Until recent times the chief means of summer water transport for coastal INUIT, the umiak was used for moving family and possessions to seasonal hunting areas and for whaling expeditions. The craft could hold more than 20 people and was 6-10 m in length and more than 1.5 m wide at the centre. Ownership was sometimes shared by 2 or more families. The frame was constructed of salvaged driftwood or whalebone, and hide lashings on pegs of antler, ivory or wood held the boat together. Hides of bearded seal sewn together with waterproof seams were stretched to dry tightly around the frame. The umiak dates to THULE times (1000 AD) in the central Arctic and appeared in Greenland, Baffin Island, Labrador, the Mackenzie Delta, Alaska and eastern Siberia.
 Kayak and UmiakThe kayak is a narrow hunting boat made of sealskin stretched over a wood or bone frame. The larger umiak was used for transporting goods and people (artwork by Gordon Miller).
Author
RENÉ R. GADACZ
Suggested Reading
E.Y. Arima, Report on an Eskimo Umiak Built at Ivuyivik, P.Q., in the Summer of 1960 (1963).
Links to Other Sites
Four Directions Teachings
Elders and traditional teachers representing the Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, Mohawk, and Mi’kmaq share teachings about their culture. Animated graphics visualize each of the oral teachings. This website also provides biographies of participants, transcripts, and extensive learning resources for students and their teachers. In English with French subtitles.
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