kayak

unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, artist

kayak, 1800s

Where object was made: Greenland

Material/technique: bone; wood; sealskin; ivory; carving

Credit line: Gift of Lewis Lindsay Dyche

Accession number: 2007.0607

Not on display

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Exhibition Label:
"Climate Change at the Poles," Jan-2009, Kate Meyer, Jennifer Talbott, and Angela Watts
The kayak is one of the best-known inventions of the Inuit. The design of the kayak varied from one region to another according to the kind of waters the user would need to traverse. The kayak has been adapted by recreational users all over the world, using new materials and working with a design similar to the original kayaks created by the Inuit. This kayak is made with a wood frame covered with stretched sealskin, but many older kayaks were made with bone frames, using ribs to create the rounded shape of the vessel. The seams along the bottom of the kayak where sealskins have been joined together are sewn using a clever double row of stitches, which only fully pierces through one layer of sealskin, making the seams watertight.