日本には古来から「八百万の神」という考え方があるが、アイヌの人々の信仰における「カムイ」の世界観は似ているようで違う。
カムイ(神)はカムイの世界にいるときは人間と同じ姿で暮らし、人前に現れるときは動植物や自然現象などさまざまな姿になる。クマも毛皮や肉などをアイヌの人たちに届けるため姿を変えて現れたもの。だからアイヌの人たちにとってクマの”霊”を住んでいた世界へ送り返すことはとても大切な儀礼。
カムイは人間の世界で受けたもてなしや、人間たちとの出来事をカムイの世界へ持ち帰り、ほかのカムイたちに伝える。人間から大切に扱われ、祭られることで、そのカムイはより尊い存在になっていくと考えられている。
アイヌの人たちは生きていくために必要なものだけを採り、そのいのちに感謝する。
そんな人たちが和人から受けた不当な扱い、差別。
万国博覧会での人間展示。
少数民族の同化政策をしている国のことをずっと毛嫌いしていたけど日本も同じだった。
Japan has long had the concept of “yaoyorozu no kami”—the countless gods of nature. The Ainu people also have a deep spiritual connection with nature, but their understanding of kamuy is both similar and different.
When kamuy are in their own world, they are said to live in human form. When they come to the human world, however, they take the form of animals, plants, or natural phenomena. Bears, for example, are seen as kamuy who have taken the form of bears to bring their fur and meat to the Ainu.
That is why sending the bear’s spirit back to its own world is such an important ritual for the Ainu. The kamuy return carrying the hospitality they received from humans and the stories of their time in the human world, which they share with other kamuy.
The Ainu took only what they needed to survive and expressed gratitude for every life they took.And yet, these same people suffered injustice and discrimination at the hands of the Wajin (ethnic Japanese), and were even displayed as “human exhibits” at world expositions.
I have always felt uncomfortable with countries that imposed assimilation policies on Indigenous peoples and tried to erase their cultures.
Learning that Japan had done the same was a painful realization.
