Umiak

The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac, oomiak, ongiuk, or anyak[1] is a type of open skin boat, used by the Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland.

[7] Like the kayak, the traditional umiak was made from a driftwood or whalebone frame pegged and lashed together, sometimes with antlers or ivory, over which walrus or bearded seal skins are stretched.

[citation needed] In Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the process for replacing the skin of an umiak begins when the ice moves away from the shores of the Arctic Ocean in July.

At that time the skins are scraped free of hair, sewn together with a waterproof stitch, and then stretched over the wooden frame and tied into place using the sinew from caribou.

In May when the bowhead whales migrate eastward past Point Barrow, umiak skin boats are hauled on sleds pulled by snowmobiles out onto the ice.