: Good points - though I might suggest the environments and uses were/are not
: all that similar - except maybe in a general sense as viewed from a
: "modern" temperate zone recreational (vs subsistence) kayaker's
: perspective - which most of us reading this share.

From your previous post:

: Riding up onto ice and steep stone beaches.

: A softer and more forgiving ride in sloppy conditions due

: Easier to carry - with heavy mittens!

: Also easier to lift on/off and maneuver around on the racks

: Easier to skin - with fewer seams

: There are likely also some structural/construction benefits to the frame

: QUIETER in waves.

: Breaks up the visual outline from a seal's point of view

It seems that this list is pretty universal, but even if we acknowledge that the Aleutian Islands have different conditions from Disko Bay, a look at page 204 & 205 of Dyson's "Baidarka" show a wide range of different boats that fall under the "baidarka" designation. The natives of the North Pacific had a wide variety of boat to deal with a wide variety of conditions. The Kodiak Island, Hooper Bay and Unalaska boats are all strikingly different, and that is only a small sampling. Some of these people would have landed on dumping beaches, others may have encountered sea ice.

Similarly, as others have pointed out, the kayaks of Greenland, the Mackenzie Delta, Point Barrow, Labrador and Baffin all shared some paddling conditions while others were different, yet the solution they selected for their boats were all different.

I think we can safely assume their designs were all highly adapted for the way the hunters hunted in the conditions where they lived. Without really knowing the specifics of how they used the boats in all situations, I am sure there are "uses" for each design decision that we will never really know for certain. I am also certain that there is more than one solution for surviving in the arctic with a kayak.