Ainu - White Race. Indigenous people of the Japanese islands

Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - the small peoples of the North) - peoples numbering less than 50 thousand people living in the northern regions of Russia, Siberia and the Russian Far East in the territories of the traditional settlement of their ancestors, preserving the traditional way of life , management and crafts and self-conscious ethnic communities.

general information

Indigenous peoples of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East - this is the official name, more briefly they are usually called the peoples of the North. The birth of this group dates back to the very beginning of the formation of Soviet power, to the 1920s, when a special resolution was adopted "On assistance to the peoples of the northern outskirts." At that time, it was possible to count about 50, if not more, different groups that lived in the Far North. They, as a rule, were engaged in reindeer herding, and their way of life was significantly different from what the first Soviet Bolsheviks saw for themselves.

As time went on, this category continued to remain as a special category of accounting, this list gradually crystallized, more accurate names of individual ethnic groups appeared, and in the post-war period, at least since the 1960s, especially in the 1970s, this category began to include 26 nations. And when they talked about the peoples of the North, they meant 26 indigenous peoples of the North - they were called back in their time the small peoples of the North. These are different language groups, people who speak different languages, including those whose close relatives have not yet been found. This is the language of the Kets, whose relations with other languages ​​are quite complex, the language of the Nivkhs, and a number of other languages.

Despite the measures taken by the state (at that time it was called the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet government), separate decisions were made on the economic development of these peoples, on how to facilitate their economic existence - after all, the situation remained quite complicated: alcoholism was spreading , there were a lot of social diseases. So gradually we lived until the end of the 1980s, when it suddenly turned out that 26 peoples did not fall asleep, did not forget their languages, did not lose their culture, and even if something happened, they want to restore it, reconstruct it, and so on, want to use in their modern life.

At the very beginning of the 1990s, this list suddenly began to take on a second life. Some peoples of Southern Siberia were included in it, and so there were not 26, but 30 peoples. Then gradually, during the 1990s - early 2000s, this list expanded and expanded, and today it is about 40-45 ethnic groups, starting from the European part of Russia and ending with the Far East, a significant number of ethnic groups are included in this the so-called list of indigenous peoples of the north of Siberia and the Far East.

What does it take to be on this list?

First of all, you as a people are officially forbidden to be fruitful and multiply in the sense that, let it sound rude, you should not be more than 50,000 people. There is a size limit. You must live on the territory of your ancestors, engage in traditional farming, preserve traditional culture and language. Everything is actually not so simple, not just to have a special self-name, but you must consider yourself an independent people. Everything is very, very difficult, even with the same self-name.

Let's try to look at, say, the Altaians. Altaians themselves are not included in the list of indigenous peoples. And for a long time in Soviet ethnography, Soviet science it was believed that this is a single people, formed, however, from different groups, but they formed into a single socialist people. When the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s came, it turned out that those who made up the Altaians still remember that they are not quite Altaians. Thus, new ethnic groups appeared on the map of the Republic of Altai and on the ethnographic map: Chelkans, Tubalars, Kumandins, Altai proper, Telengits. Some of them were included in the list of indigenous peoples of the North. There was a very difficult situation - the 2002 census, when the authorities of the Altai Republic were very afraid that due to the fact that a significant part of the former Altaians suddenly enrolled in indigenous peoples, the population of the republic, that is, the titular people, would significantly decrease and then they would be taken away portfolios - there will be no republic, and people will lose their posts. Everything turned out well: in our country there is no such direct correlation between the titular ethnic group and the status of the entity in which it lives - it can be a republic, an autonomous region, or something else.

But as far as ethnic identity is concerned, the situation is much more complicated. We said that several groups of these Altaians emerged. But if we take each of them, we find that each of them consists of 5, 10, maybe 20 divisions. They are called genus, or, in Altaic, “sok” (‘bone’), some of them are of very ancient origin. In the same 2002, the leaders of the clans - they are called zaisans - when they learned that the people's response would not affect the status of the republic in any way, they said: “Oh, how good. So, maybe now we will sign ourselves as Naimans, Kipchaks (by the name of the genus). That is, it really turns out that a person is generally an Altaian, but at the same time he can be a representative of some ethnic group as part of the Altaians. He may be one of a kind. If you dig, you can find even smaller ones.

Why should you be on this list?

Once there is a list, you can get into it, you can sign up for it. If you are not included in this list, then you will not have any benefits. People usually say about benefits: "They signed up because they want benefits." Of course, there are some benefits, if you know about them and can use them. Some people don't know what they are. These are benefits for medical care, for getting firewood (relevant in villages), it can be preferential admission of your children to the university, there is some other list of these benefits. But that's really not the most important thing. There is such a moment: you want to live on your own land, and you have no other land. If you are not included in this list of indigenous peoples of the North, then you will be treated like everyone else, although you are already a citizen of the Russian Federation. Then you will not have additional leverage in terms of protecting the territory where you and your ancestors lived, hunted, fished, and were engaged in the traditional way of life, which is very important to you.

Why is it very important? Sometimes with laughter, sometimes without laughter, they say: “Well, what can we take from him? Even if he is a white-collar worker, it’s time for a season or to collect cones in the taiga, he goes to the taiga to collect cones or a season, disappears into the sea and fishes.” A man works in an office, but he cannot live without it. Here they are told with laughter or even disdain. If we find ourselves, say, in the United States, then we will simply find that self-respecting companies will give a person a vacation for this time, because they understand that he cannot live without it, and not because it is his whim, that he wants to go fishing, as any of us might want to go somewhere for the weekend to relax. No, this is something sitting in the blood that drives a person from the office back to the taiga, to the lands of their ancestors.

If you do not have the opportunity to additionally protect this land, then various difficult life situations can occur. It is no secret that the territory inhabited by small indigenous peoples of the North is rich in minerals. It can be anything: gold, uranium, mercury, oil, gas, coal. And these people live on lands that are very important from the point of view of the strategic development of the state.

