Nunivak Island, Bering Sea, Alaska, United States, North America
Accession Date:
3 Mar 1894
Collection Date:
1892
Notes:
From card: "A single hatch 'bidarka' with covering aft of the manhole cut away to show the construction. Originally had the following accessories: paddle, walrus and seal spear, sealskin line, 2 spear throwers, 5 deer spears, 2 ivory-tipped hooks. Refer USNM Bull. 127, p. 209. Collins Ms. p. 742." Illus. (under Division of Engineering # 76283) in BAE 18th AR, Pt. 1, Pl. LXXIX, no. 1, after p. 220. Note that the cockpit coaming stanchions on this kayak are decorated with carved smiling and frowning faces. - F. Pickering 3-7-2008 Associated artifacts are Catalogue Nos. E168578 - 83.
From U.S. National Museum Bulletin 127, p. 209, entry on this artifact, under old number 76283: "Kaiak. Type used by the Eskimos of Nunivak Island, Alaska, for fishing and hunting. The boat is covered with the skin of the sea lion stretched over a light framework made of driftwood. It is sharp at both ends, the bow rising with a long, easy curve from the bottom, and at its upper extremity is a hole 7 inches in diameter for grasping with the lhand. The top of the kaiak is completely covered, excepting a single manhole in the center. Dimensions of boat. - Length. 15 feet 3 inches; beam, 30 inches; depth, 18 inches. Deposited by the Bureau of Fisheries."
Illus. Fig. 184, p. 199, under old number 76283, in Adney, Tappan, and Howard Irving Chapelle. 1964. The bark canoes and skin boats of North America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution (U.S. National Museum Bulletin 230).
Kayak is illustrated and described in detail in Golden, Harvey. 2015. Kayaks of Alaska. Portland, OR: White House Grocery Press: Plate 29A, p. 171; Plate 29B, p. 172; pp. 192 - 195.
