Model, of Inuit kayak

This model shows the wooden frame from an Inuit kayak from Greenland. The kayak was used for hunting waterfowls, sea-mammals and those animals that could be driven into the water like caribou.

The driftwood frame is held together by wooden pegs and knots of sinew. Driftwood was the usual source for the kayak framework as trees were sparse in the kayak area. The completed vessel, with caribou or sealskin cover, would have been light enough to carry.

Although it is usually associated with the Eskimo culture, the kayak was also used by the Asian cultures of Aleut, Chukchi and Koryak. It is still made today and used by some Eskimo groups, although rifles have largely replaced the traditional spears and harpoons.

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