Eight thousand years ago, humans began a journey eastward from what is now Siberia. These northern migrants settled the Aleutian Islands, and later spread north and east to what is now northern Canada, and Greenland.
The most abundant source of food in these frozen landscapes was the frigid ocean which teemed with sea life. In a world without trees, driftwood was split and shaped into wooden armatures, which were then covered with sealskin to create the first kayaks and Umiaks. These craft were used as a platform to hunt seals, otters, caribou, and fish.
The following is a list of resources for anyone interested in the traditional aspect of skin on frame kayaking.
Websites + Books
Harvey Golden’s website, traditionalkayaks.com, is a great place to see a wide variety of Arctic replica kayaks. Harvey has also written two books, Kayaks of Greenland and Kayaks of Alaska, with hundreds of detailed drawings of historic kayaks that Harvey has surveyed from museums and private collections all over the world. We sell these books in our store.
The Arktisk Institut, the Danish Arctic Institute’s searchable collection is an excellent resource for historic kayak imagery that you can view for free. Using the Danish spelling of search words, for example “kajak” will give better search results.
Photos
Below are a collection of photos of historic kayaks we have collected over the years
Note: Images have been collected from various sources and include photos acquired through paid licenses and creative commons licenses; please do not copy photos without permission.
