"Kayak"

This is a piece of Native art carved by John Komakhuk of Eagle River, Alaska.

The Natives are allowed to sell the products of their subsistence hunting. The kayak is made of alder wood, a native tree. The figures are made of soapstone, a soft talc metamorphic rock used for thousands of years for carving. The paddles and harpoon are made of whale baleen. Baleen is a comb like feature in the mouths of whales that is used to filter eatables from the sea water. The rope is made of the gut of a seal and there is a bit of walrus ivory at the tip of the harpoon.

John Komakhuk was known to be one of the best Native artists at this craft of kayak carving. This piece was made in 1994 and was purchased directly from the artist and bears his signature. At tourist shops there are many cheaper copies but this is one of the best.

Oh, that's a seal on the front of the kayak, the catch of the day. On the back of the kayak there is a buoy. The real ones were made of a balloon of seal skin and tied to the end of the harpoon. Once the harpoon was lodged in the target prey, the kayakers could follow the floating buoy to retrieve the catch.

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