Fig 1 - Map showing the traditional habitat of the Aleut population: the archipelago of the Aleutian Islands and the tip of the Alaska peninsula as far as Port Moller. The Pribilof Islands and the Commander (Komandorskiye) Islands were not inhabited until relatively late, towards the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries respectively, by Aleut families transplanted by Russian colonizers (Map prepared by D Fouchier, Centre de recherches Anthropologiques, Musée de l'Homme).

Fig 2 - One man kayak shown in an engraving from Le troisième voyage de Cook, III, Paris, 1785, from a drawing by John Webber. In June 1778, an Aleut hunter from Unalaska, wearing a wooden visor decorated with sea lion whiskers and dressed in a chigidax, or waterproof garment, approached Cook's vessel, the Resolution, (Document private collection, photo Musée de l'Homme. J Oster).

Fig 3 - Different types of kayaks from the Aleutian Islands: one man kayak, with skin covering, fully equipped; and wooden frame of a two man kayak. In: Choris, Voyage pittoresque autour du Monde, plate VIII, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1822, (Document of the Société de Géographie, photo, J Robert-Lamblin).

Fig 4 - Scale model of a three man kayak (length 48 cm, width 6.2 cm). The frame, of red painted wood, is covered by a sealskin envelope, the upper seams of which are decorated with strands of red and blue wool (Collection Musée de l'Homme, Paris, M H 08,1.1. photo J Oster).

Fig 5 - Units of measurement used by Bill Tcheripanoff in making a two man kayak and sea otter harpoon. The values of these measurements are given in centimeters: they represent the informant's body measurements.

Sternman's equipment (hunting partner):

Bowman's equipment (owner of the kayak):

Fig 7 - Cross section of the kayak, showing the structure of the hull and the profile of the deck (forming a medial ridge)

Fig 8 - Detail of the prow, saningin, and the stern, ukunyulax,

Fig 10 - Double paddle, akadguseq, of light, strong wood. Measurements of length; the width may vary. The blades of the paddle have a medial rib on each side. (Sketch D Fouchier, CRAMH, from information supplied by Bill Tcheripanoff).

Fig 11 - Aleut hunter in a kayak, about to toss his harpoon, using a thrower. Scale model brought from Unalaska in 1872 by Alphonse Louis Pinart. The kayak is made of wood, covered with oiled, translucent skin, and the hunter's garment of seal intestines. On the deck of the kayak, attached by leather straps, are a number of wooden instruments painted red and, in some case, black as well: a long geometrically cut and sculpted piece, a paddle, a club, and seven wood and ivory harpoons. Length of the kayak: 42 cm. (Collection of the Musée municipal de Boulogne-sur-Mer, No 168, photo J Robert-Lamblin).

Fig 12 - Kayaks off the small trading centre of Unalaska in the early nineteenth century. In: Choris, Voyage pittoresque autour du monde, plate VII, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1822. (Document of the Société de Géographie, photo J Robert-Lamblin).

Fig 13 - Lithograph showing the physical characteristics and dress of the inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands. The man is wearing hunting dress: kamleika (a long, hooded waterproof garment made of horizontal strips of dried sea lion or seal intestines, sewn together) and wooden visor decorated with beads and sea lion whiskers. In: Choris, Voyage pittoresque autour du monde, plate V, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1822 (Document of the Société de Géographie, photo J Robert-Lamblin).

Fig 14 - A.L. Pinart's traveling companions on his kayak tour of the Aleutian archipelago in 1871. The three man craft is probably the one in which the young explorer traveled (Iliouliouk, May 1871) (Document of the Société de Géographie, WF America 159 No 13, photo Bibliothèque Nationale).

Fig 15 - Sketch by Bill Tcheripanoff showing a sea otter hunt from a two man kayak. The otter is swimming on its back, dragging the shaft of the harpoon by which it has been wounded. In the kayak, it is the hunter seated in front who has thrown the harpoon, while the other hunter is steering and stabilizing the craft (Sketch drawn at Akutan, summer 1971).

Fig 16 - The sea otter harpoon: iglax, shape and dimensions as described by Bill Tcheripanoff.

Fig 17 - The harpoon thrower, ásxux: shape and dimensions as described by the same informant. The thrower is a wooden stick which acts as an extension of the hunter's arm, to increase the force and distance of throw.

(Sketch D Fouchier from information provided by Bill Tcheripanoff)

Fig 18 - The principal informant for this study, Bill Tcheripanoff (born 1902), presenting the braided intestine of a seal, ready for cooking, a favorite dish among the Aleuts (Photo J Robert-Lamblin, Akutan, summer 1971).

Fig 19 - Aleut hunter's hat, made of light wood and decorated with multicolored paintings very realistically depicting various marine mammals (whales, beluga, sea lion, octopus, etc) and scenes showing kayak hunting. On the original lithograph, the colors black, red, light blue and light green reproduce the paints of mineral or animal origin traditionally used by the Aleuts. Two scenes showing the sea otter hunt, using the technique of encircling by a fleet of kayaks, are pictured: in one, the otter is swimming alone and in the other she is holding her young between her forelegs. In: Choris, Voyage pittoresque autour du monde, plate IV, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1822. (Document of the Société de Géographie, photo J Robert-Lamblin).