Abstract
In the early 1980s, the point in time my interest in the Hokkaido Ainu began, it was more or less generally accepted among social scientists that the Hokkaido Ainu constituted an extinct or shortly extinct group of people. This perception is a scientific construction based on ethnocentric views, portraying the Hokkaido Ainu as a primitive and backward people, freezing their life-style in an obscure past and placing their ethnic identity in the context of extinct races. This misconception of a people and their ways is nourished and supported in social and political rhetoric in Japan. Among other things, it aims at upholding the notion of Japan as inhabited by one homogenous group of people, namely the Wajin, the majority ethnic group in Japan.1 Even though, this state of affairs fallouts in much hardship and suffering for the Hokkaido Ainu, it has discouraged them neither from challenging the hierarchical and holistic identity of the Wajin nor from practicing and taking part in activities belonging to their cultural tradition. In recent times, the Hokkaido Ainu have joined the global community of indigenous peoples.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Arutiunov, S. A. 1999 Ainu Origin Theories, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 29–31, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Baba, Y. 1980 Study of Minority-Majority Relations: The Ainu and the Japanese in Hokkaido, in The Japanese Interpreter, 60–92.
Batchelor, J. 1932 The Ainu Bear Festival, Sapporo: The Transaction of the Asiatic Society of Japan.
—, 1938 Ainu Eiwa Jiten, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
—, 1971 The Ainu Life and Lor, New York: Johnsson Reprint Corporation.
Burger, J. 1990 The Gaia Atlas of First Peoples: A Future for the Indigenous World, New York: Anchor Books Doubleday.
Cornell, J. 1964 Ainu Assimilation and Cultural Extinction. Ethnology, 3: 287–304.
Davis, G. 1987 Japan’s Indigenous Indians: The Ainu. Tokyo Journal, October issue: 7–13, 18–19.
Dietz, Kelly L. 1999 Ainu in the International Arena, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 359–365, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Fagan, B. 1984 Clash of Culture, New York: E. F. Freeman & Co.
Fitzhugh William W. and Chisato O. Dubreuil. 1999 Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution: University of Washington Press.
Hilger, M. 1967 Together with the Ainu: A Vanishing People, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.
Howell, David L. 1999 The Ainu and The Early Modern Japanese State, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 96–101, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Ichida, H. 1999 Ancient People of the North Pacific Rim: Ainu Biological Relationship with Their Neighbors, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 52–56, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Kayano, S. 1974 Kaze no Kamui to Okikurumi, Tokyo: Komine Shoten.
—, 1974 Kiboro no Okami, Tokyo: Komine Shoten.
—, 1974 Kitsune no Charanke, Tokyo: Komine Shoten.
—, 1974 Okikurumi no Bouken, Tokyo: Komine Shoten.
—, 1975 Ore no Nibutani, Tokyo: Suzusawa Shoten.
—, 1976 Chise Akara, Tokyo: Miraisha.
—, 1977 Honoo no Uma, Tokyo: Suzusawa Shoten.
—, 1977 Ainu no Min wa Shuu, Sapporo: Hokuto Shoten.
—, 1977 Ainu no Mingu, Tokyo: Suzusawa Shoten.
—, 1978 Mono to Kokoro, Tokyo: Komine Shoten.
—, 1979 Hitotubu no Satoro, Tokyo: Heibonsha.
—, 1980 Ainu no Ishibumi, Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha.
—, 1985 The Romance of the Bear God, Tokyo: Taishukan.
—, 1987 Nibutani ni Ikite, Sapporo: Hokkaido Shinbunsha.
—, 1988 Kamui Yukar to Mukashibanashi, Tokyo: Sogakukan.
—, 1994 Our Land was a Forest—An Ainu Memoir, Oxford: Westview Press.
Kikuchi, T. 1999 Ainu Ties with Ancient Cultures of Northeast Asia, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 47–51, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Kodama, S. 1970 Ainu Historical and Anthropological Studies, Sapporo: Hokudai University Press.
Kreiner, J. 1993 European Studies on Ainu Language and Culture, edited by Kreiner, J. Muenchen: Iudicium-Verl.
Lee. R. B. and I. DeVore 1975 Man the Hunter, Chicago, IL: Aldine Publication Co.
Levin, M.G. 1958 Ethnic Origins of the People of Northeastern Asia, in Arctic Institute of North America, Anthropology of the North 3, edited by H. N. Michael, Toronto: University Press of Toronto.
Lévi-Strauss, C. 1969 The Elementary Structure of Kinship, Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Munro, N. 1911 Prehistoric Japan, Tokyo: Daiichi Shobo.
—, 1962 Ainu Creed and Cult, London: Greenwood Press.
Naert, P. 1960 Aiona: En Bok om Ainu—Det Vita Folket I Fjärran Östern, Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.
