The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac, oomiak, ongiuk, or anyakDall, p. 563
/ref> is a type of open skin

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

, used by both Yupik and

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

, and was originally found in all coastal areas from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. First arising in Thule times, it has traditionally been used in summer to move people and possessions to seasonal hunting grounds and for hunting

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s and walrus.Umiaks
at the Canadian Museum of Civilization Although the umiak was usually propelled by oars (women) or paddles (men), sails—sometimes made from seal

intestine The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

s—were also used, and in the 20th century, outboard motors.Adney & Chappelle p.190
/ref> Because the umiak has no keel, the sails cannot be used for tacking.

Size and construction

Like the

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

, the traditional umiak was made from a

driftwood __NOTOC__ Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...

whalebone Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and re ...

frame pegged and lashed together, sometimes with antlers or ivory, over which walrus or

bearded seal The bearded seal (''Erignathus barbatus''), also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos'') that refer to its h ...

skins are stretched. Oil, usually from seals, would be used to coat and waterproof the seams.Umiak Construction
Museum of Civilization website A large umiak, , would require that about seven skins be sewn together, stretched over the frame and allowed to dry. Modern versions are essentially identical, with the exception of the use of metal bolts and screws. The open umiak is significantly larger than the enclosed kayak, which was built to carry one or two men while hunting. Normally , the umiak could be anywhere from long and wide.Umiak
at the Canadian EncyclopediaExamples of Umiaks
Museum of Civilization website

Hans Egede Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...

, a Norwegian-Danish Lutheran missionary to Greenland in 1721, stated that he had seen umiaks long. Although an umiak could carry up to 15 passengers, its light weight and lack of a keel allows it to be carried over the

drift Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** Drift, Cornwall, village ** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village ...

or shore ice to the open water by a few people.The Women's Boat
at athropolis.com A modern company which trains people to hand make umiaks says that a boat weighs about compared to for a modern vessel.

Modern usage

Although the usage of the umiak and the kayak has died out in most areas of the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

it is still very much a part of life in the Yupik and Inupiat whaling villages of Alaska. The boat must be hauled on a sled pulled by snowmobile over very rough trails cut through the ice ridges to locations where there are open leads in the ice pack, where it is used to catch whales. The skin cover on an umiak will last for two or three years, as does an

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

boat used in the same way; however, replacing the skin on an umiak is much easier than repairing an aluminum boat. Additionally, the

bowhead whale The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus'') is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus ''Balaena''. They are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, ...

is sensitive to the metallic noise from aluminum boats, and tend to move away under the ice, to avoid them. In

Utqiaġvik, Alaska Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough, Alaska, North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the List of ...

, the process for replacing the skin of an umiak begins when the ice moves away from the shores of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

in July. At their first summer access to the ocean, whaling crews hunt for ''oogruk'', the bearded seal, for suitable skins. The skins are packed into seal oil and allowed to ferment while they are stored until March. At that time the skins are scraped free of hair, sewn together with a waterproof stitch, and then stretched over the wooden frame and tied into place using the sinew from

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

. With a new skin on the frame, the umiak is placed out in the wind and cold, to dry. In May when the bowhead whales migrate eastward past Point Barrow, umiak skin boats are hauled on sleds pulled by snowmobiles out onto the ice.

Name

Although it is sometimes called a "woman's boat", modern Inuit dictionaries such as '' Kangiryuarmiut Uqauhingita Numiktittitdjutingit'' by

Ronald Lowe Ronald Lowe (28 July 1905 – 29 August 1960) was an English cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprisi ...

, the '' Inuinnaqtun English Dictionary'', and ''Asuilaak

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

Living Dictionary'' translate umiak as boat, traditional skin boat, or any type of boat.Asuilaak Inuktitut Living Dictionary
/ref> In the Eastern Arctic, where the umiak was rarely used for hunting, it was used mainly as summer transport for women and children, while men travelled by kayak, and thus was known as a "woman's boat".

Notes

References

* *

External links

Skin Boat School

Kent Sea Scouts Umiak Project

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission

Documentary film Umiaq Skin Boat by Jobie Weetaluktuk
{{Authority control Indigenous boats Inuit transport Kayaks