In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the people whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here as another public service is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. The I-Know Outcasts of Japan. This is a battle dance of the I-Know. The fight of the I-Know Outcasts of Japan. The last remnants of whose race live today in misery on the forbidding, hard-bitten island of Hokkaido and in its vicinity. This is a battle dance of the I-Know. But the I-Know have long since stopped fighting. Once they were a fighting race, but they have long been subjugated by the Japanese. Under hundreds of years of Japanese suppression, they have degenerated until today they live in squalor and disease and wait only to perish from the earth. The dance is over. It is one of the last vestiges of festivals and ceremonials that once had vital meaning to the I-Know. The dancers have gone and seated alone before the shrine is Chief Okunibatsu. He is more than 80 years old, his hair and beard are long and white and curly. He wears a black robe made of hair and animal skin and elm bark. If Chief Okunibatsu could make himself understood, he would say, the Japanese are waiting for us to die. They came here to our islands 2000 years ago. My people fought them for 600 years with poisoned arrows and with knives made from the iron of the earth. They have oppressed us, but we still have our language, our customs, our religion. We still have these. When the Japanese had vanquished the I-Know, they regarded them as inferior. The I-Know are beasts. They are covered with hair. They live like animals in the woods. The Japanese came to what are now the islands of Japan a thousand years before Christ. They moved northward, driving the white I-Know before them. Chief Okunibatsu was living in Japan while Japan was closed to the world. In our state of perfection, change is not permitted. He who expresses a new notion or who dares to invent must suffer the penalty of death. The thoughts of the Japanese were sharp. No person shall leave Japan. No person outside shall ever be permitted to enter Japan. The I-Know were pushed into the northernmost island, Hokkaido. The cold and bleak island where the Japanese themselves did not wish to live. The fishing rights were sold as concessions. Hereafter, the hunting and fishing of your I-Know will be restricted. But we live by hunting and fishing. Hereafter, you must have a license. We have no money. It is the Roth. We can no longer catch the large salmon that come up our rivers. You must conform to the Roth. How can we live? How can we live? The I-Know are natural hunters and fishers. Their livelihood was taken away. Each I-Know family was assigned a small plot of land to cultivate. The Japanese thought to make them farmers, but the I-Know are not farmers. They clung to their traditions and customs. The Japanese banned some of their festivals and ceremonies. They could oppress the I-Know, but they could not crush out completely their ancient I-Know beliefs. Slowly, over the course of hundreds of years, the I-Know have degenerated. No, the I-Know are not becoming extinct. There are more I-Know today than there were 20 years ago. This is a Westerner. Come to study the unfortunate race. There are about 17,000 I-Know living today. But there is not one pure I-Know among them. Many of them have intermarried with the Japanese, yes. The original I-Know had no Japanese characteristics, whatever. They belonged to a different race. You think they are Europeans? They are probably cousins to the Europeans. They don't have the slanting eyes of the Asiatic, but eyes similar to those of the Europeans. Yes, and they have dark skin instead of yellow skin. Yes, sort of olive skin. The men are extraordinarily hairy over most of the body, and the women have thick black hair on the arms and legs. What they actually are is a primitive people who have come down through the ages, who have changed very little and who have been caught in the whirlpool of modern society. They have been subjugated by the Japanese until they are little more than outcast animals. Old Chief Okunibatsu sits alone. Looking at him now, you see that even he has some Japanese blood. His hair and beard are long and white. On his head is a crown made of grapevine leaves and the carved head of a bear. In his hand is an anou, a willow stick with whittled shavings at its upper end, a symbol held sacred by the Ainu. The one who does not hold the anou as sacred is an atheist. You look at the anou and you see that it's merely a small branch of willow with knife flashes into the sides near the top so that it looks like a plume. Yet it is a fetish of the Ainu. There are many gods. There are gods in the trees, in the streams, in the thunder and lightning, in the hills, in the earth, the sea. If you went into the house of Chief Okunibatsu, you would see an anou stuck into the ashes of the fireplace. This anou is in honor of the goddess of fire. She lives here in the fireplace. She is in the reddest part of the flames. An anou is stuck in the ashes of the fireplace of every Ainu household. The fire goddess in the fireplace knows all the secrets of the household, even those never expressed. And on judgment day, she would testify for or against everyone in the household. Her word is golden. The anou stuck in the ashes is a gesture to the fire goddess. The anou is of the greatest importance to the Ainu, and it is related to the way the Ainu regards his wife. The husband must take care not to antagonize his wife, for women are filled with dangerous thoughts. Chief Okunibatsu refers to the Ainu men, who