The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac, oomiak, ongiuk, or anyakDall, p. 563
/ref> is a type of open skin boat, used by both Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland. First arising in Thule times, it has traditionally been used in summer to move people and possessions to seasonal hunting grounds and for hunting whales 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 or

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

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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