7 smallest peoples of Russia

Chulyms

Chulym Turks or Iyus Kizhiler ("Chulym people") live on the banks of the Chulym River in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and have their own language. In former times, they lived in uluses, where dugouts (odyg), semi-dugouts (kyshtag), yurts and chums were built. They were engaged in fishing, hunting for fur-bearing animals, mined medicinal herbs, pine nuts, grew barley and millet, harvested birch bark and bast, wove ropes, nets, made boats, skis, sleds. Later they began to grow rye, oats and wheat and live in huts. Both women and men wore trousers made of burbot skins and shirts trimmed with fur. Women braided many braids, wore pendants made of coins and jewelry. Dwellings are characterized by chuvals with open hearths, low clay ovens (kemega), bunks and chests. Some Chulymchi adopted Orthodoxy, others remained shamanists. The people have preserved traditional folklore and crafts, but only 17% of 355 people speak their native language.

Oroks

Indigenous people of Sakhalin. They call themselves Uilta, which means "deer". The Orok language is unwritten and is spoken by almost half of the 295 remaining Oroks. The Oroks were nicknamed by the Japanese. The Uilta are engaged in hunting - sea and taiga, fishing (they get pink salmon, chum salmon, coho salmon and sim), reindeer herding and gathering. Now reindeer husbandry has declined, and hunting and fishing are under threat due to oil developments and land problems. Scientists evaluate the prospects for the further existence of the nationality with great caution.

Enets

Enets shamanists, they are Yenisei Samoyeds, call themselves Encho, Mogadi or Pebay. They live in Taimyr at the mouth of the Yenisei in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The traditional dwelling is a conical tent. Of the 227 people, only a third speaks their native language. The rest speak Russian or Nenets. The national clothes of the Enets are a parka, fur pants and stockings. For women, the parka is oar, for men it is one-piece. Traditional food is fresh or frozen meat, fresh fish, fishmeal - porsa. From time immemorial, the Enets have been hunting reindeer, reindeer herding, and fox hunting. Almost all modern Enets live in stationary settlements.

Tazy

Tazy (tadzy, datzy) is a small and rather young people living on the Ussuri River in Primorsky Krai. First mentioned in the 18th century. The Tazy originated from a mixture of Nanai and Udege with the Manchus and Chinese. The language is similar to the dialects of northern China, but very different. Now there are 274 Tazis in Russia, and almost none of them speak their native language. If at the end of the 19th century 1050 people knew it, now it is owned by several elderly women in the village of Mikhailovka. The Tazy live by hunting, fishing, gathering, farming and animal husbandry. Recently, they are trying to revive the culture and customs of their ancestors.

Izhora

The Finno-Ugric people Izhora (Izhora) lived on the eponymous tributary of the Neva. The self-name of the people is Karyalaysht, which means "Karelians". The language is close to Karelian. They profess Orthodoxy. During the Time of Troubles, the Izhors fell under the rule of the Swedes, and fleeing the introduction of Lutheranism, they moved to Russian lands. The main occupation of the Izhors was fishing, namely, the extraction of smelt and herring. The Izhors were carpenters, weavers and basket weavers. In the middle of the 19th century, 18,000 Izhors lived in St. Petersburg and Vyborg provinces. The events of the Second World War catastrophically affected the population. Part of the villages burned down, the Izhors were taken to the territory of Finland, and those who returned from there were transported to Siberia. Those who remained in place disappeared among the Russian population. Now there are only 266 Izhors left.

Vod

The self-name of this Orthodox Finno-Ugric disappearing people of Russia is vodyalain, waddyalaizyd. In the 2010 census, only 64 people identified themselves as Vod. The language of the people is close to the southeastern dialect of the Estonian language and to the Liv language. From time immemorial, Vod lived south of the Gulf of Finland, on the territory of the so-called Vodskaya Pyatina, which is mentioned in the annals. The nation itself was formed in the 1st millennium of our era. Agriculture was the basis of life. They grew rye, oats, barley, raised cattle and poultry, and were engaged in fishing. They lived in rigs, similar to Estonian ones, and since the 19th century - in huts. The girls wore a sundress made of white canvas, a short "ihad" jacket. Young people chose their own bride and groom. Married women cut their hair short, and the elderly shaved their heads and wore a “paykas” headdress. In the rites of the people, many pagan remnants have been preserved. Now the Vodi culture is under study, a museum has been created, and the language is being taught.

Kereki

Disappearing people. Only four of them remained on the entire territory of Russia. And in 2002 there were eight. The tragedy of this Paleo-Asiatic people was that since ancient times they lived on the border of Chukotka and Kamchatka and found themselves between two fires: the Chukchi fought with the Koryaks, and the Ankalgakku got it - that's what the Kereks call themselves. In translation, it means "people living by the sea." Enemies burned houses, women were taken into slavery, men were killed.

Many Kereks died during epidemics that swept the lands at the end of the 18th century. The Kereks themselves led a settled way of life, they got food by fishing and hunting, they beat sea and fur-bearing animals. They were engaged in reindeer herding. The Kereks contributed to dog riding. Harnessing dogs in a train is their invention. The Chukchi harnessed the dogs "fan". The Kerek language belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka. In 1991, there were three people left in Chukotka who spoke it. To save it, a dictionary was written, which included about 5000 words.

What to do with these people?

Everyone remembers the movie "Avatar" well and that nasty character who said that "they are sitting on my dough." Sometimes one gets the impression that those firms that are trying to somehow regulate relations with people living in places where something can be mined and sold treat them that way, that is, these are people who simply get in the way. The situation is quite complicated, because everywhere, in all cases, where something like this happens (it could be some kind of sacred Lake Nouto, where the Khanty or Forest Nenets live, it could be Kuzbass with its coal deposits, it could be Sakhalin with its oil reserves), there is a certain clash of interests, more or less clearly expressed, between the indigenous peoples of the North, between the local population, in principle, everything in general. Because what is the difference between you, a native, and a Russian old-timer who behaves in exactly the same way, lives on the same land, engages in the same fishing, hunting, and so on, and suffers in the same way from dirty water and other negative consequences of mining or developing any - a fossil. The so-called stakeholders, in addition to the natives, include government agencies and companies themselves that are trying to extract some profit from this land.

