THE AINOS OF YEZO, JAPAN. 



11 



drink offering, in which the women also took part with renewed weep- 

 ing, completed the ceremony. The manner of placing the head on the 

 pole is shown in Fig. 88, which is copied from 

 Dr. Scheube's drawing. The general appear- 

 ance of the hedge is best seen in Plate cxn. 



In the short account of the mythology and 

 folk-lore of the Aiuos given further on, there 

 are some bear stories which are of interest in 

 connection with the ceremonies described, in- 

 dicating how the Ainos regard the animal in 

 its relations to themselves. As Dr. Scheube 

 has said, the bear is more to them than a mere 

 beast of the forest, to be hunted and killed for 

 food and raiment. 



The Ainos are not the only people who wor- 

 ship the bear in the manner described above. 

 In the northern part of Saghalien there are a 

 people quite distinct in their physiognomy and 

 language from the Ainos known as the Gil- 

 yaken.* Mr". W. Joest observed a bear feast 

 among the Gilyaken,the description of which, 

 as quoted by Dr. Scheube in a later communi- 

 cation, is substantially as follows. The mother 

 bear is shot and the young one is caught and 

 reared, but not suckled in the village. When 

 the animal is large enough he is bound with a 

 thong around the neck and another on one of 

 his hind legs, and then led in triumph through 



the village. He must enter every house, where he receives food, while 

 his manner of entrance and conduct are observed as omens. The bear 

 is then for a time provoked, tormented, and annoyed until he is en- 

 raged and furious. The animal is then secured to a stake and shot 

 dead with arrows. The head is then cut off and decorated with shavings 

 corresponding to the iuao of the Ainos, and placed upon the table upon 

 which the feast is spread. The people then beg his forgiveness and offer 

 prayers to him. They then eat the flesh roasted (not raw, as do the 

 Ainos, nor do they drink the blood) with schnapps, but without any 

 ceremonies. Finally the brain is eaten and the skull is placed with the 

 shavings in a tree near the houses. Then follows dancing by both 

 sexes in imitation of bears. 



Fig. 88. 

 The Bear's Skull on the Sa- 

 cred Hedge. 



DANCES AND OTHER CEREMONIES. 



Allusion has been made here and there to singing and dancing. Dr. 

 Scheube has given an account of the dances he saw, but it has not seemed 



* See Reisen trad Forschungen in Ainur-lande, Dr. L. Von Schrenck, vol. hi, for an 

 exhaustive account of these people. 

 H. Mis. 129, pt. 2 31 



