Recognition for Japan's Ainu

[grungy-gonads 54]

Friend send me this, thought I would share. I know very little on the subject myself...

 

Quote:

In the 19th Century, Japanese people called the northern island of Hokkaido "Ezochi".

 

It meant "Land of the Ainu", a reference to the fair-skinned, long-haired people who had lived there for hundreds of years.

 

The Ainu were hunters and fishermen with animist beliefs.

 

But their communities and traditions were eroded by waves of Japanese settlement and subsequent assimilation policies.

 

Today only small numbers of Ainu remain, and they constitute one of Japan's most marginalised groups.

 

On Friday they will have something to celebrate.

 

Japan's parliament is to adopt a resolution that, for the first time, formally recognises the Ainu as "an indigenous people with a distinct language, religion and culture".

 

In a nation that has always preferred to perceive itself as ethnically homogenous, it is a highly significant move.

 

"This resolution has great meaning," says Tadashi Kato, director of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido. "It has taken the Japanese government 140 years to recognise us as an indigenous people."

 

Language banned

 

There is no definitive theory as to where the Ainu came from.

 

What is clear is that they have lived in Hokkaido and parts of the Russian Far East - the disputed Kurile Islands and southern Sakhalin Island - for hundreds of years.

 

Traditionally they lived off the land, worshipping natural landmarks and animals, especially bears.

 

Japanese settlers started moving into Hokkaido in the 15th Century and gradually pushed the Ainu north.

 

They brought infectious diseases and so Ainu populations fell. Then, when the Meiji government came to power in 1868, the pace of Japanese settlement increased.

 

Ainu land was redistributed to Japanese farmers. Ainu language was banned and children put into Japanese schools. Japanese names became compulsory.

 

Finally, in 1899, the Japanese government passed an act which labelled the Ainu "former Aborigines". The idea was that, henceforth, they would assimilate.

 

This act stood for almost 100 years. Successive governments held that there was no "Ainu issue" and insisted that Japan did not have any ethnic minority groups.

 

Ainu culture was not seen as something to be celebrated or preserved, so many grew up ignorant or ashamed of their cultural heritage.

 

Discrimination was and still is a problem - in schools, in the workplace and for marriage - with some Ainu choosing not to reveal their background.

 

Today, there is still a gap in terms of standards of living and levels of education between the Ainu and their compatriots.

 

Events in 1997, however, signalled the start of a shift.

 

After a legal challenge, the Sapporo district court ruled the government had illegally taken Ainu land to build a dam and failed to consider "the unique culture of the indigenous Ainu minority".

 

It was the first official acknowledgment of any kind of separate Ainu identity.

 

Four months later, the government replaced the act of 1899 with a law that allocated government funds to promote Ainu culture.

 

Efforts to revive language, traditional dances and music gathered steam, contributing to a more positive appreciation of Ainu culture.

 

But the government still did not recognise the Ainu as an indigenous people or offer substantive proposals to support them on a day to day basis.

 

Now it is taking another step.

 

The parliamentary resolution will give the Ainu formal recognition. It will also call on the government to establish an expert panel to advise on Ainu policy.

 

 

[sunrise 0]

That's great. It's taken a long time.

 

At the same time it's a shame that it's taken such a long time, but at least it's starting to happen.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

...now what about people from Okinawa...??

[Ezorisu 0]

Maybe next?

 

...and those people of mixed polynesian ancestry down on the Ogasawara islands.