If you are not included in this list of indigenous peoples of the North, then it will be much more difficult for you to defend your land and your rights to the lifestyle that you want to lead. It is important to preserve your culture, because if you do not have the territory where you live compactly with your fellow tribesmen, it will be very difficult to ensure that your children learn their native language and pass on some traditional values. This does not mean that the people will disappear, disappear, but in the way you perceive the situation, there may be such an idea that if my language disappears, I will cease to be some kind of people. Of course you won't stop. Throughout Siberia, a huge number of peoples of the North have lost their languages, but this does not mean that they do not speak any language. Somewhere the Yakut language became native, almost everyone has Russian. Nevertheless, people retain their ethnic identity, they want to develop further, and the list gives them this opportunity.

But there is one interesting twist here, which no one has thought about yet. The fact is that among the younger generation among the indigenous peoples of the North, which, in fact, have lost their ethnic specificity (they all speak Russian, do not wear traditional clothes): “We are indigenous peoples, we are indigenous peoples.” A certain commonality appears, perhaps it is a class identity, as in tsarist Russia. And in this sense, it seems to make sense for the state to take a closer look at the processes that are currently taking place in the North, and, perhaps, if we talk about assistance, it may not be for specific ethnic groups, but for that new estate community called the indigenous peoples of the North. .

Why are northern peoples disappearing?

Small nations differ from large ones not only in numbers. It is more difficult for them to maintain their identity. A Chinese man can come to Helsinki, marry a Finnish woman, live there with her all his life, but he will remain a Chinese until the end of his days, and he will not become a Finn. Moreover, even in his children, there will probably be a lot of Chinese, and this manifests itself not only in appearance, but much deeper - in the characteristics of psychology, behavior, tastes (even just culinary ones). If someone from the Sami people gets into a similar situation - they live on the Kola Peninsula, in Northern Norway and in Northern Finland - then, despite the proximity to their native places, after some time they will essentially become a Finn.

So it is with the peoples of the North and the Far East of Russia. They preserve their national identity while they live in villages and are engaged in traditional farming. If they leave their native places, break away from their own people, then they dissolve into another and become Russians, Yakuts, Buryats - depending on where they end up and how life goes. Therefore, their number is almost not growing, although the birth rate is quite high. In order not to lose national identity, you need to live among your people, in their original habitat.

Of course, small peoples have intelligentsia - teachers, artists, scientists, writers, doctors. They live in the district or regional center, but in order not to lose touch with their native people, they need to spend a lot of time in the villages.

In order to preserve the small peoples, it is necessary to maintain the traditional economy. This is the main difficulty. Reindeer pastures are declining due to growing oil and gas production, seas and rivers are polluted, so fishing cannot develop. The demand for reindeer meat and furs is falling. The interests of the indigenous population and the regional authorities, large companies, just local poachers come into conflict, and in such a conflict the force is not on the side of small peoples.

At the end of the XX century. the leadership of the districts and republics (especially in Yakutia, in the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets districts) began to pay more attention to the problems of preserving national culture. Festivals of the cultures of small peoples have become regular, at which storytellers perform, rituals are performed, and sports competitions are held.

All over the world, well-being, standard of living, preservation of the culture of small national minorities (Indians in the countries of America, Aborigines of Australia, Ainu of Japan, etc.) are part of the country's calling card and serve as an indicator of its progressiveness. Therefore, the significance of the fate of the small peoples of the North for Russia is incommensurably greater compared to their small number, which is only 0.1% of the country's population.

State policy

It is customary for anthropologists to criticize the state policy towards the small peoples of the North.

The policy towards the peoples of the North has changed over the years. Before the revolution, they were a special estate - foreigners who had self-government within certain limits. After the 1920s culture, economy and society of the northerners, like the rest of the country, have undergone major transformations. The idea of ​​developing the peoples of the North and bringing them out of the state of "backwardness" was adopted. The economy of the North has become subsidized.

In the late 1980s - early 1990s. ethnographers have formulated a rationale for the direct interdependence of traditional cultural identity, traditional economy and traditional habitat. Economy and language were added to the romantic thesis of soil and blood. The paradoxical idea that the condition for the preservation and development of ethnic culture - language and customs - is the conduct of a traditional economy in a traditional habitat. This de facto concept of hermetic traditionalism became the ideology for the SIM movement. It was the rationale behind the alliance between the ethnic intelligentsia and the nascent business. In the 1990s romanticism received a financial base - first, grants from charitable foreign foundations, and then from mining companies. The industry of ethnological expertise was enshrined in the same law.

Anthropologists' research today shows that management can exist and develop without preserving the language. At the same time, languages ​​can also come out of live family communication when managing a household. For example, Udege, Saami, many dialects of Evenki and many other indigenous languages ​​no longer sound in the taiga and tundra. However, this does not prevent people from engaging in reindeer herding, hunting, and fishing.

In addition to cultural figures and businessmen, an independent layer of leaders and political activists has formed among the indigenous peoples of the North,

There is a point of view among SIM activists that benefits should not be selective, but should be extended to all representatives of the SIM, wherever they live and whatever they do. As arguments, for example, arguments are offered that the need for fish in the diet in the body is laid down at the genetic level. A solution to this problem is proposed to expand the areas of traditional residence and traditional economy throughout the region.

The countryside in the Far North is not an easy place to live. In agriculture, people of various ethnic backgrounds work there. They use the same technologies, overcome the same difficulties, face the same challenges. This activity should receive state support also regardless of ethnicity. The state guarantee of the protection of the rights of the peoples of Russia is primarily in the guarantee of the absence of any discrimination based on ethnic and religious grounds.

As the analysis shows, the Law "On Guarantees of the Rights of the Indigenous Minorities of the Russian Federation" stands out in its approach from the entire Russian legal system. This law considers nations as subjects of law. The impossibility of leading gives grounds for the formation of an estate - a group of people endowed with rights due to their ethnic origin. Law enforcers on the ground will for a long time face attempts to legally close a fundamentally open social system.

The principal way out of this situation may be to overcome the romanticism of traditionalism and separate the policy of supporting economic activity and supporting ethno-cultural activity. In the socio-economic part, it is necessary to extend benefits and subsidies to the indigenous peoples of the North to the entire rural population of the Far North.

