Publication Information The main body of the Publication Information page contains all the metadata that HRAF holds for that document.
Author: Author's name as listed in Library of Congress records
Munro, Neil Gordon, 1863-1942
Seligman, B.Z.
Watanabe, Hitoshi
Title:
Ainu creed and cult
Published By: Original publisher
New York: Columbia University Press. 1963. xviii, 182 p.
ill.
By line: Author's name as appearing in the actual publication
Edited with a pref. and an additional chapter by B.Z.
Seligman. Introd. by H. Watanabe
HRAF Publication Information: New Haven, Conn.:
Human Relations Area Files, 2009. Computer File
Culture: Culture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC) with the alphanumberic OWC identifier in parenthesis.
Ainu (AB06)
Subjects: Document-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
General character of religion (771);
Spirits and gods (776);
Eschatology (775);
Organized ceremonial (796);
Magic (789);
Ethnozoology (825);
Prayers and sacrifices (782);
External relations (648);
Burial practices and funerals (764);
Magical and mental therapy (755);
Rest days and holidays (527);
Activities of the aged (887);
Acculturation and culture contact (177);
Abstract: Brief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The data for this document, related primarily to the
religious life of the Ainu, were collected during the first three decades of the twentieth
century by the principal author N.G. Munro, a British physician who lived for many years in
Japan. This author, accompanied by his Japanese wife, established a clinic for the Ainu at
Nibutani in the Saru district of Hokkaido, by means of which he was able to win the
confidence and trust of the people several of whom were later to serve as his informants.
There, realizing that the traditional life of the Ainu was rapidly disappearing, he made an
intensive study of various aspects of Ainu culture, in the hope that he could demonstrate
to the world at large and the Japanese in particular that the …'Ainu had a culture of their
own which was worthy of consideration and that they were not a low grade people believing
only in absurd superstitions.'Although the author's investigation was carried out primarily
at Nibutani, he also worked with native informants in other districts. After Munro's death
some of his documents were lost, but a substantial number finally reached Professor and
Mrs. Seligman (B.Z. Seligman), where they were edited for publication, and finally evolved
into the present form of this book. Mrs. Seligman was aided in the preparation of Monro's
notes by Professor Watanabe of Tokyo University who besides making comments on the
manuscript, also added footnotes to this document and an historical introduction. The
document deals with the general nature of Ainu religion, the Kamui (spirits or gods), the
Inau or religious offerings, Ainu hearth and home, and various religious ceremonies
associated with house building, house warming, the Bear Ceremony, the Feast of All Souls or
Falling Tears (Shinurapa), magical and mental therapy in the form of exorcism of evil
spirits from patients, and death and burial. A final chapter on Social Organization by B.Z.
Seligman concludes the document.
Document Number: HRAF's in-house numbering system derived from the processing order of documents
7
Document ID: HRAF's unique document identifier. The first part is the OWC identifier and the second part is the document number in three digits.
ab06-007
Document Type: May include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs or chapters/parts of monographs.
Monograph
Language: Language that the document is written in
English
Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-174) and
index
Field Date: The date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1900-1942
Evaluation: In this alphanumeric code, the first part designates the type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigene, and so on. The second part is a ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data
Physician, Ethnologist-4,5
Analyst: The HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection.
John Beierle ; 1965-1968
Coverage Date: The date or dates that the information in the document pertains to (often not the same as the field date).
1900-1930
Coverage Place: Location of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Nibutani, Saru District, Hokkaido,
Japan
LCSH: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Ainu