the anou have been hidden or destroyed by their wives. Where is it? Where is my anou? It is gone. It is gone. I have not seen it. But the wife has burned it. I put it here. What has become of it? What has become of it? I have not seen it. Gods will believe I no longer revere them. They will punish me. They will make me sick. They will destroy my reason. They will strike me down. What has become of my anou? I have not seen it. In the Ainu society, the women are kept ignorant. They do all the menial work. Yet because of their dangerous thoughts, they are respected and feared by their husbands. They are not permitted to participate in religious rituals, but the men treat them with kindness and courtesy. Before I was married, I was equal to any boy my age. Now that I am married, I must bow to my husband's will. You look at the woman and you see that she has what appears to be a mustache. Her upper lip is tattooed. You notice that the tattooing is nearly half an inch wide and that it extends out beyond the corners of the mouth. It was tattooed when she was a child. Build up the campfire. The fire must be hot. She sat quivering while the preparations were made to tattoo her. Is the ash bark soaked in the water? Yes, it is soaked. Then heat it in the pot. Come help me hang the pot over the fire. Yes. Up. There. Now while the ash bark is heating, I will fix your lip. Are you, are you going to cut me with that knife? Are you afraid? No. Put your head back. You. Yes. Hold her head back so I can get at her face. Yes. Hold your face up. Head back. Yes. Is that knife sharp? It will not take long. Do not move now. Be quiet. Quiet. Do not move. Hold still. Hold her face up. There. Now be quiet. Hold still. The knife of the tattooer cuts diagonally across the lip. The blood oozes out. There. Now scrape some soot off the pot with your knife. Yes. That is enough. Give me the knife with the soot on it now. Yes. Here. Now. Quiet. Well, I'll bump this into the cuts. Hold her face up. Up. That's it. Now hold quite. There. Hold still. There. That's enough. Now dip this cloth in the black ash water and the pot. Yes. It is hot here. Yes. Now we will fix the tattoo in the cut. There. There. Just a little more. Just pat it with the water of the burqesh. There. There. That is all. You can go now. For days after the painful operation, the lips are sore. In the succeeding years, more and more tattooing is added until the entire mouth is surrounded by the bluish black tattoo. I am pretty sure that the tattoo is not a black tattoo. I am proud of my tattooing. I am in style. Now some day some men will marry me. And now I will have the backs of my hands tattooed and have bands tattooed around my arms. Chief Hope Diabatsu remembers when the Ainu honored the gods with a bear festival. To the Ainu, the bear is of great religious significance. Through the bleak hills and forests of the island of Hokkaido roam many bear. The Ainu call the bear the superior creature which lives among the mountains. When cubs are brought in, they live in the cage outside. But they are permitted to run free in the house. Sometimes they are suckled at the breast of the housewife. The mighty one is grown too big to run free. Yes, henceforth we must keep him locked up in the cage. The people of the village and visitors all treat the caged bear with respect. They salute him and treat him with kindness. Hello Mr. Bear. Come over here to this side Mr. Bear. You have a fine big bear here. Yes, come here Mr. Bear. Here is gingerbread for you. He likes it. Yes, here is more. Eat it. You have placed Inau around the outside of the cage so your bear is growing big. He is growing so big that soon we must send him away. Else he may destroy his cage and get out. How old is Mr. Bear now? He is two years old. Soon his time will be here. The time is set for the bear festival. There will be a religious ritual and a feast. The bear festival is the big event in the lives of the Ainu. The word of the coming festival is spread throughout the village, throughout the hills and over the rushing streams into the depths of the forest. On the day of the new moon, I shall send away a dear little bear to its mother in the mountains. Come and join me, sending the mighty one home. Through the hills and the forest, the word goes. Bear festival on the day of the new moon. From the forests and from the hills and as far as the word of the bear festival echoes, The iron eels come. They come in through the valleys, across the rushing torrent, down the seacoast. From the mountain passments, the women come days early to help in the preparation. The men come with their powerful bows and their poisoned arrows. The chief comes to oversee the preparation. Make new anahos and place them around the house. Place one anaho in each corner of the barricade. Place one in the ashes of the fireplace to honor the goddess of fire. The preparations are done. And now the iron eels men are seated around the fireplace. The women are seated behind them. Before the men are bowls of wine, ceremonial bowls. We salute thee, O fire goddess. We salute thee, O fire goddess. The chief strokes his long beard. He picks up a bowl of wine before him, raises it high, puts it down on the mat. Now he dips a stick into the wine and lets three drops fall on the heart. We honor thee, O fire goddess. The guests all do as the chief has done. Now they all clasp the wine. They repeat the ritual over and over, honoring their many gods. The woman who suckled the bear is in tears. She raises her bowl of wine to her lips and as she drinks, she soaks a tattooed mustache with her index fingers. The guests