In the ethno-cultural part, the state can provide the following types of support:

1. Scientific support, represented by research organizations and universities, in the development of programs and training of specialists.
2. Legal support in the form of development and adoption of norms for the preservation and development of ethno-cultural heritage.
3. Organizational support in the form of development and implementation of ethno-cultural programs of cultural institutions and educational institutions.
4. Financial support for NGOs developing ethno-cultural initiatives in the form of grant support for promising projects.

Obviously, this implies a fundamental change in the Law "On Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous Minorities of the Russian Federation."

There is one ancient people on earth that has been simply ignored for centuries, and more than once was subjected to persecution and genocide in Japan due to the fact that by its existence it simply breaks the established official false history of both Japan and Russia.

Now, there is reason to believe that not only in Japan, but also on the territory of Russia, there is a part of this ancient indigenous people. According to the preliminary data of the latest population census, held in October 2010, there are more than 100 Ainu people in our country. The fact itself is unusual, because until recently it was believed that the Ainu live only in Japan. This was suspected, but on the eve of the population census, employees of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences noticed that, despite the absence of Russian peoples in the official list, some of our fellow citizens stubbornly continue to consider themselves Ainami and have good reasons for this.

As studies have shown - the Ainu, or the KAMCHADAL KURILs - did not disappear anywhere, they simply did not want to recognize them for many years. But even Stepan Krasheninnikov, an explorer of Siberia and Kamchatka (XVIII century), described them as Kamchadal smokers. The very name "Ainu" comes from their word for "man", or "worthy man", and is associated with military operations. And according to one of the representatives of this nationality in an interview with the well-known journalist M. Dolgikh, the Ainu fought the Japanese for 650 years. It turns out that this is the only people left to this day, who from ancient times held back the occupation, resisted the aggressor - now the Japanese, who were, in fact, Koreans with perhaps a certain percentage of the Chinese population who moved to the islands and formed another state.

It has been scientifically established that already about 7 thousand years ago the Ainu inhabited the north of the Japanese archipelago, the Kuriles and part of Sakhalin and, according to some sources, part of Kamchatka and even the lower reaches of the Amur. The Japanese who came from the south gradually assimilated and forced out the Ainu to the north of the archipelago - to Hokkaido and the southern Kuriles.

Hokaido now hosts the largest concentrations of Ainu families.
According to experts, in Japan, the Ainu were considered "barbarians", "savages" and social marginals. The hieroglyph used to designate the Ainu means "barbarian", "savage", now the Japanese call them "hairy Ainu" for which the Ainu of the Japanese do not like.

And here the policy of the Japanese against the Ainu is very well traced, since the Ainu lived on the islands even before the Japanese and had a culture many times, or even orders of magnitude higher than that of the ancient Mongoloid settlers.
But the topic of the Ainu's dislike for the Japanese probably exists not only because of the ridiculous nicknames addressed to them, but also probably because the Ainu, let me remind you, have been subjected to genocide and persecution by the Japanese for centuries.

At the end of the XIX century. about one and a half thousand Ainu lived in Russia. After the Second World War, they were partly evicted, partly left on their own along with the Japanese population, others remained, returning, so to speak, from their hard and protracted service for centuries. This part mixed with the Russian population of the Far East.

In appearance, representatives of the Ainu people very little resemble their closest neighbors - the Japanese, Nivkhs and Itelmens.
Ainu is the White Race.

According to the Kamchadal Kurils themselves, all the names of the islands of the southern ridge were given by the Ainu tribes who once inhabited these territories. By the way, it is wrong to think that the names of the Kuriles, Kuril Lake, etc. arose from hot springs or volcanic activity.
It's just that the Kurils, or Kurilians, live here, and "Kuru" in Ainu means the People.

It should be noted that this version destroys the already flimsy basis of the Japanese claims to our Kuril Islands. Even if the name of the ridge comes from our Ainu. This was confirmed during the expedition to about. Matua. There is an Ainu bay, where the oldest Ainu site was discovered.
Therefore, according to experts, it is very strange to say that the Ainu have never been in the Kuriles, Sakhalin, Kamchatka, as the Japanese are doing now, assuring everyone that the Ainu live only in Japan (after all, archeology says otherwise), so they, the Japanese, allegedly need to give the Kuril Islands. This is pure untruth. There are Ainu in Russia - the indigenous White People, who have a direct right to consider these islands their ancestral lands.
American anthropologist S. Lauryn Brace, from Michigan State University in Horizons of Science, No. 65, September-October 1989. writes: "The typical Ainu is easily distinguished from the Japanese: he has lighter skin, thicker body hair, beards, which is unusual for Mongoloids, and a more protruding nose."

Brace studied about 1,100 Japanese, Ainu, and other tombs and concluded that the upper class samurai in Japan were actually descendants of the Ainu, and not the Yayoi (Mongoloids), the ancestors of most modern Japanese.
The history of the Ainu estates is reminiscent of the history of the higher castes in India, where the highest percentage of the White man haplogroup R1a1.
Brace further writes: “... this explains why the facial features of the representatives of the ruling class are so often different from modern Japanese. The real Samurai, the descendants of the Ainu warriors, gained such influence and prestige in medieval Japan that they intermarried with the rest of the ruling circles and introduced Ainu blood into them, while the rest of the Japanese population was mainly descendants of the Yayoi.
It should also be noted that, in addition to archaeological and other features, the language was partially preserved. There is a dictionary of the Kuril language in the "Description of the Land of Kamchatka" by S. Krasheninnikov.

In Hokkaido, the dialect spoken by the Ainu is called saroo, but in SAKHALIN it is reychishka.
As it is not difficult to understand, the Ainu language differs from the Japanese language in terms of syntax, phonology, morphology and vocabulary, etc. Although there have been attempts to prove that they are related, the vast majority of modern scholars reject the suggestion that the relationship between languages ​​goes beyond contact relationships, involving mutual borrowing of words in both languages. In fact, no attempt to tie the Ainu language to any other language has been widely accepted.

