Umiak
ship type used by Yupik and Inuit
The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac, oomiak, ongiuk, or anyak is a type of open skin boat, used by the Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland. First used in Thule times, it has traditionally been used in summer, for moving people and possessions to seasonal hunting grounds, and for hunting whales and walrus. Although the umiak was usually propelled by oars (women) or paddles (men), sails—sometimes made from seal intestines—were also used, and, in the 20th century, outboard motors. Because the umiak has no keel, the sails cannot be used for tacking.
Size and construction
Like the kayak, the traditional umiak was made from a driftwood or whalebone frame pegged and lashed together, sometimes with antlers or ivory, over which walrus or bearded seal skins are stretched. Oil, usually from seals, would be used to coat and waterproof the seams. A large umiak, 9.1 m (30 ft), 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 9 or 10 m (30 or 33 ft), the umiak could be anywhere from 6 to 10 m (20 to 33 ft) long and 1.5 to 2 m (5 to 7 ft) wide.
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This entry incorporates text from “Umiak” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.