This study will examine the integral role of owls in Ainu spiritual belief systems
through the means of Ainu oral literature and Ainu material arts. In the past, the
indigenous people known as Ainu lived only in northern Japan, including Kurile Islands
(“Kurile Ainu”), Sakhalin (“Sakhalin Ainu”), and Hokkaido (“Hokkaido Ainu”). Today,
Ainu people live across Japan; however, Hokkaido is considered their spiritual homeland
and the majority of the population lives in this northern prefecture. This paper will focus
on the group of people called “Hokkaido Ainu”. Before a large number of Japanese
migrated to Hokkaido during the Meiji era (1868-1912), Ainu people had lived close to
nature through various activities such as fishing, hunting, and gathering. As a result of
these daily activities involving nature, the Ainu developed their spiritual belief systems.
For example, they believe that various spirits exist in natural phenomena such as plants,
insects, and animals. Among these animals, the bear, killer whale and owl are considered
in many Ainu societies as the highest-ranked animal kamuy, meaning gods or deities. The
Owl God in particular, is believed to be the guardian of the village. In this project, the
symbolic representation of the Owl God in four different Ainu traditional folklores and
various forms of arts will be carefully examined. The goal of this study is to demonstrate
that although the language and physical communities are under threat by Japanese
migration and a modern industrial economy, the spiritual belief in the Owl God as the
guardian of the village continues to exist in contemporary Ainu works of art. In addition,
I will argue that the representation of the Owl God, Kotan-kor-kamuy, is an important
symbolic expression of Ainu cultural identity. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/3246 |
| Date | 19 April 2011 |
| Creators | Kameda, Yuko |
| Contributors | Iles, Timothy |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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