Burial Practices of the Ainu

Concepts of Death in Ainu Culture

The Ainu saw a life force, or ramat, in everything. Most objects, plants, and animals were physical expressions of a larger god. When they died, their ramat returned to the god's whole to be born again and again. People, on the other hand, retained their identities even in death. Their souls traveled through the hearth of Kamuy Fuchi to the afterlife. The dead were known as Abe-ra-un kamuy, or "those who dwell beneath the hearth." The items they took with them and the offerings of their descendants determined their prosperity in death.[1][2]

Ainu Funeral Traditions

According to Ainu custom, sick or injured family members lay as close to the hearth as possible. The fire, home of the goddess Kamuy Fuchi, was the source of life and a guardian of the family. Men from the village gathered around the fire to pray for the dying. If their efforts were not successful, the soul of the departed passed through the fire and preparations for the funeral began.

Still near the hearth, the body was dressed in ceremonial clothing, preferably in white. Women were prepared by their maternal family, the only people allowed to see her sacred girdle, or upshoro kut. Men were similarly cared for by members of their paternal group. Besides their clothing, the deceased were displayed with their treasures in life, including more clothing, tools, pipes, and cooking supplies. Because every object contained its own ramat, burial goods were broken before the funeral. Family members ripped clothing, dented pots, and snapped utensils. The items' spirits could then follow the dead to the afterlife.[3][4]

During this time, friends and family arrived to celebrate the life of the deceased. The passing of elders was a joyous occasion reflecting a long and fruitful life. Men made offerings and inau to the gods and spirits. Both genders chanted epic yukar. In some areas, funerary yukar only told the beginning and middle of a story. Other Ainu people, however, believed that this would cause spirits to linger too long, waiting to hear the end. If the person died young or through an accident, a separate ritual known as Niwen-horobi rebuked the responsible god.[5][6]

Ainu Burial Customs

Once the funeral was over, two male family members wrapped the body in a woven mat called a toma. They suspended the toma from a pole by two strings and carried it to the grave site. A procession of friends and family members carrying grave goods and offerings followed. Graves were private and isolated; the Ainu preferred not to linger near burial sites. They erected carved poles, kuwa, over the grave. The procession did not cross any rivers while carrying the toma, and they brought water to wash their hands.[7]

Ancestral Prayers and Offerings in Ainu Culture

The Ainu remembered their dead ancestors through regular prayers and offerings. In some cases, the house of the deceased was burned to send it to the afterlife as well. This was especially common for the homes of elderly women, who were thought to be prone to haunting. Men made inau to carry their prayers and libations to the spirit world. By honoring their ancestors, they could hope to one day secure their own comfortable eternity in the afterlife.[8]

Bibliography

1. Michael Ashkenazi, Handbook of Japanese Mythology (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2003), 191.

2. Neil Gordon Munro, Ainu Creed and Cult (New York: Columbia University Press, 1963), 88.

3. J. K. Goodrich, "Ainu Family Life and Religion," Popular Science Monthly 34 (November 1888), 81-92.

4. John Batchelor, The Ainu and Their Folk-lore (London: Religious Tract Society, 1901), 555-560.

5. Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner, Academic Nations in China and Japan: Framed in Concepts of Nature, Culture and the Universal (London: Routledge Curzon, 2004), 183.

6. Batchelor, 321.

7. Munro, 133.

8. Ibid., 29-33.

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Traditions of the Ancestors

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