Research Catalog

Title

Qayaq : kayaks of Alaska and Siberia / David W. Zimmerly ; Paul Gardinier, kayak exhibit coordinator.

Author

Zimmerly, David W., 1938-

Publication

Fairbanks, Alaska : University of Alaska Press, 2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Alaska State Museum.
• Anchorage Museum of History and Art.

Description

x, 103 p. : ill.; 23 x 24 cm.

Summary

"This slim volume, originally intended as a catalog in support of the only museum exhibition ever devoted solely to these nimble little craft, offers an accessible review of much of what is know about traditional kayaks. Even though the form has existed with remarkable consistency for at least 2000 years, the skin boats of arctic hunters now constitute an endangered breed; they are resilient at sea but fragile in storage, so perhaps at most 300 original kayaks, decked-over skin vessels with cockpits for individual paddlers, have survived in collections worldwide. It is author Zimmerly's intent, as he tells readers in the new foreword to this reprint edition, to help us learn from them before they are all gone. Writing from the basis of years of research, he reviews the construction of different kayaks from various regions of Alaska and Siberia, discussing not only techniques and materials in general but the special approaches of individual craftsmen. He shows how vessels' design varied in response to the demands of climate and the availability of resources as well as the needs of the hunters using them; he considers associated equipment, from paddles to paddlers' clothing. The result is a succinct but authoritative introduction to the kayaks of Alaska and Siberia."--Jacket.

Subject

• Eskimos > Alaska > Boats > Exhibitions
• Eskimos > Boats > Alaska > Exhibitions
• Ethnology > Siberia, Northeastern > Exhibitions
• Kayaks > Alaska > Exhibitions
• Kayaks > Siberia, Northeastern > Exhibitions

Genre/Form

• Exhibition catalogs
• Exhibition catalogs.

Note

• "This book accompanied an exhibit held at the Alaska State Museum in the summer of 1986 and at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art in the spring of 1987"--T.p. verso.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Kayak Design -- Siberia -- Koryak -- Chukchi -- Siberian Eskimo -- Aleut -- Pacific Eskimo -- Kodiak Eskimo -- Chugach Eskimo -- Bering Sea -- Nunivak/Hooper Bay -- Norton Sound -- Bering Strait -- Cape Espenberg -- King Island -- North Alaska -- Kotzebue Sound/Point Barrow -- North Alaska Retrieval Kayak -- Nunamiut -- Mackenzie Eskimo -- Paddles.

ISBN

1889963100 (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^^00027096^

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library