Speaking for Themselves
For the Ainu of Japan, long-denied cultural recognition
During the late 19th century, hordes of Japanese and Western tourists visited Hokkaido to catch a glimpse of a people they thought were on the verge of extinction. Like American Indians who performed in Wild West shows in the same period, Ainu were put on display for the amusement of outsiders. Traveling exhibits objectifying the Ainu toured Europe and the United States--in the 1890s there was even a show at the Smithsonian.
The curators of the current Smithsonian exhibition attempt to be far more sensitive about how its subjects are portrayed, and they have consulted aboriginal authorities throughout the process. The Japanese government has changed its attitude too: A 1997 law gave official recognition to the Ainu language and culture for the first time. In an effort to present an exhibition of the Ainu rather than merely one about them, Dubreuil and Fitzhugh have included works of art by contemporary Ainu sculptors and painters. "We wanted to show that Ainu culture is still a vital, living force," says Dubreuil. Many modern works employ traditional geometric motifs and intricate repeating patterns that emphasize the ties to the past.
Sacrifice or thanks? Perhaps the most important expression of Ainu culture is the iyomante, or bear-sending ritual. Long prohibited by Japanese authorities and virtually extinguished for much of the 20th century, iyomante is a rite central to traditional Ainu spirituality. Everything in the physical world, Ainu believe, is inhabited by a divine spirit that must be treated with respect. Spirits dwell in each tree, stone, and river, but the deities who inhabit living creatures are entitled to particular reverence.
As a symbolic gesture of gratitude to the gods for leaving their sphere to fill the earth with life, the Ainu ceremonially slay animals such as an owl, a fox, or--on particularly momentous occasions--a bear, to send its spirit back to the realm of divinities. The Japanese Shinto faith similarly recognizes an infinity of deities permeating the physical world, but it seeks to propitiate these spirits with gifts rather than what its practitioners might consider animal sacrifice. For the Ainu, however, the iyomante (a life-size diorama of which is the centerpiece of the Smithsonian exhibition) is not a sacrifice at all: It is a grateful send-off to a divine guest in hopes of a welcome return.
Early ethnographic accounts used the bear-sending ritual to portray the Ainu as a strange, superstitious, and inscrutable people. By showing the iyomante and other expressions of culture from an Ainu point of view, Smithsonian curators hope to turn this portrayal inside out. After centuries of misrepresentation, the "exotic others" are speaking to museumgoers with their own voice.
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