Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-25
THE Amos OF YEZO
PRoGENIToRS OF THE RACES
THAT INHABIT EUROPE.
Hairy Savages of Northern Japan
Said to Be Survivors Of Our
Remote Ancestors


newly formed by ethnologists and now for
the first time promulgated. to the effect
that the Amos. the famous hairy people of
the Island of Yezo north of Japan. are IN
reality the sole surviving representatives Of
our own ancestors-that is 10 say. OF the
early progenitors of the people vino now in
habit Europe and America.
The idea Is that these remarkable semi
sayages are the descendants of the race
that peopled the caverns of southern Eu-
rope Fifty thousand or perhaps a hundred
thousand years ago. That race disappeared
so utterly as to leave no trace save in the
evidences of long occupancy which the
caves afford. and the puzzle as to what be-
came OF those palaeelthic folk, who left be-
hind them SO many sculptures and etchings
representing animals and other natural OBJ
jects. will probably never be solved. But
for this very reason greater interest at
taches to the discovery, IL 1t >be truly such.
of a reminder of that ancient people in the
dawn of the twentieth century on an island
of the japanese archipelago.
Ancient Cave Dwellers.
If the Amos be the modern representatives
of the ancient cave dwelers. who inhabited
Europe tens of thousands of years before
history had it's beginning. the first question
that suggests itself is, naturally. How did
they get so far away? The answer is that
they were driven by stronger tribes gradu-
ally eastward across the whole of Asia,
until at length they reached the jumping off
place, so to speak. which was Japan.
There is no doubt that they were spread
pretty much all over the archipelago when
the modern japanese first conquered the
country. The history and traditions of the
Japanese tell of their encountering swarms
of fierce hairy men, called by them earth
spiders" because they lived in holes in the
ground, who resisted the invasion as best
they could with bows and arrows and axes
of stone.
Characteristics of Race.
Nowadays the ethnologist in trying to
reach conclusions as to the origin and rela-
tionsh1ps of a race, pays most attention to
the shape of the skull. the character of the
hair Qkinky or otherwise) and other physical
traits. All such evidences appear to show
that the Amos, by descent, are not Asiatics,
but Europeans. Their faces are not at all
like those Of the Japanese; their hair is
very soft and wavy; their compilations are
brownish rather than yellow; their fore
heads are broad and massive; their frames
are strong and well knit, and their mus
taches and boards are thick and heavy.
more hairy than his descendant of today,
and in this respect the Aino suggests like
ness to the early white man of the caves
as the latter Is pictured by the Imagination.
Some OF these sayages of YeZo are almost
as hairy as bears, and individuals among
them are covered with hair as with gar
ment.
Hairiness among them is considered a
great beauty, and persons exceptionally
gifted in this regard are specially admired.
The hair of the head and of the beard is
allowed to grow full length, and is never
combed. Although the Amos now dwell In
rude huts of thatch, with a framework of
poles, their formerly observed habit of liv
ing In holes in the ground strongly suggests
a survival Of the caye-dwelling custom, in
herited, If the new theory of their origin be
correct, from the prehistoric people of Eu-
ropean cavernS.
Island Of Yezo.
The. Amos are found nowhere in the world
today except on the Island Of Yezo, where
about seventeen thousand Of them survive.
They are diminishing in numbers. and be-
fore long the race must become extinct. APP
parently they are incapable OF advance
ment. and after centuries Of acquaintance
with the Japanese have learned no arts and
adopted few improvements.
Like most savages, they are extremely
superstitious, and an Aino never thinks of
going anywhere without a number of god
stieks'-pieces of pine wood so whitfield as
to leave them covered with curly sharings-
which represent divinities and are supposed
to ward of danger. To please the gods it
is also necessary to drink much rice brandy,
and so nearly all the men are confirmed in
ebriates, though the women are COMPARE
lively sober. because the beverage is deem
ed too sacred and precious for consumption
by persons of the gentler sex.
The Amos use implements and dishes OF
wood, and wear shoes of fishskin for travel
ing in the snow. Their cooking is done
mostly in an iron kettle bought from the
Japanese). hung over the fireplace. and into
this receptacle goes every imaginable edible
substance-ish and fowl, vegetable tops and
roots. &c-to be ladled out with wooden
spoon. Old women who have survived the
affection of their relatives sleep with the
dogs in outbuildings. Morality Is not very
strict, and polygamy is permitted but not
much practiced