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TRANSPORTATION WEEK II

Word of the Day - Thursday, July 27th

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Umiak (YOO-mee-ak)


A large open Inuit boat made of skins stretched on a wooden frame

Common clues: Kayak kin, Inuit vessel

Crossword puzzle frequency: 2 times a year

News: Living with Arctic climate change





The umiak is a type of boat used by the Inuit for transportation. Its name means "woman's boat," as opposed to the kayak, which means "man's boat". Like the kayak, the umiak is traditionally made from driftwood or whalebone pegged and/or lashed together into a frame, over which bearded seal skins are stretched. The Umiak was significantly larger than the kayak, holding more than 20 people in its 6 to 10 meter frame, with about seven skins needed for a boat of 30 feet. It is used in summer to move people and possessions to seasonal hunting grounds and for whaling expeditions. The frame is constructed using whale bones or driftwood on which seal skin is stretched around, and then lashed on pegs made of antlers, ivory or wood. The bow and stern and blunt.

 

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Umiak".