From “Moustache Lifter” to Kamui Pasui

Investigating Documentation of the Ainu Collections at the

Hearst Museum

Christopher Lowman, UC Berkeley

Research Questions

• What are the proveniences of the Ainu collections at the Hearst Museum? – (Who were the major donors? Who were the collectors? Were materials

archaeological or ethnographic in origin, and how is this reflected in the associated museum documents?)

• How did recording practices change over the course of the museum’s history? – (By studying the museum records, is it possible to determine changes in the

understanding of Ainu cultural practices? What changes reflect the development of museum records as a whole?)

The Ainu

• Indigenous people native to Hokkaido, Japan. Previously lived on Sakhalin (Russia) and on the Kuril Islands north of Japan.

• “Ainu” means human in their own language, separate from Japanese.

• Ethnic issues surrounding identification and prejudice. Recent political recognition.

Extent of the Ainu Population in the Past: Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands

http://www.tofugu.com/2011/12/20/japans-resilient-native-people-the-ainu/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Ainu_in_Hokkaido.svg

Ainu Museums, Collections, and Exhibitions

• Japan:– The Ainu Museum in Shiraoi– Nibutani Ainu Cultural Museum (Hiratori)– Tokyo National Museum

• United States:– The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center– National Archives of Anthropology,

Washington DC– American Museum of Natural History, NYC– The University Museum of Archaeology and

Anthropology, UPenn– Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago– Los Angeles County Museum of Natural

History, California.– Elsewhere catalogued by Yoshinobu Kotani.

Shiraoi Ainu Museum (Porotokotan)

Nibutani Ainu Cultural Museum (Hiratori)

Ainu Collections at the Hearst

• Approximately 150 objects, 18 accessions, 5 minor accessions• All 20th century, but ranging between 1906 and 1970s• Clothing and textiles, baskets, stone implements, carved wood,

ceremonial objects.

Belt, Sakhalin, 1930sRush mat, tannic iron dye Bark bagPouch, 1931

Example of the Spreadsheet:Organized by Accession Number

Example of the Spreadsheet:Organized by Accession Date

Example of the Spreadsheet:Organized by Collection Date

Example Accession Folder # 1226

Accession Folder

Doorbook Record

Thank You to Donor

Postcards

Example Accession Folder # 4574

Accession Folder

Doorbook Record

Thank You to Donor

Additional Comments Museum Acceptance Letters from Donor

Minor Accession 100 KZ: Pottery reconstruction from Kashiwai Shellmounds, Chiba, Japan.

“Aino” Pottery. Collected and illustrated by Mamoru Kurahashi.

From “Moustache Lifter” to Prayer Stick to Kamui Pasui

• Minor Accession 500 E-I: Collected by K.R. Stewart in Nitai (Forest) Village on Sakhalin and donated by Mr. and Mrs. Omer C. Stewart. Likely gathered in the 1930s.

• Accession 838: Blair Memorial Collection. Collected in Alaska in 1934, accessioned in 1945. From a collection that includes Western and Southwest Native American tribes.

• Accession 4574: The most recent material both collected and accessioned. It was collected in 1970 and accessioned in January 1993, by Haruo Aoki.

Next Steps

• Record the objects and photographs that have missing information.

• Follow-up research using the names of the collectors and donors.

• Make contact with Yoshinobu Kotani to find out more about his documentation of Berkeley’s collections.

• Synthesize research so far in the context of class readings.

25-302 lacks an Accession #, but does have information about the collector (Dr. Ronald L. Olson (1895-1979)

Thank you—

Ira JacknisJunko HabuWilliam FitzhughLaura FlemingThe Arctic Studies Center at the Smithsonian