Our Land Was A Forest: An Ainu Memoir

by Kayano Shigeru

• ISBN13: 9780813318806
• ISBN10: 0813318807
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1994-04-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book is a beautiful and moving personal account of the Ainu, the native inhabitants of Hokkaido, Japan's northern island, whose land, economy, and culture have been absorbed and destroyed in recent centuries by advancing Japanese. Based on the author's own experiences and on stories passed down from generation to generation, the book chronicles the disappearing worldand courageous rebirthof this little-understood people.Kayano describes with disarming simplicity and frankness the personal conflicts he faced as a result of the tensions between a traditional and a modern society and his lifelong efforts to fortify a living Ainu culture. A master storyteller, he paints a vivid picture of the Ainus' ecologically sensitive lifestyle, which revolved around bear hunting, fishing, farming, and woodcutting.Unlike the few existing ethnographies of the Ainu, this account is the first written by an insider intimately tied to his own culture yet familiar with the ways of outsiders. Speaking with a rare directness to the Ainu and universal human experience, this book will interest all readers concerned with the fate of indigenous peoples.

Author Biography

Kayano Shigeru is the founder and director of the Kayano Shigeru Ainu Memorial Museum. He is a Diet member, the first Ainu to be elected. Kyoko Selden teaches Japanese at Cornell University. Lili Selden is a graduate student in Japanese literature at the University of Michigan. Kayano Shigeru is the founder and director of the Kayano Shigeru Ainu Memorial Museum. He is a Diet member, the first Ainu to be elected. Kyoko Selden teaches Japanese at Cornell University. Lili Selden is a graduate student in Japanese literature at the University of Michigan. Kayano Shigeru is the founder and director of the Kayano Shigeru Ainu Memorial Museum. He is a Diet member, the first Ainu to be elected. Kyoko Selden teaches Japanese at Cornell University. Lili Selden is a graduate student in Japanese literature at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Foreword	xi
Mikiso Hane
Translators' Note	xiii
Our Nibutani Valley	1	(10)
The Four Seasons in the Ainu Community	11	(12)
My Grandfather, a Slave to the Shamo	23	(14)
Following Forced Evacuation	37	(8)
A Long Absence from School	45	(12)
My Father's Arrest	57	(14)
An Adolescence Away from Home	71	(16)
Realizing My Dream of Becoming a Foreman	87	(10)
Lucky Is the One Who Dies First	97	(14)
The Teachings of Chiri Mashiho	111	(14)
Making the Acquaintance of Kindaichi Kyosuke	125	(8)
Building the Museum of Ainu Cultural Resources	133	(14)
As a Member of the Ainu People	147	(12)
Epilogue	159	(4)
Glossary	163	(8)
About the Book and Author	171