(a) Umiak model with one seat, rawhide covered over wood frame with rawhide lashings. (b) Paddle.
Donor:
Phoebe Apperson Hearst
Collection place:
Koukuk River, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska; Koukuk River
Culture or time period:
Alaskan Eskimo
Collector:
Charles L. Hall
Collection date:
ca. 1895
Materials:
Rawhide and Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Models (concepts) and Umiaks
Function:
1.4 Transportation
Accession date:
August 12, 1902
Context of use:
Like a kayak, the skin is stretched and stitched with braided sinew over the driftwood (or if wood wasn’t available, whale bone) frame. The skin could be painted, black was the color of choice. Umiaks were used for hunting whales and large sea mammals, as they were particularly noted for their carrying capacity, being able to carry up to as much as four tons. Square sails of a variety of materials (see 2-2071a-k) could be hoisted on umiaks, but were most likely introduced by colonists and not traditional, and motors could be attached to the back. Women are often quite involved in the navigation and occasionally pilot depending on the region (typically more common in Quebec), however this is mostly for travel as women are usually not on board for whaling or sea mammal hunting. They also stitch the skin over the frame. Sometimes umiaks are dubbed “family boats,” as they were primarily used for transportation, though they previously were used in war and of course hunting.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
(a)— length 71 centimeters and (b)— length 32 centimeters
Comment:
Native name and meaning: umiak or baidara--woman boat or family boat. cf. Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. Edited by Warren L. D’Azevedo, David Damas, June Helm, Robert F. Heizer, Alfonso Ortiz, Wilcomb E. Washburn, Wayne Suttles, Ives Goddard, Deward E. Walker, Raymond J. DeMallie, Raymond D. Fogelson, Douglas H. Ubelaker, and Garrick A. Bailey. Vol. 5. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984. Arima, B. "Y. 1963. Report on an Eskimo umiak built at Ivuyivik, PQ, in the summer of 1960." National Museum of Canada, Bulletin No. 189 (Ottawa).