In principle, according to the well-known Russian political scientist and journalist P. Alekseev, the problem of the Kuril Islands can be solved politically and economically. To do this, it is necessary to allow the Ainam (partially evicted to Japan in 1945) to return from Japan to the land of their ancestors (including their original range - the Amur Region, Kamchatka, Sakhalin and all the Kuriles, creating at least following the example of the Japanese (it is known that the Parliament of Japan only in 2008 did he still recognize the Ainu as an independent national minority), the Russian dispersed autonomy of an "independent national minority" with the participation of the Ainu from the islands and the Ainu of Russia.

We have neither people nor funds for the development of Sakhalin and the Kuriles, but the Ainu have. The Ainu who migrated from Japan, according to experts, can give impetus to the economy of the Russian Far East, namely by forming not only in the Kuril Islands, but also within Russia, national autonomy and reviving their family and traditions in the land of their ancestors.

Japan, according to P. Alekseev, will be out of work, because. the displaced Ainu will disappear there, and here they can settle not only in the southern part of the Kuriles, but throughout their original range, our Far East, eliminating the emphasis on the southern Kuriles. Since many of the Ainu deported to Japan were our citizens, it is possible to use the Ainu as allies against the Japanese by restoring the dying Ainu language.
The Ainu were not allies of Japan and never will be, but they can become allies of Russia. But unfortunately this ancient People is ignored to this day.
With our pro-Western government, which feeds Chechnya for nothing, which deliberately flooded Russia with people of Caucasian nationality, opened unhindered entry for emigrants from China, and those who are clearly not interested in preserving the Peoples of Russia should not think that they will pay attention to the Ainu, only CIVIL INITIATIVE will help here.

As noted by the leading researcher of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Academician K. Cherevko, Japan exploited these islands. In their law there is such a thing as "development through trade exchange." And all the Ainu - both conquered and unconquered - were considered Japanese, were subject to their emperor. But it is known that even before that, the Ainu gave taxes to Russia. True, it was irregular.
Thus, it is safe to say that the Kuril Islands belong to the Ainu, but, one way or another, Russia must proceed from international law. According to him, i.e. Under the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced the islands. There are simply no legal grounds for revising the documents signed in 1951 and other agreements today. But such matters are resolved only in the interests of big politics, and I repeat that only its Brotherly people, that is, We, can help this people from the outside.

Few people know, but the Japanese are not the indigenous people of Japan. Before them lived on the islands Ainu, mysterious people, the origin of which is still a lot of mystery. The Ainu lived side by side with the Japanese for some time, until they were driven north.

That The Ainu are the ancient masters of the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, according to written sources and numerous names of geographical objects, the origin of which is associated with Ainu language.

Scientists still argue about the origin of the Ainu. Ainu territory was quite extensive. the Japanese islands, Sakhalin, Primorye, the Kuril Islands and the south of Kamchatka. The fact that the Ainu are not related to other indigenous peoples of the Far East and Siberia is already a proven fact.

It is well known that The Ainu came to the islands of the Sea of ​​Japan and founded the Neolithic Jomon culture there (13,000 BC - 300 BC).

Ainu did not practice agriculture they foraged for food hunting, gathering and fishing. They lived along the rivers on the islands of the archipelago, in small settlements quite remote from each other.

hunting weapons The Ainu consisted of a bow, a long knife and a horn. Various traps and traps were widely used. In fishing, the Ainu have long used the "marek" - a spear with a movable swivel hook that captures the fish. Fish were often caught at night, attracting them with the light of torches.

As the island of Hokkaido became increasingly densely populated by the Japanese, hunting lost its dominant role in the life of the Ainu. At the same time, the share of agriculture and domestic animal husbandry increased. The Ainu began to cultivate millet, barley, and potatoes.

Hunters and fishermen, the Ainu created an unusual and rich Jomon culture characteristic of peoples with a very high level of development. For example, they have wooden products with unusual spiral ornaments and carvings, amazing in beauty and ingenuity.

The ancient Ainu created an extraordinary ceramics without a potter's wheel, decorating it with a fancy rope ornament. The Ainu amaze with their talented folklore heritage: songs, dances and legends.

The legend of the origin of the Ainu.

That was a long time ago. There was a village among the hills. An ordinary village where ordinary people lived. Among them is a very kind family. The family had a daughter, Aina, the kindest of all. The village lived a normal life, but one day at dawn a black wagon appeared on the village road. The black horses were driven by a man dressed in all black. He was very happy about something, smiled broadly, sometimes laughed. There was a black cage on the wagon, and in it a small fluffy Bear cub was sitting on a chain. He sucked his paw, and tears flowed from his eyes. All the people of the village looked out the windows, went out into the street and were indignant: how shameful it is for a black man to chain, torturing white teddy bear. People only resented and said words, but did nothing. Only a kind family stopped the black man's cart, and Aina began to ask him to released the unfortunate Bear cub. The stranger smiled and said that he would release the beast if anyone gave their eyes. Everyone was silent. Then Aina stepped forward and said that she was ready for it. The black man laughed out loud and opened the black cage. The white fluffy Teddy bear came out of the cage. And kind Aina lost her sight. While the villagers were looking at Little Bear and saying sympathetic words to Aina, the black man on the black wagon disappeared to no one knows where. The little bear no longer cried, but Aina cried. Then the white Bear cub took the rope in his paws and began to lead Aina everywhere: through the village, over hills and meadows. This did not go on for very long. And then one day the people of the village looked up and saw that white fluffy Bear cub leads Aina straight to the sky, and leads Aina across the sky. Ursa Major leads Ursa Minor and is always visible in the sky so that people remember good and evil...

The Ainu bear cult differed sharply from similar cults in Europe and Asia. Only The Ainu fed the sacrificial bear cub with the breast of a female nurse!

