"The Arctic kayak appeals to us on an emotional level beyond that inspired by more prosaic items of material culture. It has a romantic image associated with fur-clad Eskimos silently gliding along, hunting their sustenance or playing like otters in the waves; it illustrates the artistry and ingenuity of man in fashioning a superior means of transportation in an unforgiving climate. But perhaps we relate to the kayak on an even deeper level - it represents a means of transportation, it represents a singular image of freedom."
David W. Zimmerly

(from Qajaq, Kayaks of Siberia and Alaska)

Kayaks, the skin covered craft of the Arctic peoples, are the result of generationsof design improvements and technological advances instigated by the need for an efficient vessel of transport, food and fur harvesting and exploration. Geographical boundaries, cultural needs and individual craftsmanship brought about the creation of many different kayak designs, each unique to its own native kayaking group. Archaeologists have found evidence indicating kayaks to be at least 4000 years old.

What does "kayak" mean?

Hunter's boat. The boats' primary purpose was to hunt animals on inland lakes, rivers and the sea. In many places where the native kayakers lived they had to turn to the water for food because the land was not fertile enough to support their population. The kayak was also used for transportation across open water and rivers. Most, but not all, kayaks are considered seaworthy.

Kayaks are made of seal skin and driftwood that was collected off of beaches. Many of theareas where kayaks were paddled are void of the land based raw materials used in making birchbark or dugout canoes of more southerly native groups.
The word kayak appears in literature spelled in different ways: kyak, kyack, kaiak, qajaq.

What does "baidarka" mean?

Baidarka refers to the double and triple kayaks developed by the Alaskan Aleut. It was used for hunting and transporting those unable to paddle. The triple baidarkas are considered to have appeared after the Europeans arrived, and it is thought that the Russians forced the Aleut to make a third hole in order to travel along with them and not have to paddle. The triples were also used to transport missionaries.

What is an umiak?

An umiak is an open decked boat made with seal skins and wood. It was paddled with single bladed paddles and typically had more than one paddler. It ranged in size from 17 feet to 60 feet and was fairly seaworthy. It is thought that the kayak originally startedout as a decked over umiak and them evolved into its traditional form.

Some groups lived nomadically in order to follow animal migrations. In these groups the umiak was used primarily for transporting household goods, children, elderly and those unable to paddle a kayak. The women of the village would paddle the umiak since the men were paddling their kayaks. In other groups the umiak was used for hunting walrus and whale, and was paddled by both men and women during these hunts.

Did all native kayaking groups use the double bladed paddle?

No. Some groups used the double bladed paddle exclusively and some groups used the single bladed paddle exclusively. It often depended on the boatsÕ design. Some of the groups that used the double bladed paddles also kept one or two single bladed paddles with them for stealthier paddling when hunting or for use as a spare. There were also groups that used the single bladed paddle to roll.

Did all native kayakers know how to roll?

No. The Greenland Inuits and the Alaskan Aleuts were well known for theirability to roll, but not all native kayakers knew how to roll or needed to roll.The Greenlanders were the masters of the roll. Their narrow boats, the conditionsthat they paddled in and unexpected complications during hunting, required them to develop numerous different rolls. In addition to the typical roll with a paddle,numerous "trick" rolls were known such as rolling with the paddle held by one hand, using a harpoon shaft or using just an open or closed hand. The reasons for these rolls was that during a hunt the harpoon line could tangle and upset the boat, oran injured animal sometimes attacked the hunter. In either case if the hunter washolding something that he did not want to drop (like a knife) or if the paddle was temporarily stowed, he could use these two rolls. The Greenlanders also used the bow rescue described below.

Some native kayakers used several different methods instead of a roll. One methodwas the bow rescue, where a paddling partnerÕs bow was used to pull oneself up. This technique relied heavily on somebody being close by. In another technique, the paddler pulled themselves into the boat and breathed the air inside the boat until someone showed up and a bow rescue could be performed. This technique required a boat that one could crawl into and someone showing up before the oxygen inside the boat was used up. Certain groups added ballast to their boats to make them stable,the weight varied from 50-100 pounds.

How were kayaks made?

Driftwood would be collected from beaches. The wood would them be formed using the tools that were available at the time. Iron is not found in the Arctic, and was introduced when trading began with the western cultures.. Obsidian or flint was fashioned into necessary tools. The wood used for the frames was typically fir, pine, spruce and willow. The addition of iron based tools did decrease the amount of time spent building a kayak since iron does notdull as quickly as traditional materials. Historians are not in agreement as to whether iron improved the quality of the kayak or not.

Seal skins would then be sewn onto a complete frame. Typical skin used was from the bearded seal but some groups did use the sea lion, caribou and walrus skins. The hair was removed from the skins and the skins were them treated with oil for waterproofness. Oil typically had to be applied every 4-8 days depending on the skin used. Care was taken that when a boat was in daily use, that it was removed from the water and allowed to dry once a day.
Sinew was used to lash the frame and sew the skins. The seam on the skins was waterproof because the stitches did not completely pass through the skin.

"Many people nowadays are vastly impressed with the greatness of our age, with all the inventions and the progress of which we daily hear, and which appear indisputably to exalt the highly-gifted white race far over all others. These people would learn much by paying close attention to the development of the Eskimos, and to the tools and inventions by aid of which they obtain the necessaries of life among natural surroundings which place such pitifully small means at their disposal."

Fridtjof Nansen (from Eskimo Life, published in 1894)