Kayaks

This passage is about how kayaks were made by Native Americans.

Lexile Level: 710L

Categories: History Sports & Health

A kayak is a type of boat that was invented over 4,000 years ago. The Aleuts and Eskimos, two Native American tribes, came up with the design. They used the boats to hunt along lakes, rivers, and costal waters. Only the men paddled these boats; the women had different boats. In fact the word kayak means "man's boat." Each man constructed his own boat. He made his boat according to his own body shape and size. The boat was three times the length of his outstretched arms. He would make his paddle equal to the height from his toes to his outstretched finger tips. The width of the kayak was equal to the width of his hips plus two of his fists. The man would then have a seal skin jacket that attached to the boat itself. This way no cold water could get into the kayak. The boat and the man worked together in many ways.