Origins of The Kayak

The small 'human-powered' boat that we know as a kayak was originally developed by Native Aleut and Eskimo hunters in sub-arctic regions of North America and Greenland. They used the boats to hunt on inland lakes rivers and coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic, Bering Sea and North Pacific oceans. These first kayaks were constructed from stitched animal skins such as seal stretched over a wooden frame made from collected driftwood, as many of the areas of their construction were treeless. Archaeologists have found evidence indicating that kayaks are at least 4000 years old.

Though the term “kayak” is now used broadly for this class of boat, native people made many different types of boats for different purposes. The "baidarka" is the name sometimes used for the Aleutian style sea kayak. The word has its origins from early Russian settlers in Alaska. It was developed by indigenous cultures in Alaska and made in double or triple cockpit designs, and was used for hunting and transporting passengers or goods. An "umiak" (“women’s boat”) is a larger open deck ranging from 17 feet to 60 feet, made with sealskins and wood. It was paddled with single bladed paddles and typically had more than one paddler. It is thought the kayak originally started out as a decked over "umiak" and evolved into its traditional form.

The word “kayak” means “man’s boat” or “hunter’s boat”, and native kayaks were a very personal craft, built by the man who would use them (with the assistance from his wife, who would sew the skins) fitting his measures, for maximum maneuverability. A special skin jacket, Tuilik was then laced into the kayak, creating a waterproof seal. This made the Eskimo roll the preferred method of regaining posture after a capsize, especially as few Eskimos could swim. 

Kayak builders used anthropomorphic measurements (using his own body) to create a kayak that conformed closely to his own body. For example – typically the length was three times the span of his outstretched arms. The width at the cockpit was the width of the builder’s hips plus two fists (and sometimes less). The typical depth was his fist plus the outstretched thumb (hitch hiker). Thus typical dimensions were about 17 feet long by 20-22 inches wide by 7 inches deep. This measurement style confounded early European explorers who tried to duplicate the kayak because each kayak was a little different.

Kayaks differ distinctly in design and history from canoes, which are more flat bottomed boats propelled by a single-bladed paddles by a kneeling paddler, although some modern canoes may be difficult for a non-expert to distinguish from a kayak. Kayaks are often called canoes in Great Britain and Ireland. 

Contemporary kayaks trace their origins primarily to the native boats of Alaska, Northern Canada, and Southwest Greenland. Wooden kayaks and fabric kayaks on wooden frames (such as the Klepper, the earliest commercial folding kayak developed in the late 1800's) were dominating the market up until 1950s when fiberglass boats were first introduced. Rotomolded plastic kayaks first appeared in 1973. Inflatable kayaks are part of the progression of the development of inflatable boats that also dates back to the 1800's. Folding kayaks exhibit many of the same paddling characteristics as the original skin-and frame vessels of the circumpolar north. Of all modern kayaks, they are closest relatives to the skin-and frame boats of the past.