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 or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

, used by the Yupik and

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

, and was originally found in all coastal areas from

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. First used in

Thule Thule ( ; also spelled as ''Thylē'') is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. First written of by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France) in about 320 BC, i ...

times, it has traditionally been used in summer, for moving people and possessions to seasonal hunting grounds, and for hunting

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

s and

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

.Umiaks
at the

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...

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 tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. T ...

s—were also used, and, in the 20th century,

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

s.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 human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

, the traditional umiak was made from a

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

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 ...

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 Genus, generic name from two Greek language, Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos ...

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 Denmark–Norway, Danish-Norwegian Lutheran missionary priest who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a succes ...

, 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 The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

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 A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

over very rough trails cut through the ice ridges to locations where there are open leads in the

ice pack An ice pack or gel pack is a portable bag filled with water, refrigerant gel, or liquid, meant to provide cooling. They can be divided into the reusable type, which works as a thermal mass and requires freezing, or the instant type, which coo ...

, 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 (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium 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''), sometimes called the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale, is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus '' Balaena' ...

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

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

, 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 oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an 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 The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

. 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 Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The northe ...

, 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 Inuinnaqtun (, ; natively meaning 'like the real human beings/peoples') is an Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe that Inuinna ...

English Dictionary'', and ''Asuilaak

Inuktitut Inuktitut ( ; , Inuktitut syllabics, syllabics ), also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of ...

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