The main celebration of the Ainu is the bear festival, on which Relatives and guests came from many villages. For four years, a bear cub was raised in one of the Ainu families. He was given the best food, the bear cub was prepared for a ritual sacrifice. In the morning, on the day of the bear sacrifice, The Ainu organized mass crying in front of the bear's cage. After that, the animal was taken out of the cage and decorated with shavings, ritual jewelry was put on. Then he was led through the village, and while those present distracted the attention of the beast with noise and shouts, the young hunters jumped on the bear one by one, clinging to him for a moment, trying to touch his head, and immediately jumped back: a peculiar rite of "kissing" the beast. The bear was tied up in a special place, they tried to feed it with festive food. The elder uttered a farewell word in front of him, described the labors and merits of the inhabitants of the village who raised the divine beast, set out the wishes of the Ainu, which the bear was to convey to his father, the mountain taiga god. It is an honor to “send” the beast to the forefather, i.e. killing a bear with a bow could be awarded to any hunter, at the request of the owner of the animal, but he must have been a visitor. Had hit right in the heart. The meat of the animal was laid on spruce paws and distributed taking into account seniority and generosity. The bones were carefully collected and taken to the forest. There was silence in the village. It was believed that the bear was already on its way, and the noise could lead it astray.

The genetic relationship of the Ainu with the people of the Neolithic culture Jomon, who were the ancestors of the Ainu, has been proven.

For a long time it was believed that the Ainu may have common roots with the peoples of Indonesia and the natives of the Pacific Ocean, since they have similar facial features. But genetic research excluded this option.

The Japanese are sure that the Ainu are related to the Paleo-Asian (?) peoples and came to the Japanese islands from Siberia. Recently there have been suggestions that Ainu are relatives of the Miao Yao living in southern China.

Ainu appearance

The appearance of the Ainu is quite unusual: they have the features of Caucasians, they have unusually thick hair, wide eyes, fair skin. A characteristic feature of the appearance of the Ainu is very thick hair and a beard in men, what representatives of the Mongoloid race are deprived of. Thick long hair, tangled in a tangle, replaced helmets for the Ainu warriors.

Russian and Dutch travelers left many stories about the Ainu. According to their testimony, Ainu are very kind, friendly and open people.. Even Europeans who visited the islands in different years noted a characteristic Ainu gallant manners, simplicity and sincerity.

Russian explorers - the Cossacks, conquering Siberia, reached the Far East. Arriving on the island of Sakhalin, the first Russian Cossacks even mistook the Ainu for Russians, so they were not like the Siberian tribes, but rather resembled Europeans.

Here is what he wrote Cossack Yesaul Ivan Kozyrev about the first meeting: “Fifty people dressed in skins poured out to meet. They looked without fear and were of an unusual appearance - hairy, long-bearded, but with white faces and not slanting, like the Yakuts and Kamchadals.

It can be said that The Ainu were like anyone: the peasants of the south of Russia, the inhabitants of the Caucasus, Persia or India, even the gypsies - just not the Mongoloids. These unusual people called themselves Ainami, which means "real person", but the Cossacks dubbed them "smokers", adding an epithet "hairy". Subsequently Cossacks met Kurils throughout the Far East - on Sakhalin, the south of Kamchatka, the Amur region.

The Ainu pay much attention upbringing and education of children. First of all, they think The child must learn to obey the elders! In the unquestioning obedience of the child to his parents, older brothers and sisters, adults in general, the future warrior was brought up. The obedience of the child, from the Ainu point of view, is expressed, in particular, in the fact that the child speaks with adults only when asked, when he is contacted. The child must be in full view of adults at all times., but at the same time do not make noise, do not bother them with your presence.

The Ainu give names to children not immediately after birth, as Europeans do, but at the age of one to ten years, or even later. Most often, the name of the Ainu reflects the distinctive property of his character, his inherent individual trait, for example: Selfish, Dirty, Fair, Good speaker, Stutterer, etc. Ainu have no nicknames are their names.

Ainu boys raised by the father of the family. He teaches them to hunt, navigate the terrain, choose the shortest path in the forest, hunting techniques and weapons. The upbringing of girls is the responsibility of the mother. In cases where children violate the established rules of behavior, commit mistakes or misdemeanours, parents tell them various instructive legends and stories, preferring this means of influencing the child's psyche to physical punishment.

Ainu war with the Japanese

AT soon the idealistic life of the Ainu in the Japanese archipelago was prevented by migrants from Southeast Asia and China - Mongoloid tribes, who later became the ancestors of the Japanese. New settlers brought culture with them rice which allowed a large number of people to feed in a relatively small area. Having formed yamato State, they began to threaten the peaceful life of the Ainu, so some of them moved to Sakhalin, the lower Amur, Primorye and the Kuril Islands. The remaining Ainu began the era of constant wars with the state of Yamato, which lasted about a thousand years.

The first samurai were not Japanese at all.

The Ainu were skilled warriors who were fluent in bow and sword, and the Japanese failed to defeat them for a long time. A very long time, almost 1500 years .

The new state of Yamato, which arose in the III-IV centuries, begins an era of constant war with the Ainu. AT 670 Yamoto renamed Nippon (Japan). "Among the Eastern savages the strongest are Emishi", - testify the Japanese chronicles, where the Ainu appear under the name "emishi".

The Japanese demonized the recalcitrant people, calling the Ainu savages, but the Japanese for quite a long time yielded to the savages - the Ainu militarily. A record of a Japanese chronicler made in 712 : « When our exalted ancestors descended on a ship from the sky, on this island (Honshu) they found several wild peoples, among them the wildest were the Ainu.

Ainu. 1904

The Japanese were afraid of an open battle with the Ainu and recognized that one warrior - ain is worth a hundred Japanese . There was a belief that especially skilled Ainu warriors could let in fog in order to hide unnoticed by enemies.

The Ainu knew how to deal with with two swords and on the right thigh they wore two daggers . One of them (cheyki-makiri) served as a knife for committing ritual suicide - hara-kiri.

The origins of the samurai cult are in the martial art of the Ainu, not the Japanese. As a result of thousands of years of wars with the Ainu, the Japanese adopted a special military style from the Ainu. culture - samurai, originating from the millennial military traditions of the Atzni. And some of the samurai clans, by their origin, are still considered Ainu.

Even the symbol of Japan - the great Mount Fuji - has in its name the Ainu word "fuji", which means "deity of the hearth."

The Japanese were able to defeat the Ainu only after the invention of cannons, having managed to to adopt many techniques of military art from the Ainu. The code of honor of the samurai, the ability to wield two swords and the mentioned hara-kiri ritual - many consider the characteristic attributes of Japanese culture, but in fact these military traditions were borrowed by the Japanese from the Ainu.

