Kayak, Model
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Mar 1894
name: label: Collector
content: J. H. Turner
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "16 pcs. equipment. 1/83 Sites Inua Loan. Loan: U.S.I.A. Inua Jun 24 1988. Loan returned Dec 28 1990. Illus.: Inua Catalogue USIA 1988, Pl. 18, p. 18. USIA Inua catalogue identifies as a kayak model, qayaq. 80.4 cm. "Kayak models were frequently made as playthings for children. However, detailed models such as this were commissioned by collectors, traders and whalers."
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=246 , retrieved 11-25-2021; see web page for additional information: Kayak model, Inupiaq. This model of a Norton Sound kayak includes a full set of tools and weapons, all held on deck by sealskin cords. A seal dart rests on top of a float board, attached by a coiled line; the board was designed to drag behind a wounded seal, hindering its escape. A gaff hook and several throwing and thrusting harpoons are shown within reach of the boat's cockpit, and a spare paddle is carried on the back. Wooden frames and seal-thong lashings gave kayaks great flexibility and strength to withstand rough water. Historically, Iñupiaq people hunted, traveled and transported goods in two types of skin boats-the large, open craft called an umiaq [open skin boat] and the much smaller and completely covered qayaq [kayak]. The qayaq had a bearded sealskin cover, stretched over a multipart frame carved from driftwood. The frame was lashed together with sealskin thongs and the cover was waterproofed with seal or caribou oil. Men made and assembled the frames and women sewed the covers using sinew thread and waterproof stitches. In Traditional Life on King Island, Margaret Seeganna said that "every man, young or adult, owned his own kayak, and these skin-covered canoes were considered essential for survival." Kayaks were usually made by "older men who had stopped hunting and could devote a great deal of time to their art." Hunters who commissioned kayaks usually supplied the materials. The kayak builder measured the "height, weight, the length of each arm, the distance from elbow to fingertips, and the distance from fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched" of the future owner in order to make the boat specifically fit his size. Kayaks were made in different regional styles, with considerable variation in the shape of the bow and stern. This model, collected by J. H. Turner at St. Michael, conforms to the Norton Sound style, with a slightly upturned, cleft bow. There is also a slot-like indentation at the stern. Both of these openings served as hand-holds when carrying a boat. Norton Sound men used kayaks to hunt bearded seals, waterfowl and beluga whales. They also went out in the boats to set and tend nets for seals, beluga whales, and fish. When a small seal was taken, a hunter put it inside the kayak. A large seal was dragged to shore or ice and cut up before it was stowed. Men hunting from a kayak carried an assortment of specialized equipment. Darts, harpoons, lances, a boat hook, and extra paddle were secured on the kayak deck under sealskin cords. Ivory, bone or antler projections called spear guards helped to hold these items in place. In the Norton Sound area, single-bladed paddles were more common than a double-bladed ones. A hunter stowed a coiled-up harpoon line in front of him on a float board (seen on this model) and, on the deck behind him, an inflated sealskin float that was attached to the end of the harpoon line (not shown here). Wooden slats, grass matting or clothing were placed inside the cockpit to make a seat. To protect themselves from rainy and rough weather, men wore waterproof seal intestine parkas secured with drawstrings at the wrist and hood and around the cockpit opening. Some also wore wooden eye shades or wooden hunting hats to protect their eyes from sun and spray. When hunting in the spring, men used small sledges to haul their kayaks over sea ice to reach open water. They also used kayaks to cross open water leads. E. W. Nelson-who traveled in the Bering Strait area from 1877 to 1881-noted that men who went hunting far from shore were sometimes caught in moving ice and had to spend one or two days fighting their way back. When not is use, kayaks were hauled onto land and oiled to keep the skin in good condition. They were stored on elevated frames that protected then from dogs. When a Norton Sound hunter died, his kayak frame was set on his grave.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 8 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 15
place: label: Place
content: Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inupiaq
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 027937
label: USNM Number
content: E153656-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Kayak Model
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 80.5 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 12 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 9 cm