Umiak Model
date: label: Accession Date
content: 18 May 1865
name: label: Donor Name
content: Roderick R. MacFarlane
notes: label: Notes
content: See Collins boat MS. p. 822. Note that 1098 is mentioned as being used in an exhibit in Berlin in 1880 on p. 104 of USNM Bulletin No. 18. It is described there as an Umiak model, Fort Anderson, H.B.T., Robert [sic, should be Roderick] MacFarlane.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/164 , retrieved 12-10-2019: Model of an umiaq with hide covering and frame made from wood. The individual frame elements are joined by mortise and tenon joints and by use of lashings that pass through drilled holes. The hide cover is made from several pieces of caribou hide with the hair removed. The cover is attached to the frame with sinew passed through holes cut into the skin and wrapped around the gunwales. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/59: The umiaq is a large open boat with a wood frame and a skin covering that was used for transportation and for hunting whales. An umiaq typically was about 10 m in length, 2m wide and about 1 m deep. An umiaq that size could carry a dozen or more people. Umiaqs were well suited to traditional Inuvialuit life. They were a shallow draught watercraft, and could be used in shoals and close to shore without fear of grounding. They had flat bottoms, which made them stable in the water, they could carry large loads and the tough hide covering was difficult to damage. If the covering was damaged, it could be easily repaired with a patch. They were light enough for two people to carry, and could be moved over snow and ice on sleds. Umiaqs were propelled by paddles and with sails made from intestines sewn together. MacFarlane collected models if the original object was too large or too difficult to ship to the Smithsonian Institution.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 10 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Northwest Territories, Canada, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inuit, Inuvialuk (Inuvialuit)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 65A00065
label: USNM Number
content: E1098-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Umiak Model