Marking Ainu Objects

Summary

Close examination of Ainu objects in American museums reveals patterns of use-wear, re-use, and intentional marking. These marks draw attention to the life of the object, an avenue of research when depositional data or documents are absent. In colonial contexts, modification as a form of individual or cultural ownership can be used to oppose assumptions of assimilation by revealing ways materials were appropriated or were part of cultural hybridization. Ainu artifacts drawn from multiple collections provide evidence of how "Ainu-ness" continued to be created in the face of Meiji-era internal colonialism in Japan, and how it changed in conjunction with increased tourism and cultural recognition efforts. I use ethnographic objects to examine endurance of Ainu design in material and motif, as well as signs of use and modification. Presence and absence of foreign materials, the re-application of decorative elements, and wear-patterns together mark ways the Ainu maintained, and modified, cultural ownership.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Directions in Historical Archaeology: Theory, Method, and Practice   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage