Part 2

Here we were again near an Ainu town, Nina, and from here on we were in a forest, frequently on uneven or rolling land, and in the midst of actual winter, with plenty of snow all around us. Presently we came to a considerable Ainu town, Lower Piratori, so called because lower on the Saru River than Upper Piratori. It is well characterized, typical of the Saru River villages. A single street runs through the place; the houses lie in one long line on the east of this street, while the storehouses, set high up, each on four posts, to keep the contents out of reach of animals, are to the west of it. We paid particular attention to the orientation of the houses, because Hitchcock thinks that it is a matter of no consequence. At Lower Piratori, and at all the other Ainu towns we visited, the house is placed east and west; at the east end is the sacred window; the main doorway, at the western end, is generally not visible, being sheltered by a little approach, shelter or shed, known as the _shem_, the doorway in which opens south. In this _shem_ the millet mortar and pestle, agricultural implements, etc., are stored. The east window and the west doorway are often the only openings from the rectangular, single-roomed house, but there may be a south door and also a south window. The Ainu house is rectangular; the ridgepole runs lengthwise and the roof is two-pitched. The framework of the house consists of tree-trunk uprights and pole cross-pieces, all lashed together with cords or strips of bark; the walls are of rushes and mattings and the roof is a heavy thatch. In building the house the roof is first constructed and then lifted and placed upon the corner posts.

In the centre of the room is the open fireplace—a rectangular space, marked out with boards set on edge. There is no chimney for the escape of smoke. The floor may be covered with mats, which are made by the women. The different members of the household have their individual places in the house. The east end of the fireplace is honorable and when a guest arrives to whom great respect is due, a box is set in this place of honor, a fine mat with decorative patterns woven into it is folded and laid upon it, and he is invited to sit down. The sleeping places along the walls are sometimes separated from each other by suspended mats. The inside wall is often hung with mats, partly as a decoration and finish and partly to cut off draughts. Over the fireplace hangs a kettle in which food is boiled; it is suspended by a wooden pothook, which has an ingenious, though simple, mode of adjustment whereby it can be lowered or raised. In the northeast corner of the house are the “treasures,” varying of course with the householder. There are great tubs for saké, cylindrical vessels with lids; they measure a foot or two in height by about a foot across, are of Japanese manufacture and are usually black lacquer with gilding. They were presented long ago to the ancestors, maybe by Japanese officials, and are prized heirlooms. There are also lacquer saké cups or bowls, of various sizes and shapes, but also Japanese gifts and heirlooms. On the wall are hung sword-sheaths with hilts in place; generally there are no blades within, whether because these have been disposed of, or because the Japanese givers thought best not to supply the enemy real weapons, we do not know. All these cups and tubs and swords make a great show, although they are all heavy with the accumulated smoke and dirt of years. Beside these treasures of Japanese origin one sees also objects of native workmanship—knife sheaths (with and without knives) and wooden quivers, some of which contain arrows, even old arrows with the famous poison on them.

Outside, to the east of the sacred window and at a little distance, is the _nusa_, or “sacred hedge,” a line or group of willow sticks set in the ground, from the upper ends of which hang curls of shavings, usually shaved from the sticks themselves. Such shaved sticks, called _inao_, play an important part in the life and religion of the Ainu. The _nusa_ is sacred and strangers should not meddle with it or with single _inao_, nor pass between the _nusa_ and the east window. Nor ought people to look in through the east window or throw things out from the house through it. _Inao_ are also used inside the house. The one of chief importance stands in the very northeast corner of the house and ought never to be removed from its place. Even shaving curls, cut completely from their stick have their value and are tied to, wrapped about, or laid upon, articles in the treasure corner. _Inao_ are also set up by the springs of water, by the storehouses, and even near the outhouses or places of relief. In all these cases, they serve as guardians or charms with magic power.