get up and go outside and dance around the cage. Ah, here comes the woman with gingerbread for the bear. Here is gingerbread for you, mighty one. The bear gobbles up the gingerbread. And here are gifts for you, mighty one, to take to your mother when you go to join her in the mountains. Now the chief steps forward with a bowl of wine. We salute thee, dear little one. He puts the bowl of wine into the cage. And as the bear sniffed at it, the Ainu men stepped forward and lit some of the heavy logs of the cage. The loop is around the bear's neck. Hold him a minute until I get another loop around his neck. Hurry, hurry, he is tugging, he's pulling away. Just an instant, hold him. Now bring out the mighty one. Hold the line tight. Lead him around the circle. As the bear is led around, held securely between the men holding the rope, the Ainu shoot him with blunt arrows. This arrow is for you, mighty one. Stand back. This arrow is for you, mighty one. The arrows do not break the skin, but they taunt the bear. They hurt and infuriate him. More and more blunt arrows are shot at the bear as he is led around, struggling. The dance goes on. It is time. Bind the mighty one to the stake. The bear is tied upright against the stake in a sitting position. The mighty one is ready. We salute the little one and send you away to join your mother in the mountains. It is done. A poisoned arrow is shot into the heart of the bear. The bear is dead. Now the woman approaches. I bring you a bowl of wine and millet cake and chopsticks to eat them. She places them before the dead bear. Oh, mighty one, I hang the sword and quiver about your neck. The hunter who has shot the poisoned arrow tenderly places the sword and the quiver around the dead bear. We salute thee, our gods, and beg thy favor. The chief lifts the bowl of wine placed before the bear, swaps it, puts it down, drops three drops on the ground. The seer has gone to join his mother in the mountains. The bear is now called the seer, for now the soul of the bear has gone to heaven. It has been many years now since we have held a bear festival. The Japanese do not permit us to have them. The Japanese have vanquished us because we were not strong, because we were a divided people, because we did not join together as one people against them. Down through the years, the Ainu have lived in villages, each governed by a chief, each village independent of the other villages. The elders of the village chose the chief, and he was the law. The messenger has not returned from the village by the river, Chief Okunabatsu. You sent the messenger fully informed? Yes, I won. I informed him of the death of Katansu in the village by the river, and instructed him to ask them to pay us for his death. They know Katansu was of our village? Yes, he had walked through the village by the river many times. They had complained that Katansu had not taken off his hat when last he walked through their village, had they not? Yes, it is the law. Could it be that they have seized upon this as an excuse to kill Katansu? I do not know, I won. Chief Okunabatsu! The courier returns from the village by the river, Chief Okunabatsu. What word do you bring courier? Have they found the one who killed Katansu? The chief of the village by the river says that Katansu killed himself. Is this possible, my advisor? Katansu was sucked down from the back. His life was taken by others. Then courier, the people who live in the village by the river have made no amends for the death of Katansu? The chief says that no man in his village is guilty, but that Katansu came to their village and killed himself. Advisor, you will call the elders and prepare the men of our village to war on the village by the river. This is my word. From the village of Chief Okunabatsu, the Ainu moved through the forest, over the mountain pass, and down to the village by the river. With bows and poisoned arrows, with swords and knives, they crept through the woods down upon the village. Leading them into battle was Chief Okunabatsu. Slay them with your weapons. Find the one who killed Katansu and bring him back to our village. Now! To the attack! To the attack! Chief Okunabatsu and his men brought back to their village the Ainu they believed to be the murderer of Katansu. He was tried in the open, in the street of the village, found guilty. Early American missionaries stood by and watched the punishment. Good heavens! Are they going to beat him to death? No. The Ainu know that if they kill him, he escapes suffering. I've never seen anything like this. Tying a man up with a hair and beating him but he swings it. And this is not all that he is going to get. Don't you think we ought to intercede for him? It will do no good. These Ainu are punishing this murderer in their own way. By those specially made clubs they're beating him with? Yes. They are carved especially for this purpose. If they don't stop soon, the man will be dead. They know how much he can endure. Oh! Ah! Thank heavens! They've stopped. They're going to cut him down. Notice the nose of the man. I can hardly see it. He's got his head down. Now take a look at his nose. It looks as though it's been slit and peeled up again. That's exactly what's happened. That shows that he's been convicted of stealing and that he's been punished by having his nose slit. Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Oh! Who is that big guy in the Name him. Name him. Good heavens. In the name of humanity, we ought not to stand by and... Hold on. Hold on. Don't be foolish. This is their problem. What's he doing to the men's feet? Perhaps you better not see this. Let's go back to our camp. No, no. I want to see it. What's he doing to that man? He's cutting the tendons in his feet. He's cutting every one of them. That man will never be able to walk again. That is what they intend. For the rest of his life, he will have to drag himself around, crawling on his hands and knees. See, I know you see, make sure that a murderer lives to suffer all the days of his life. The body of the murdered Kotansu was covered and brought back. Chief Oknibatsu gave the order for its burial. He will bury the body of Kotansu in the secret place over the distant hill. Kotansu's spirit lives today and will leave around the grave and the hill where his body is buried. You will keep secret the exact place you bury Kotansu's body. And henceforth, no man shall ever visit the grave, nor ever again speak Kotansu's name. Kotansu is no more. As Kotansu's body is hidden from the world, so are the remnants of the pagan race, the Ainu. The Japanese have assigned Japanese names to the Ainu in place of their own. They have undertaken to Japanize their lives. They have intermarried with the Ainu, and gradually the Ainu are disappearing. But the ancient superstitions, philosophy, religion, and language are little changed. My duty is to do the farm work, and to care for the home, and to care for the children, and to do the weaving. Once the Ainu male, provided for the family by hunting and fishing, looked out for their spiritual welfare by taking part in religious rituals, descended them by going into battle against the enemy. The woods were green and lush, and the trees were tall and strong. The streams were friendly, for they gave us great fish, and in the hills and the forests were many bears. The main home of the Ainu is still in Hokkaido, but today the Ainu are beset with disease and poverty. Hokkaido is like the bleak sub-arctic land, cold and filled with snow much of the time. Hokkaido is no longer the cherished homeland of the Ainu. It is their last retreat, though some of them still live in other sparse lands in the vicinity. Today, the Japanese say what we shall hunt and fish, we must live as the Japanese say we must live. For years, medical men and missionaries and scientists traveled to Hokkaido to study the Ainu. So these are the hot springs, are they? Yes, they were developed by the Japanese years ago. But I don't see any Ainu around here. Once the Ainu occupied this entire country, they retreated up here when the Japanese pushed them northward. But when the Japanese saw the possibilities of these hot springs, they moved in here too. Where did the Ainu go? They retreated further up the river, up into the interior. The Japanese have made this a modern resort, haven't they? Yes, but here again the Ainu have been driven out of the undesirable places into the undesirable places. Do you mind taking us up into the interior where they are? Up the river along an ancient path, up a valley dense with undergrowth they went, over rugged trails deeper into the interior of Hokkaido to a village of Ainu along the banks of the river. Can we go into this house? There probably would be no objection. What poverty, what lack of cleanliness. Yes, but look at the woven mass on the floor, how well they are made. You see, there is the sacred east window. There is only one window in the Ainu houses and it's always in the east. What is that standing there by the window? A pole with a skull of some kind on top of it. That's the skull of a bear. And you see, there are there in A'o, stuck in various places. See the one in the ashes of the fireplace. Yes, what is that in A'o? It's a fetish, a whittled stick of willow with the shavings not quite cut off at the top. Each one of those honors some deity of the Ainu. This is like visiting a world that by all the rules of progress should have passed away thousands of years ago. Let us go out and have a look at some of the Ainu themselves. Yes, we should find some of them around the other houses. Around the scattered houses of the village are a few Ainu. The women are at work. The men are doing nothing but passing the time. Most of them are very old, the hardiest of the race, or the very young, the newborn, who have not yet been cut down by disease. There are few young men and young women, and still fewer middle-aged ones. The plight of these people is pitiful. Doesn't the Japanese government do anything for these people? Very little. There are some schools for the children and they have their plots of ground to work, but that is about all. Once they were a race of hardy hunters and fishers, but they have even forgotten these skills. All of them seem to have some Japanese characteristics. Yes, all of them have some Japanese blood. The original Ainu didn't have slant eyes nor yellow skin. Why, they are full of disease. Disease, yes. In this village there are some big families, eight and nine children. So it appears that the Ainu are increasing in number, but actually the Ainu blood is running low. Year by year the race is deteriorating. Something should be done for their health. They cannot be left to die like this. Actually the Ainu race, the pure race, has already died and these last remnants are now on their way to extinction. You have been listening to the Pacific Story presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cross currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. We repeat, for a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquis. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Palusso. Your narrator, Gain Whitman. The program came to you from Hollywood. This is the National Broadcasting Company.