Nibutani Forum Organizing Committee 1994 Gathering in AinuMoshir The Land of the Ainu: Messages from Indigenous Peoples in the World, Japan: Eikoh Educational and Cultural Institute/Yushisha Co, Ltd.
Ohnuki-Tierney, E.1981 Illness and Healing among the Sachalin Ainu, A Symbolic Interpretation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ohtsuka, K. 1999 Tourism, Assimilation and Ainu Survival Today, in Ainu Spirit of a NorthernPeople, 92–95, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Peng F. C. C. and P. Geiser 1977 The Ainu: The Past in the Present, Hiroshima: Bunka Hyoron Publishing Company.
Refsing, K. 1980 The Ainu People of Japan, IWGIA Newsletter, no. 24: 79–92. Copenhagen.
—, 1986 The Ainu language: The Morphology and Syntax of the Shizunai Dialect, Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
—, 1993 The Ainu Concept of Time as Expressed Through Language, in European Studies on Ainu Language and Culture, 91–100, edited by Kreiner, J. Muenchen: Iudicium-Verl.
Reischauer, E. O. and Craig, A. M.1973 Japan, Tradition and Transformation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saito, H. 1912 Japan’s Historia, Stockholm: P. A. Nordstedt och Söner.
Seligman, B. Z. 1962 Social Organization, Postscript, in Ainu Creed and Cult, 141–158, edited by Munro, N. Cambridge University Press.
Siddle, R. 1999 From Assimilation to Indigenous Rights: Ainu Resistance Since 1869, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 108–115, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Sjöberg, K. 1991 Mr. Ainu: The Ainu Struggle for a Cultural Definition, in Perspectives on Japan and Korea, 122–142, edited by Kalland and Sörensen, NIAS/NAJAKS.
—, 1993 The Return of the Ainu, London: Harwood Academic Publichers.
—, 1995 Practicing Ethnicity in a Hierarchical Culture, in Indigenous Peoples of Asia, 373–389, edited by R. H. Barnes, Andrew Gray, and Benedict Kingsbury, Michigan: Ann Arbor, Michigan.
— 1997a Ainufolkets religion i historiskt och antropologiskt perspektiv, i Svensk religionshistorisk årsskrift, 66–86, edited by Westerlund, D., Uppsala: Svensk religionshistorisk årsskrift.
— 1997b Ainu och Naturen i Att kräva livet åte,r 122–134, edited by Dahre, U., Lund: Agora.
— 1998 The Methodological Looking-glass Principles in Practice, the Case of the Lubicon Cree Group, Lund: Studentlitteratur.
— 1999 En resa i identitet, tid och geografi—ainufolket på Hokkaido, i Mer än Kalla Fakta, 146–164, edited by Sjöberg, K., Lund: Studentlitteratur.
— 2001 Asian Folklore Studies 2001.: 354–356, edited by Knecht, P., Nagoya: Nanzan Institute.
— 2004 Rethinking Indiegenous Religious Traditions: The Case of the Ainu, in Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity, 224–244, edited by Jacob K. Olupona, New York: Routledge.
Smith, R. J. 1983 Japanese Society: Traditional Self and the Social Order, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stevens, G. 2001 The Ainu And Human Rights: Domestic and International Legal Protection, in Japanese Studies, 21, 2: 121–198.
— 2005 More Than Paper: Protecting Ainu Culture and Influencing Japanese Dam Development, Cultural Survival Quarterly, Winter: 44–47.
Takakura, S. 1960 The Ainu of Northern Japan. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 50: 1–92.
Tamura, S. 1983 Ainu Itak, Tokyo: Tokyo University Press.
— 1999 Ainu Language: Features and Relationships, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 57–66, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Tsunemoto, T. 1999 The Ainu Shinpo, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 366–368, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Utari Kyokai 1987 Statement Submitted to the Fifth Session of the Working Group on Indigenous Population, Geneva, Switzerland.
Watanabe, H. 1972 The Ainu Ecosystem, Tokyo: Tokyo University Press.
— 1975 Subsistence and Ecology of Northern Food Gatherers, with Special References to the Ainu, in Man the Hunter, 69–77, edited by Lee and DeVore, Chicago: Aldine Publication Co.
Yamaura, K. 1999 Prehistoric Hokkaido and Ainu Origins, in Ainu Spirit of a Northern People, 39–46, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil, Smithsonian Institute: University of Washington Press.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2006 Barry Sautman
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sjöberg, K. (2006). Redefining the Past, Taking Charge of the Present, Appropriating the Future; The Hokkaido Ainu Case. In: Sautman, B. (eds) Cultural Genocide and Asian State Peripheries. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230601192_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230601192_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-53643-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-60119-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)