We did not tarry long at Lower Piratori, but continued our journey to Upper Piratori, which is close by. In fact, formerly, there was a continuous village but a migration of the middle part of the town has left the extremes separated and now they bear distinct names. The little Japanese inn is in the centre of Upper Piratori and we were soon comfortably installed. Piratori is, of all Ainu towns, the best known to the outside world and many travelers—Miss Bird, Landor, Fincke,—have described it and pictured its chief, old Penri. The old man died in December last. When Mr. Batchelor first came to Piratori, years ago, he lived in Penri’s house, having the southeast corner partitioned off for his use. Here he began to study the language and to collect the materials for his dictionary. The old house still stands, though now occupied by a Japanese family, and we photographed it, with Mr. Batchelor near the south doorway, in memory of old times. At the time of his death, Penri lived in another house, which we visited. The widow, on seeing us began to weep, in token of her bereavement; this she would be expected to do, on first seeing a friend after her husband’s death, even if a much longer time had passed after the event. Somewhat to our surprise she let us take away an _inao_ placed at the west door in connection with the funeral and mourning.

At a neighboring house we were greatly impressed by the dignified appearance of two men seated at the fireplace, father and son. The older, a brother of Penri, had long gray hair and beard; the younger, was of somewhat stouter build and had abundant long black hair and a full black beard. As we entered, and the old man saw who we were, he rose without a word, found his crown and placed it on his head; both then proceeded to salute us. We had already seen something of these strange and dignified greetings, but this was our first experience of the thing at home. They sat for some time slowly rubbing their hands together, back and forth, the palms being vertical; after doing this, they separated the hands outward to the sides, palms upward, and then raised and lowered them two or three times, as if balancing or weighing something, each time raising them higher and nearer to the beard; finally they brought the hands to the beard and stroked it from the sides. There are then, really three parts to this salutation, after the performance of which the conversation began.

These crowns worn ceremoniously by the men are really interesting; they consist of a foundation band of cloth or woven work that fits around the head. To this, in front, there is a bear’s head carved in wood; this is replaced sometimes, as at Shiraoi, by bear claws; sometimes the carved head of an eagle or a hawk replaces the bear’s head. From the band of the crown hang several—often six—little square flaps of cloth. These are the “hair” of the crown which also has a “body” and “bones.” A. Henry Savage-Landor, often unreliable, calls these strange head-dresses “regal crowns.” Of course there is nothing “regal” about them. They are worn at joyful festivals or on other pleasant occasions,—such as our visit!—and may be worn only by _well-to-do_ and _good_ men.

Among Ainu the woman is regarded as an inferior and generally she acquiesces pleasantly enough in the assumption. At festivals, the men sit in a line in front, near the drinking cups; the women sit behind and receive what their lords please to give them after they have had what they want. The woman usually wears a band of cloth around her head. On meeting a man, in greeting him, she respectfully removes this and hangs it upon her left arm; she then draws her right hand over her upper lip, from the left to the right; she may then pat the hair at the sides of her head, with her hands. The movement of drawing her hand across her lip is common when she has received a favor and seems to be an expression of thanks and pleasure.

