E-Book Overview
Eastern Arctic Kayaks is the product of years of kayak study by two of the world’s experts. Combining analyses of form and function with historical background and illustrations of kayaking techniques, this volume is a storehouse of information for recreational kayakers and scholarly readers alike.Drawing from his vast practical experience and extensive study of museum specimens, John D. Heath offers a comprehensive overview of the evolution and construction of Greenland kayaks supplemented with an illustrated series of rolling and sculling techniques. E. Arima examines kayaks of the eastern Canadian Arctic, covering woodworking tools, construction techniques, and the treatment of skins for the kayak cover.Core chapters on Greenland and eastern Canada are accompanied by essential articles by Greg Stamer on the use of the Greenland paddle and two studies of kayaks in European museums by Harvey Golden and Hugh Collings. A valuable excerpt from John Brand's Little Kayak Book series makes this British publication available to American readers for the first time.Lavishly illustrated with drawings and historic photographs, Eastern Arctic Kayaks is a landmark study in the history of watercraft--an essential resource for recreational kayakers and maritime historians and for anyone interested in northern Native material culture.
E-Book Content
a Eastern Arctic Kayaks Kayaks and umiaks, East Greenland, c. 1900. Photographer Alfred Berthelsen, no. AI4056. Courtesy Danish Arctic Institute, Copenhagen. Eastern Arctic Kayaks HISTORY, DESIGN, TECHNIQUE John D. Heath and E. Arima with contributions by John Brand, Hugh Collings, Harvey Golden, H. C. Petersen, Johannes Rosing, and Greg Stamer UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA PRESS, FAIRBANKS © 2004 University of Alaska Press All rights reserved University of Alaska Press P.O. Box 756240 Fairbanks, AK 99775 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Heath, John D., 1923 –2003. Eastern Arctic kayaks : history, design, technique / by John D. Heath and E. Arima with contributions by John Brand ... [et al.]. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-889963-25-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Kayaks—Greenland. 2. Kayaks—Arctic Coast (Canada). 3. Kayaks—Canada, Eastern. 4. Inuit—Greenland—Boats. 5. Inuit—Canada, Eastern—Boats. I. Arima, Eugene Y. II. Title. VM353.H43 2004 623.82’9—dc22 2004010903 This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48 –1992 (Permanence of Paper). Cover and interior design: Dixon Jones, Rasmuson Library Graphics Printed in the United States Cover photo: Jakob Frederiksen of Nuussuaq, Upernivik region, Greenland, 1968. Courtesy Keld Hansen. IN MEMORIAM John D. Heath 15 April 1923 – 14 July 2003 John Heath was born in Cameron, a small Water. We corresponded occasionally town in central Texas. As a young man during after that. Sea Kayaker magazine provided World War II, he volunteered for the Army Air a valuable vehicle for knowledge about Force. After the war, he became first a draftsNative watercraft, spreading the message man and then a mechanical engineer. to modern recreational paddlers by publishWhile living in the Seattle area in the early ing some eighteen articles and contributions 1950s, John became interested in kayaking. from John, varying from how to make a However, he felt that the commercially proGreenland-style paddle to a biography of duced kayaks available to him did not match Manasse Mathaeussen. Academia recogthe design logic of the Native kayaks he saw nized his expertise by featuring his survey in museums. Attendance at a lecture featurdrawing of a two-hole baidarka from southJohn Heath (left) and Kâlêraq Bech ing Greenland rolls convinced him that recern Alaska and description of the standard in Greenland, 1992. Courtesy Gail Ferris. reational paddlers had a lot to learn from the Greenland roll