The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-09-17

men only are counted. Consequently, though
woman may prepare an Offering to the gods
she may not offer IL. She may som etimes take
the Offering. and. as servant, place 1t before an
Inao. the broom shaped stick which 10 the en-.
blem OF deity: but It IL never her oblation-it
| is her husbands Women are never allowed
to pray. or to take any part In any religious ex.
erclses. The tirstreason for this is immemorlal
tradition: the next is that the men fenr thar.
II the women are allowed to pray, they would
be sure to indulge In lot OF title tattle to the
gods about tho men. and especially about
their husbands. 1t appears. nevertheless that
the Ainu women contrive to fnd outlets for
their wrongs and sorrows The devices to
which they resort in order to give vent to III Dir
resentment are held by the Ainu men to justi.
fy their cruel and oppressive treatment.
| We are told that the most malIe-
nant and dreaded trick which resent
full wife can play upon her husband is
to steal and hide his 1nao. the broom shaped
emblem Of deity. thus bringing him down to
her own goddess level OF having nothing to
| pray to. As a goddess man. he is then shunn ed
by all his village fellows. by whom he is treated
as an atheist and an outcast The suspicion
| with which the Ainu men regard their women
during life becomes still stronger after their
death. II n man is at n loss for the authorship
| of any particular calamity which has befallen
| him. he Is apt to refer It to the ghost OF dead
wife. mother, grandmother or still more GER
tanly to that OF a mother in-law. Because OF
| this appreh ension VIII zen these female relations
| die. they are promptly buriel Mt long dis
| lance away. and the more completely to OBJ
| literate everything associated with them. It Is
not uncommon when one OF them dies to i'm
| mediately burn down the house in which she
tual In cal hat h.
ghost may thus be puzzled and her vsitations
be thwarted.
One OF the remarkable facts about the wor-
ship OF this primitive race is the seemingly
complete absence OF fetichism. The Anus
themselves repudiate the notion that the lnaos
to which We have referred are idols acknowl-
edging them to be only signs or tokens
They affirm that the sole use OF these en- bems
is to supply the conditions favorable to the
presence Of deity and to acceptable worship,
We learn further that all the Anus. AS well as
that branch OF the race to be found in Yezo as
the remnant OF the primitive stock in Sagha-
lien. ARE supposed. more or less crudely,
to believe in one being who is supreme
Owing to the limited ability however OF
the Aihu to form an abstract idea we find
that for every one Of the supreme beings d-
verse operations they have a distinct person
aity. to whom each operation or function may
be referred. and whom. as a person. they may
address by name in prayer and invocation.
For every good god there is assumed to be a
bad god corresponding to it Hence. inside
man and throughout the universe struggle
between good and evil Is recognized as in per-
petual operation Mediation is recognized by
this people. 1t Is q common thing to present
an Offering to one god in order that he may be
induced to intercede with another god on
behalf Of the suppliant. The Anus firmly
believe in the persistence OF personality after
death. They think that after death. all spirits
go at first to one and the same place. where
they are confronted by complete record Of
their deeds on earth. the goodness or badness
OF which determines which OF the two roads
they must take the one leading to sort of
heaven. the other to some kind Of hell. In the
place of the Good. those who go there live for
ever in happiness continuing to see and to
take interest In their friends below. and
capable OF distributing to them punishments
or benefactions. Tho wicked on reaching
their place Of eternal chastisement, are sup
posed to find what above all things the poorly
housed Anus dread. namely habitation |
which Is wet as well as cold. |
Whence and how did these people obtain |
their theological beliefs which present. 1t will! |
and Semitic ideas? The author discusses this
question at some length pointing out that be-
fore Saghalien became a Russian penal set
Element, there were computed to be upon the |
island about 100 Chinese. 5000 Gilyaks. 400 |
Orokaps. some 3. 900 Rus SLAMS. and about . 500 |
Japanese. The Gillyaks have no religion. I'M
less their practice of sorcery may be dignined
by that name. and the Orokaps may DO put in
the same category. or the Chinese there have
never been enough collected in ono spot to
have a temple; besides. there is not a trace OF
In the Ainu theology. The
only other contiguous contemporaneous re-
liCions which could possibly be sources Of the
Ainu ideas are those OF the Russians and Of
the Japanese. Now. in SaGhalien the Ainu
tongue has never. in whole or in part. been re-
duced to q written language. and the non-ex-
istence OF this essential medium has been
gulf between any would-be Russian teacher
and the Ainu. Moreover. from the first pos
session Of the island by the Russians until
now there have never been moro than three
priests of the Greek Church at one time in Sag
haien and their duties have never included an
ettempt at missionary efforts; The japanese
he island Of sufficient size to induce them to
erect temple: besides the Ainu theology is.
buddhism: The conclusion OF our author is
hat hat, the Ainu race is m Eastern branch Of the
IRIS haf Ss TO-
s, fortified by some Aryan features in the
Ainn language. as also. to certain degree.
He thinks 1t possible. II not probable. that at
! very remote period the Anus reached
'aghalien from the north. where they may
rave dwelt for a long time. TO such pro- ,
onGcd residence under arctic conditions 1t is
'onceiva BILE that tho extreme hariness OF the
Anus may be n form OF adestation. As to the
course by which they reached Saghalien it
nay not be without significance that the orig
nal name OF Knmtchatka and OF several
places on the northern coast OF the Okotsk Sea t
ire OF Ainu origin.
In connection with this chronological ques-
ion the race pride Of the Anus should not be
The Anus believe in the superb
'rity OF their own blood and descent over that 7
II all other peoples in tho world. They may I
'e said never to marry outside OF their own
ribe. and rarely outside Of their particular
Hinge within which everybody is related to |
yeryhody else. They know no term more
honorable than Ainu. which means to smell Of
mes ancestors. the first Of whom they bolieYe O