We had planned to photograph during the afternoon but it snowed heavily—as it did every afternoon, while we were in the villages—so we visited from house to house and then waited at the inn, for those who, at Mr. Batchelor’s suggestion, brought in wares and treasures for sale. As these articles were everywhere practically the same, we may as well describe them once for all in connection with Piratori. For a long time back, as shown by old pictures, the Ainu dress has been much like that of their Japanese neighbors. There are, however, some articles of dress that are truly Ainu and even when Japanese stuffs and patterns are used the decoration may be characteristic. The women make a coarse, brown, thread, from elm-bark fibre, which is called _attus_. This they weave, using a simple loom, into a strong and durable cloth, which, however, becomes brittle if too dry. This may be woven solidly in the natural color, or stripes of blue, (black or white,) threads may be woven into it. From such cloth, single piece garments, much like the Japanese _kimono_, with short sleeves tapering at the end, are made for both men and women; there is little, if any real, difference in form in those for the two sexes and both are folded and held in position, by a band at the waist, in the same way. Upon these garments, whether made of _attus_ cloth or of Japanese cottons, the women embroider elaborate patterns in colored threads. On the whole the garments for men are more ornamented than those for women. The patterns are said to differ somewhat from district to district. The designs consist of curious combinations of straight lines and graceful curves. In their irregular forms and symmetrical arrangements, one would hardly think that original animal designs might be hidden. There is no question, however, that some of these apparently meaningless, simply fanciful, designs are conventionalizations of the bear’s head and it is possible that all of them might, by careful study, be traced back to some such origin. Both men and women wear leggings wrapped about the leg from the knee down, which are made of _attus_, or of Japanese blue stuffs, and are often decorated with the curved-line embroideries. Around the neck, women wear a closely-fitting, narrow band of velvet, with a little flap at the middle; upon this flap, which hangs in front when the band is adjusted, is a round piece of silver or german silver upon which an ornamental design is engraved. Both sexes wear earrings, but the old men seem particularly fond of great hoop-earrings, two inches or more across, which are sometimes of silver but more likely of some cheaper material. Women delight in necklaces and often carry several pounds of large beads around the neck; these beads are rarely of bright glass, being generally of dull colors and of some porcelanous material. We had supposed these beads to be of Japanese origin but are told that most of them came from Manchuria. In any event, the heavy strings of beads are, generally, heirlooms and it is probably a long time since new supplies of them have been sold or exchanged to the Ainu. Frequently, square-pierced “cash” are strung in with the beads and a disk or other pendant of metal hangs from the necklace. While the woman is often content with any cloth to tie around her head, she sometimes weaves a special head-band of decorative character.

Ainu babies, like Japanese, are often carried on the backs of older children, who are themselves little more than babies. The modes of carrying are, however, quite different. The Japanese baby is bound in place and the loose over-garment of the little nurse is then put on so as to cover both baby and carrier; the Ainu baby, sometimes seated on a little stick, is carried by means of a carry-strap, _tara_, very like those in use among American Indians, which passes across the forehead of the bearer. Not only babies, but all sorts of burdens are carried with the _tara_.

The face tattoo of Ainu women has already been mentioned. It is begun in childhood, a small round spot being made at the middle of the upper lip. It is not done by pricking with points as Japanese tattooing is, but by cutting with a knife. Soot from the bottom of the kettle is rubbed into the cut lines and a decoction of ash bark is washed on to fix the color, which, as already stated, is a blue-green. The tattooing is gradually developed, until, when the girl is ready for marriage, the whole, great, moustache-like mark is fully done. It completely surrounds the mouth, covering both the upper and lower lip, and even extends onto the mucous membrane surface. The hands and the arms to the elbows are also tattooed with a system of rings, dots, zigzags, etc., which appear to be largely individual.

In the Ainu house, furniture in our sense of the word is largely lacking. Mattings are used for wall-hangings, carpeting, seats and beds. In the _shem_ are the mortar and pestle for pounding millet. The mortar is hollowed out from a section of a tree trunk; the pestle is heavy, with a head at each end. Women do the pounding, often two of them working together, dealing alternate blows, and singing wordless songs to give time to the blows. There is a variety of bowls and platters, trays, stirrers, ladles, and spoons, cut from wood, some plain and some decorated with ornamental carved designs. Also cut from wood, are pounders, pothooks, suspended cradles, sticks for the baby to sit on when carried, troughs for feeding bears from, and the different parts of the simple loom. There are two kinds of native devices for lighting—a torch consisting of a cleft-stick with a folded bit of birch-bark stuck into the cleft and a lamp made of a pecten shell, as a receiver for oil, set up on a crotched stick. The shell of the pecten also makes a good scoop for dipping out the dinner from the common pot—we have the one that old Parapita used to use at home—and at Shiraoi, we found the great shell lashed to a stick handle, for use as a ladle. Trays and bowls, scoops and ladles are also neatly made from pieces of bark. Agricultural implements are crude. A bent stick serves as a grub or hoe, while poor spades may be cut from wood. A long and narrow fresh-water mussel shell is the sickle with which grain is cut, only the head being removed, while the whole length of the straw remains standing in the field.

