A History of the Kayak

A History of the Sea Kayak

The birth place of the kayak was almost certainly the inhospitable coast of Siberia. We know that the peoples who eventually settled the Americas crossed over sometime time during the last Ice age when a land or ice bridge known as Berengia connected the two continents. The kayak or ’Äúqajaq’Äù or its more primitive ancestor the ’Äúumiak’Äù probably first appeared in the North American arctic about 10-15 thousand years ago, arriving with America’Äôs first people. The oldest known archaeological evidence of a kayak goes back 2,000 years B.P. and there is inferential evidence dating it back another 2,000 years. However, given the reality of surviving the harsh environment, most likely arctic peoples had some way of getting onto the water to hunt or fish as long as they have been there. An 8,000 year existence is possible but we will probably never know for sure.

It is thought the Siberians first took to the water in a skin-covered, wood framed boat known as an umiak. The umiak was an open boat whereas the kayak or qajaq had a covered deck which likely evolved when hunters ventured further out onto the exposed sea. The covered deck of the kayak made it more sea-worthy and better able to shed waves. Furthermore, several native groups developed the ability to roll kayaks back up after capsizing. The umiak and the kayak existed side by side, both finding useful niches for transporting and hunting. Interestingly, despite being the birth place of the kayak, very little archaeological evidence of the covered kayak can be found on the Siberian Coast.

The Aleutians and Greenlanders took the kayak to an apex in design and seaworthiness’Äînot to mention skill in handling and rolling. Since these two groups lived in predominantly ice free regions, it is not surprising they took the design to its highest form. The peoples of the Canadian Eastern Arctic and Baffin Island only had open water a few months of the year. With necessity being the mother of invention, less effort went into kayak design and more into sleds and dwellings. During pre-contact times, as many as 40 different designs were used throughout the arctic, each developed for a specific hunting, transportation and environmental conditions. Kayaks were used on the sea to hunt marine mammals such as seals, walrus, and whales; and on rivers and lakes from which to hunt caribou.

END OF PART #1
Part #2 will be published in 2 weeks