I can appreciate that and it brings up an interesting point. Don't get me wrong, I would like nothing more than to be paddling an exact reproduction of a native boat. But, the way I look at it, the tradition is more an idea than a set of offsets or deck rigging. In my mind, the tradition is more about originality, independence and abiltiy; which any native builder would have in spades. That's probably the funnest part for almost all of us. The native kayak builders would have used the most advanced technology available in order to feed their families. And who knows, they might have wanted hatches too if they had gotten their blubber at the supermaket