Subject: Re: [baidarka] skin boats
From: wolfgang brinck (nativewater@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Nov 21 2005 - 11:05:03 EST
--- Will Samson <willsamson@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> I wonder if any of our home-built kayaks - especially the more
> 'organic'
> ones - could eventually find their way into museum collections and
> be
> mislabeled?
>
There is a baidarka frame hanging from the ceiling of a dining room
in the Grand Aleutian hotel in Unalaska, AK. When I looked at it
closely, it appeared to be a used frame constructed within the last
few years. However, if it hangs there for another 100 years, nobody
any longer will remember where it came from and it could conceivably
be judged as authentic.
Some museums, even in Alaska have modern replicas on display, I
imagine because original boats are in short supply, especially frames
without skin. Again, any lapses in record keeping, and that replica
could easily become the "real thing" as it were.
There is a movement in Alaska to revive the Native boat building
tradition. People are building boats and covering them with animal
skins, often. Those very well could make their way into museum
collections, especially if they are used for a while first and if
built well enough, pass for earlier boats. Since they are made by
native builders, sometimes under the tutelage of old men who still
remember the traditional practices, these would in fact be authentic
native boats.
One thing I noticed when looking at kayaks in museums is that many of
them have a lot higher level of workmanship than the ones that are
home built in garages or in kayak building courses.
Few home builders are likely to put that kind of effort into their
boats, or are even likely to know that that kind of effort ever went
into boats. Drawings rarely document this level of detail. For
instance, one boat I saw which hailed from somewhere along the
Alaskan coast has each rib carved with great care. Each rib is
intricately shaped. Thickness varies. They are thicker in the flat
than at the bends. Edges are rounded. In addition, each rib has a
shallow groove carved in the face of it.
I doubt that anyone is building faithful replicas of that kind of
boat.
Wolfgang
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