. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Umiaks on Racks, in front of village on Little Diomede Islar {P/iolo by Henry B. Collins.) July 311, 193I), sequently the designs of these craft have gone through numerous changes since the first of the types were placed in American museums. It is noticeable that, among other changes, the amount of freeboard of umiaks has been altered as their owners met new conditions imposed by longer voyages, heavier cargo, and the outboard motor. The high-sided umiak, while suited for heavy loads and very sea- worthy, was almost impossible to paddle or e
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Umiaks on Racks, in front of village on Little Diomede Islar {P/iolo by Henry B. Collins.) July 311, 193I), sequently the designs of these craft have gone through numerous changes since the first of the types were placed in American museums. It is noticeable that, among other changes, the amount of freeboard of umiaks has been altered as their owners met new conditions imposed by longer voyages, heavier cargo, and the outboard motor. The high-sided umiak, while suited for heavy loads and very sea- worthy, was almost impossible to paddle or even row against a strong gale. When this condition had to be met, the freeboard and flare were reduced to minimize the windage. In recent years umiaks have appeared with round bottoms to give greater speed under paddle, the resulting boat being an enlarged kayak in construction. These changes to meet differing use requirements are not necessarily basic improvements, for they result in the sacrifice of some of the other qualities of the type. Nevertheless, they indicate the fluid state of primitive boat design in the Arctic, a condition that has been accentuated in most areas by the increasing influence of white men, their boats and their motors. The Umiak The uiniak was undoubtedly more widely em- ployed by the Eskimo before the coming of the white man than existing records indicate. It was a type of boat most necessary for family migration by sea, and with it the early Eskimos could establish them- selves on islands far from the mainland and could cross large bodies of water. From some areas where early explorers mention having seen the type, the umiak has disappeared; this suggests the possibility that tribes now unacquainted with the umiak had at some time in the past reached a location where such a boat was no longer necessary. The umiak was common in open waters and was found from Kodiak Island through the Aleutians and north and eastward along the west and north coast of
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