In ancient times, the Ainu had tradition to draw mustaches for women, so they looked like young warriors. This tradition says that Ainu women were also warriors, along with men they fought like Despite all the prohibitions from the Japanese government, even in the twentieth century, the Ainu were tattooed, it is believed that the latter the tattooed woman died in 1998.

Tattoos, in the form of a lush mustache above the upper lip, were applied exclusively by women. , it was believed that this rite was taught to the ancestors of the Ainu by the gods, the mother-progenitor of all living things - Oki Kurumi Turesh Mahi (Okikurumi Turesh Machi), the younger sister of the creator god Okikurumi .

The tradition of tattooing was passed down through the female line, drawing on the daughter's body was applied by her mother or grandmother.

In the process of "Japanization" of the Ainu people in 1799, a strict ban on tattooing Ainu girls was introduced , and in 1871 in Hokkaido, a second strict ban was proclaimed, because it was believed that the procedure was too painful and inhumane.

The Ainu language is also a mystery, it has Sanskrit, Slavic, Latin, Anglo-Germanic roots. Ainu language strongly stands out from the modern linguistic picture of the world, and so far they have not found a suitable place for it. During the long isolation the Ainu have lost contact with all other peoples of the Earth, and some researchers even single them out as special Ainu race.

ethnographers wrestling with the question where in these harsh lands people appeared, wearing swing (southern) type of clothing. Them national casual wear - dressing gowns , decorated with traditional ornaments, festive - white.

Ainu national clothes - dressing gown, decorated bright ornament, fur hat or wreath. Previously, clothing material was woven from strips of bast and nettle fibers. Now the national clothes of the Ainu are sewn from purchased fabrics, but decorated with rich embroidery. Nearly each Ainu village has its own special embroidery pattern. Having met an Ainu in national dress, one can accurately determine from which village he is from. Embroidery on men's and women's clothing differ. A man will never wear clothes with "female" embroidery, and vice versa.

Russian travelers were also struck by the fact that in summer, the Ainu wore a loincloth.

Today, there are very few Ainu left, about 30,000 people, and they live mainly in the north of Japan, in the south and southeast of Hokkaido. Other sources give a figure of 50 thousand people, but this includes first-generation mestizos with an admixture of Ainu blood - there are 150,000 of them, they have almost completely assimilated with the population of Japan. The culture of the Ainu goes into oblivion along with its secrets.

Decree of Empress Catherine II of 1779: “... leave the furry smokers free and do not require any collection from them, and henceforth the peoples living there should not be forced to do so, but try to be friendly and affectionate ... to continue the acquaintance already established with them.”

The decree of the empress was not fully respected, and yasak was collected from the Ainu until the 19th century. The gullible Ainu took their word for it, and if the Russians somehow kept him in relation to them, then with the Japanese there was a war to the last breath ...

In 1884, the Japanese resettled all the North Kuril Ainu on the island of Shikotan, where the last of them died in 1941.The last Ainu man on Sakhalin died in 1961, after burying his wife, he, as befits a warrior and the ancient laws of his amazing people, made himself "Eritokpa", ripping open the stomach and releasing the soul to the divine ancestors...

It is believed that there are no Ainu in Russia. This small people who once inhabited lower reaches of the Amur, Kamchatka, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands completely assimilated. It turned out that the Russian Ainu were not lost in the common ethnic sea. At the moment they in Russia - 205 people .

According to the "National Accent" through the mouth Alexei Nakamura, head of the Ainu community, « Ainu or Kamchadal smokers did not disappear anywhere, they just didn’t want to recognize us for many years. The self-name "Ainu" comes from our word for "man" or "worthy man" and is associated with military operations. After all, we fought the Japanese for 650 years.”

Before them, the Ainu lived here, a mysterious people, in whose origin there are still many mysteries. The Ainu for some time coexisted with the Japanese, until the latter managed to push them north.

The fact that the Ainu are the ancient masters of the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands is evidenced by written sources and numerous names of geographical objects, the origin of which is associated with the Ainu language. And even the symbol of Japan - the great Mount Fuji - has the Ainu word "fuji" in its name, which means "deity of the hearth." According to scientists, the Ainu settled the Japanese islands around 13,000 BC and formed the Neolithic Jomon culture there.

The Ainu did not engage in agriculture, they earned their living by hunting, gathering and fishing. They lived in small settlements quite remote from each other. Therefore, their area of ​​residence was quite extensive: the Japanese islands, Sakhalin, Primorye, the Kuril Islands and the south of Kamchatka. Around the 3rd millennium BC, Mongoloid tribes arrived on the Japanese islands, who later became the ancestors of the Japanese. The new settlers brought with them a rice culture that allowed them to feed a large number of people in a relatively small area. Thus began hard times in the life of the Ainu. They were forced to move north, leaving their ancestral lands to the colonialists.

But the Ainu were skilled warriors, who were fluent in bow and sword, and the Japanese failed to defeat them for a long time. Very long, almost 1500 years. The Ainu knew how to handle two swords, and on their right thigh they wore two daggers. One of them (cheyki-makiri) served as a knife for committing ritual suicide - hara-kiri. The Japanese were able to defeat the Ainu only after the invention of cannons, having by this time managed to learn a lot from them in terms of military art. The code of honor of the samurai, the ability to wield two swords and the mentioned hara-kiri ritual - these seemingly characteristic attributes of Japanese culture were actually borrowed from the Ainu.

Scientists still argue about the origin of the Ainu. But the fact that this people is not related to other indigenous peoples of the Far East and Siberia is already a proven fact. A characteristic feature of their appearance is very thick hair and a beard in men, which representatives of the Mongoloid race are deprived of. For a long time it was believed that they may have common roots with the peoples of Indonesia and the Pacific natives, since they have similar facial features. But genetic studies ruled out this option. And the first Russian Cossacks who arrived on Sakhalin Island even mistook the Ainu for Russians, so they were not like Siberian tribes, but rather resembled Europeans. The only group of people from all the analyzed options with whom they have a genetic relationship turned out to be the people of the Jomon era, who were supposedly the ancestors of the Ainu. The Ainu language also strongly stands out from the modern linguistic picture of the world, and a suitable place has not yet been found for it. It turns out that during the long isolation, the Ainu lost contact with all other peoples of the Earth, and some researchers even single them out as a special Ainu race.

