Ainu dress
by rebecca ~ May 26th, 2005. Filed under: Ainu rights, Whirling Dervish.
Students putting on ‘Ainu’ dress (actually made for the tourists to try on).
Tuesday my world culture seminar (all four students!) went to the nearby Ainu Memorial Museum run by the Kawamura family. We learned the Ainu language has over 80 words for bear, an animal who is probably the most important spirit-god in the Ainu religion. For example, there’s a word for a one-year old bear, a two-year old bear, etc.
My cynical self looked up the number of synonyms for ‘lie’ in English the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: 37. A cultural gauge or coincidence? Hmmmm….ask the US president, as he practices all 37 versions….