The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-09-20

lords. Rev. John Bachelor, says:
| 1.-The Ainu women are treated as in
! feriOr beings by most of the men.
| Their whole life is slavish drudgerv.
| They are regarded almost as slaves.
| From morning till night and from one
| year 5 end to the other it is work,
work, work, and their work is manual
! labor of the heaviest and most firing
| kind. This would not be so bad if
men shared their lot. but that is alto.
gether out of the question. There is
little variety in their toll excepting
| that which is necessarily brought about
! by the seasons. They have next to no
reereatlOns or special amusements to
brighten up their dull lives. -
The Ainu women have one way of
getting even with their husbands If
an Ainu takes it into his head to fog
or spank his wife for no better reason
| than that he is out of sorts she will
not dare to strike him. But she
will swear at him. He cannot punish
her for this, as he fears being cursed.
If the man is exceedingly rough she
will probably call him shunuma-
ush, - which means NANCY deer. A
young man she will call .'tontonep-
per, - which means little hairy thing.
and then wild boar and lastly bald
pated. A middle-aged man she will
call Fhokuyuk, a man-eating bear.
Although the women are treated as
chattels, they are not married that
way. Some of these girls often have
long and romantic courtship. There
is nothing an Ainu girl enjoys so much
as having half dozen strings tied to
her bow at one time. But if she has
any decided preference and she thinks
he is bashful about making his feelings
known, she may help him along by
proposing TO him.
The Ainu considers marriage to be
social and family arrangement which
affects the parties Immediately con-
cerned more than any one else. Hence
though the parents of a young woman
or man desire them to marry into any
particular family or not to ally them
selves with some specified party, the
young people may; after hearing the
wishes of the parents and relatives ex-
pressed, marry whom they please. Both
the young man and the bride or either
of them have final word in the mat
ter. In short, the young people do
their own counting and wooing, and
no one grumbles at the arrangement.
Where the young man proposes he
asks his father and mother to call up
on the parents of the girl he has been
counting. The marriage ceremony is
simple; it is a feast rather than
wedding service AS soon as the bride
and bridegroom and guests arrive the
bridegroom s father congratulates him
self, his wife and his son on the choice
he has made. But the girl S father
does not neglect his part by saying
how proud he is. Then they each give
the bridegroom some of their treas
ures as heirlooms and the women give
the bride a few trinkets. The cere-
mony is finished with dancing and sing
ing.
While the guests amuse themselves
the bride and her mother pound the
mIllet and make the cakes and get the
wine ready. Most of the girls marry
when they are IS or II. Though fair
ly pretty when young, hard work and
unkind treatment make them age
rapidly.
The Ainu thinks it foolish to battle.
Their garments are made from the elm
fiber The bark is peeled off the trees
in the early spring. When enough
bark has been taken off it is soaked
and the fbers are divided into threads
and wound up into balls for use. These
garments are rough and of dirty
brown color The women are fond of
fancy work, and when they have time
decorate their husband s clothes and
their own with elaborate designs.
Their huts contain hardly any furni-
ture or clothing. 1t is easy to get ad-
mission to these homes, for the Anus
are a hospitable people. = Chicago
Tribune.
CHICKENS LAY BLUE EGGS.