Today there are very few Ainu left, about 25,000 people. They live mainly in the north of Japan and are almost completely assimilated by the population of this country.

Ainu in Russia

For the first time, the Kamchatka Ainu came into contact with Russian merchants at the end of the 17th century. Relations with the Amur and Northern Kuril Ainu were established in the 18th century. The Ainu considered Russians, who differed in race from their Japanese enemies, as friends, and by the middle of the 18th century, more than one and a half thousand Ainu had accepted Russian citizenship. Even the Japanese could not distinguish the Ainu from the Russians because of their external resemblance (white skin and Australoid facial features, which are similar to Caucasians in a number of ways). When the Japanese first came into contact with the Russians, they called them the Red Ainu (Ainu with blond hair). It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the Japanese realized that the Russians and the Ainu were two different peoples. However, for Russians, the Ainu were "hairy", "dark-skinned", "dark-eyed" and "dark-haired". The first Russian researchers described the Ainu as similar to Russian peasants with swarthy skin or more like gypsies.

The Ainu were on the side of the Russians during the Russo-Japanese Wars of the 19th century. However, after the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, the Russians abandoned them to their fate. Hundreds of Ainu were massacred and their families forcibly transported to Hokkaido by the Japanese. As a result, the Russians failed to win back the Ainu during World War II. Only a few representatives of the Ainu decided to stay in Russia after the war. More than 90% went to Japan.

Under the terms of the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1875, the Kuriles were ceded to Japan, along with the Ainu living on them. On September 18, 1877, 83 North Kuril Ainu arrived in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, deciding to remain under Russian control. They refused to move to the reservations on the Commander Islands, as they were offered by the Russian government. After that, from March 1881, for four months they traveled on foot to the village of Yavino, where they later settled. Later, the village of Golygino was founded. Another 9 Ainu arrived from Japan in 1884. The 1897 census indicates 57 people in the population of Golygino (all Ainu) and 39 people in Yavino (33 Ainu and 6 Russians). Both villages were destroyed by the Soviet authorities, and the inhabitants were resettled in Zaporozhye, Ust-Bolsheretsky district. As a result, three ethnic groups assimilated with the Kamchadals.

The North Kuril Ainu are currently the largest subgroup of the Ainu in Russia. The Nakamura family (South Kuril on the paternal side) is the smallest and has only 6 people living in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. There are a few on Sakhalin who identify themselves as Ainu, but many more Ainu do not recognize themselves as such. Most of the 888 Japanese living in Russia (2010 census) are of Ainu origin, although they do not recognize this (full-blooded Japanese are allowed to enter Japan without a visa). The situation is similar with the Amur Ainu living in Khabarovsk. And it is believed that none of the Kamchatka Ainu survived.

In 1979, the USSR crossed out the ethnonym "Ainu" from the list of "living" ethnic groups in Russia, thereby declaring that this people had died out on the territory of the USSR. Judging by the 2002 census, no one entered the ethnonym "Ainu" in fields 7 or 9.2 of the K-1 census form

There is such information that the Ainu have the most direct genetic ties in the male line, oddly enough, with the Tibetans - half of them are carriers of a close haplogroup D1 (the D2 group itself is practically not found outside the Japanese archipelago) and the Miao-Yao peoples in southern China and in Indochina. As for the female (Mt-DNA) haplogroups, the U group dominates among the Ainu, which is also found among other peoples of East Asia, but in small numbers.

sources

Only on the territory of Russia there are 65 small peoples, and the number of some of them does not exceed a thousand people. There are hundreds of similar peoples on Earth, and each carefully preserves its customs, language and culture.

Our top ten today includes smallest nations in the world.

10. Ginuhs

This small nation lives on the territory of Dagestan, and its number is only 443 people as of the end of 2010. For a long time, the Ginukh people were not singled out as a separate ethnic group, since the Ginukh language was considered only one of the dialects of the Tsez language common in Dagestan.

9. Selkups

Until the 1930s, representatives of this West Siberian people were called Ostyak-Samoyeds. The number of Selkups is slightly more than 4 thousand people. They live mainly on the territory of the Tyumen, Tomsk regions, as well as the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

8. Nganasans

This people lives on the Taimyr Peninsula, and its number is about 800 people. The Nganasans are the northernmost people in Eurasia. Until the middle of the 20th century, the people led a nomadic life, driving herds of deer over great distances, today the Nganasans live settled.

7. Orochons

The place of residence of this small ethnic group is China and Mongolia. The population is about 7 thousand people. The history of the people has more than a thousand years, the Orochons are mentioned in many documents related to the early Chinese imperial dynasties.

6. Evenki

This indigenous people of Russia lives in Eastern Siberia. This people is the most numerous in our ten - its number is quite sufficient to populate a small town. There are about 35 thousand Evenks in the world.

5. Kets

Kets live in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The number of this people is less than 1500 people. Until the middle of the 20th century, representatives of the ethnic group were called Ostyaks, as well as Yeniseis. The Ket language belongs to the group of Yenisei languages.

4. Chulyms

The number of this indigenous people of Russia is 355 people as of 2010. Despite the fact that most of the Chulyms recognize Orthodoxy, the ethnic group carefully preserves some traditions of shamanism. Chulyms live mainly in the Tomsk region. Interestingly, the Chulym language does not have a written language.

3. Basins

The number of this people living in Primorye is only 276 people. The Taz language is a mixture of one of the Chinese dialects with the Nanai language. Now less than half of those who identify themselves as Taz speak this language.

2. Livy

This extremely small people lives on the territory of Latvia. From time immemorial, the main occupations of the Livs were piracy, fishing and hunting. Today, the people are almost completely assimilated. According to official figures, only 180 Livs remained.

1 Pitcairnians

This people is the smallest in the world and lives on the small island of Pitcairn in Oceania. The number of Pitcairns is about 60 people. They are all descendants of the sailors of the British warship Bounty, who landed here in 1790. The Pitcairn language is a mixture of Simplified English, Tahitian and Maritime vocabulary.