The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North AmericaChapelle, Howard Irving
History
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America
Chapelle, Howard Irving
Canoes and canoeing -- North America; Indians of North America -- Boats; Skin boats -- North America
The foregoing design differs greatly in every respect from the
example in figure 191, collected by the U.S. Fish Commission in 1885
and identified as a Mackenzie River kayak. It is a large heavy boat
compared to the one just described. The model of this old kayak,
and the construction too, is on the eastern pattern, such as is
used in Hudson Strait. The strongly upturned stern and less rising
bow resembles the old Greenland kayaks. The ~V~-bottom and 3-batten
construction combined with heavy deep gunwales is not to be found in
any of the known Alaskan kayaks. There is unfortunately no record 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 somewhere 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
characterized 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 appearance; 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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