The Ainu
Aboriginal peoples of Hokkaido, the
Kuril Islands and the southern
Sakhalin Islands
http://www2.wou.edu:7777/pls/wou2/jukebox.juk_pub.view_tracks?ptrack_id=21952&pcd_id=3243&pcd_num=1
The Ainu Homeland
• Today there are 25-50 thousand Ainu, mostly on Hokkaido.
• Forced assimilation with invading Japanese in 1868;
forced to take Japanese names, speak Japanese, live Japanese
culture, lost autonomy, became the lowest social class.
• Assimilation caused them to lose their names, language,
culture, political power and status.
• Parents chose not to raise children as Ainu; today some are
trying to reclaim their heritage.
• One major source of income is from the government to put on
cultural events - singing and dancing - very similar to Native
Americans in early to mid 20th century.
• Ainu is the Japanese name for the aboriginal peoples of
Hokkaido. The people of Hokkaido shared language and
cultural traditions, but composed different tribes which were
socially and politically autonomous.
Robe
with
typical
Ainu
designs
• The Economy was hunting, fishing and gathering (In SW
Hokkaido there was some farming, but it was probably
introduced by the Japanese in the late 1600s/early1700s).
• Trade with the Russians to the north and the Japanese to
the south was constant and part of a much larger regional
trade network. That is, they were not isolated bumpkins.
• Tribal politics was based on the village or kotan, with
lineage elders running things.
• Age and gender determined social status. Older and male
being highest status. Women past child bearing gained in
status.
• The hearth was center of house. Seating was arranged
around it based on status. The most important people sat
closest to the central mountains, second status towards the
north.
• Although social status was important, male and
female roles complemented rather than clashed with
each other.
• Generosity was the highest human moral value.
• Ainu deities, animals, were the most generous
as they allowed themselves to be killed and eaten.
• Council of elder males ran the village and served
as judges, but shaman, often women, were
commonly consulted, and could overrule the council.
• Social control was peer pressure. “Penetration by the
spirit of an arrow” was a common illness, and was
caused by harsh words unleashed by one person
onto another. Interestingly, the victim was almost
never one of the two involved, but rather was an
innocent bystander.
Religion
• Animistic - Animals are gods, as well
as food; they live in the mountains
• Great Horned Owl protects village
• Fuchi the fire goddess protects the house (the house’s
center is the hearth)
• Bear is most powerful; Iyomanti is the ritual killing of a
bear, and is the most important ritual - renews the contract
with the animals to provide food.
• Conducted by one village, but supported by many others,
uniting them. Social and Political hierarchy reinforced.
Bamboo leaves over reeds
Chikabumi Ainu chise
Ceremony with food offering to the
kamuy spirits
Here the “inaw” sticks are being blessed by Ota-san
and Kenichi Kawamura, the chief of the Chikabumi
Ainu. The prayer sticks are carved into the shape of
birds, which will then fly the prayers to the gods.
Other prayer sticks:
Happiness
Earth
Mountain
Water
Prayers inside the chise
Fuchithe Fire
Spirit
Note the
Kami
stick
Shaman, a religious person
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Most Shaman were women
Consisted of diagnosing and divination
“WHY” was someone sick?
Elders proscribed and carried out the cure.
Diagnosing and Divination consisted of entering a trance,
being possessed by a spirit, which then talked to Fuchi the
fire goddess.
• A divination
Economy
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Huge deer herds
Sea mammals and fishing
Open ocean whale hunting
Fish traps and trained dogs
Resources were controlled.
Permission to hunt and fish,
not travel through territory.
Ainu men dancing, note sword and tonkori
Ainu designs in
modern
Japanese styles
Ainuimation?
!!
http://www.mnh.si.edu/arc
tic/ainu/index.html
http://www2.wou.edu:7777/pls/wou2/jukebox.juk_pub.view_tracks?ptrack_id=22056&pcd_id=3248&pcd_num=1
Mukkuri
bamboo Jew’s harp
Tonkori