HEATH, John D. and Eugene ARIMA, 2004 Eastern Arctic Kayaks: History, Design, Technique, with contributions by John Brand, Hugh Collings, Harvey Golden, H.C. Petersen, Johannes Rosing and Greg Stamer, Fairbanks, University of Alaska Press, 172 pages.

In many professions, but especially in anthropology, there exist a great number of dedicated amateurs who are amateur in the best sense of the word, i.e. they pursue a field of study for no pay, but with great zeal and often, skill. True, they usually do not speak and write in the jargon of the trade, but that is more to their credit than anything else. In my own studies of traditional Arctic watercraft, I have come upon a number of such people scattered throughout North America and Europe, joined together by correspondence in pursuing their great love. I was fortunate as a young anthropologist to be put in touch with John D. Heath who had then been working diligently for over 20 years to amass as much data as possible on arctic kayaks. He had built replicas of Eskimo kayaks, journeyed to Alaska and later, Greenland, to talk directly with kayak makers, visited museum storerooms throughout the United States and Canada in order to see and record the details of kayak construction and carried on a voluminous correspondence with anthropologists, naval historians and other—often at his own expense and during precious short vacation time. John willingly sent obscure facts and details to me that helped immensely with my own studies. In the volume’s first and longest essay (“Kayaks of Greenland”), John Heath muses on the evolution of kayak types from Alaska to Greenland, discusses construction techniques and describes a number of interesting Greenland kayaks found in museums worldwide. His essay includes some of his line drawings. John developed a method, using only a few easily-transported instruments, for taking the lines off of museum kayak specimens. One of John’s gifts to me was teaching me his technique. John was an expert in the rolling of kayaks, in both Alaska and Greenland. His essay comes alive when he describes in detail the many maneuvers Greenland kayakers used to roll their kayaks in the conditions of their particular ocean environment. He describes and illustrates nearly 40 techniques for capsizing/rolling a kayak. These maneuvers are well illustrated with photos and/or detailed drawings. As he points out, many of these are pure showmanship, used in present-day competitions. Most Greenland kayak hunters would probably know only the basic capsize prevention and recovery techniques. Heath concludes his essay with some miscellaneous remarks drawn from his voluminous field notes. The diversity of these remarks—a legend, a method of scaring away killer whales and a discussion of kajakangst, Danish for ‘kayak anxiety’—shows his far-reaching interest in all things “kayak.” Greg Stamer, an avid paddler, credits John Heath with forging his understanding of Greenland kayak techniques. His essay (“Using Greenland Paddles: An Overview”) describes the various types of Greenland paddles. He gives an interesting analysis of the difference between feathered and unfeathered paddles. The former is commonly used by recreational kayakers, the latter, in various sizes and shapes, is the traditional arctic paddle. Stamer amplifies Heath’s capsize/recovery descriptions with his illustrated examples. Harvey Golden is another passionate amateur, both as a paddler and researcher of museum specimens. He has probably built more replicas of more traditional arctic kayaks types than anyone. His essay (“Kayaks in European Museums: A Recent Research Expedition”) describes 11 of 38 kayaks surveyed on trips through England, Scotland, and the Netherlands and includes clear line drawings. The kayaks are from west and east Greenland as well as from the Polar Inuit of northwest Greenland. Hugh Collings was first inspired by John Brand (see below) to survey kayaks in Swedish collections. For his essay (“A Seventeenth-Century Kayak and the Swedish Kayak Tradition”) he selected three …