Left to themselves, the Ainu would prefer to remain hunters and fishermen. Their mountains abounded in deer and bears and the waters of Yezo swarmed with salmon and other fish. The Ainu had devised a series of ingenious traps and weapons. To-day they have guns, but bows are also somewhat used, though poisoned arrows are a thing of the past—thanks to Japanese laws. The Ainu bow is a single, simple, stick of yew; the bowstring is a cord of bark fibre. The poisoned arrow was an ingenious affair. The foundation of the poison was aconite secured from the corm of the plant; to this various other ingredients were added. Not everyone knew how to compound the poison and to-day the knowledge is possessed by few. The point of the arrow was rather large and broad and was hollowed out on one side; a wad of the poison was pressed into this hollow and then set in place with gum. The Ainu hunter, besides his bows and arrows, spears and clubs, had his hunting knife and knew well how to use it in close encounters with bears. He still uses it and always carries it, sheathed in an elaborately carved wooden case, upon his person.

At Upper Piratori is the “shrine of Yoshitsune.” This famous Japanese hero of the 12th century, according to a doubtful tradition, escaped his pursuing enemies and sought refuge in Yezo, where he was greatly respected by the Ainu, among whom he lived the remainder of his life. Upon the height behind the upper end of the village, there is a little shrine, which contains an ugly figure of a Japanese warrior, said to be Yoshitsune. Miss Bird describes the “worship” of this figure by the Ainu. The shrine and the figure are both purely Japanese. Who put them where they are, or when, or why, we cannot say. If the figure is respected by the Ainu of the village, it has had but little influence on their religious thought. It is aught except “the great god of the mountain Ainu.” If we had had more time or if it had been summer, we would have visited it. As it was we cared more to look at Ainu _inao_ and _nusa_.

Miss Bryant, an Australian lady, lives at Upper Piratori as the local missionary of the C. M. S. She speaks Ainu and has a household of Ainu girls. She was good enough to invite us in the evening to take coffee and delicious cakes. She showed us some embroideries her girls had made in colored silks on cottons. The materials are Japanese and she supplies these to the girls. The designs are left to them. The stitching is well done and is as neat and even as machine work; it is hard to think that the better pieces were done by hand. Mrs. Batchelor, at Sapporo, also allows the Ainu girls in her house to do such needlework. From the sale of such pieces to travelers the girls gain a little money for themselves.

We had thought to pursue our further journey with sleds, but these failed to appear and we started off on foot. As carriers of our luggage we hired a married couple, of whom the woman appeared to be far the better man. At all events, she took the heavier _kore_ (basket-trunk) and started off the more gaily. Both used the _tara_, or carry-strap passing across the forehead, in carrying their loads. We at once crossed the Saru River on the ice. It is here a broad stream, flowing between low terraces, back of which rise fine hills. We tramped steadily through a forest, over a somewhat rolling country, and at the end of an hour found ourselves at Neptani. Here we saw our first evidence of a bear-feast. To the east of one house was a _nusa_, upon the middle _inao_ of which was fastened a bear’s head with the ears and skin yet on. Between the house and the _nusa_ was a post, with a tuft of green at the top, to which the bear had been tied, and we could see, below the east window, the newly repaired wall, showing where the old one had been broken down at the time of the celebration. We saw plenty of similar trophy _nusas_ and other evidences of bear feasts later, but nowhere were we so fortunate as to find the feast in progress—nor did we anywhere see living bears in the villages. There were cages everywhere but all the bears had been killed.

As the bear feast is the most important Ainu ceremonial and one of the strangest customs of this strange people, we will describe it from the observations of others.