European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 13, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The passing the Robes and flowing biggest ainu May be part of lost tribes of Israel. Acc. A \ � w i ainu practice ritual killing of bears but use stuffed ones in rites to attract tourists Young girl is of Japon Iwu parents. Pure blooded minus Are nearly extinct. The ainu believe bears Are really gods in disguise and Only death can return them to heaven. By Patrick Luminello Pacific is staff writer he past of the ainu the aborigines of Japan is shrouded i mystery but their future could not be clearer they Are doomed to extinction. Thousands of years before the people now known As japanese came the ainu populated All four major islands of Japan. Now these strange people the Only indigenous non orientals inthe East survive Only on hokkaido the northernmost major Island of Japan Oron smaller islands even farther North. Unlike orientals the ainu have extremely hairy bodies Light complexions Blue or Green flecked eyes Broad facial features and barrel chests. The average male is Only about 5 feet 2 inches tall smaller than the average japanese. But the ainu do not have the mongolian Holdover their eyes which gives the Oriental his distinct appearance. According to anthropologists the ainu Are Proto caucasians but their origin remains unknown despite centuries of research by japanese and foreign scholars. The ainu speak a strange language which seems to have no common Fea Tures with any other Tongue. And their language is unwritten so scholars who study them find themselves confronted with a history which is a strange mix Ture of legend religion and chants. Their Art is primitive usually just Wood carvings and weaving and their tools and weapons Are limited to crude Stone or wooden implements. They live in grass Weed or Bamboo grass thatched huts either near a coastal area or by a River. They live today As the did years ago by Hunting fishing and crude  Rev. Gerhard Huber a German born franciscan missionary who has worked on hokkaido for nearly 40 years Page 12 contends that there Are Only about 3 000pure-blooded ainu left. With mixed Breeds counted the number swells to about 18,000. Or. S. Rokama a hokkaido University anthropologist feels there Are even fewer pure ainu. He places the present population of pure blooded ainu at just a few Hundred. At the turn of the Century there were 40,000 ainu on Hok Kaido alone. The most popular theory about Heiro Ngin is hut they came from Siberia 20,000 years ago after other thousands or years of nomadic existence in Europe father Huber and Rokama sup port the theory. Others More romantically inclined feel that the ainu May  Airt,1.0f, of St tribes of indeed their flowing beards and colourful Robes do give some of the ainu cider the look of old testament patriarchs. The ainu have also often been com pared to the indians of North America. In both cases a nomadic  living on Hunting and Fis to give Way before the Advance More progressive and Lund hungry a when the first japanese  in fio . By cot of from Central Asia the inva deft themselves in conflict with the Exi population just As the american neers did with the indians. And the ainu like the India unable to unite their various. To the face of a common foe. Centuries of conflict with the expanding advanced japanese As Well As inter tribal strife plague epidemic and intermarriage Nave combined to r e d u c e the ainu their present status As a disappearing Ace. Intermarriage with the  More common today de i p the the fact that the japanese often a the Amu As an inferior race. M 1 tilt Tonuu age is being forgotten me younger ainu who Are subject v North America they u before the Advance full fond hungry race. 99 to the japanese compulsory education Law. The Young ainu speak mostly Jap anese now with a few ainu phrase thrown in according to father Huber. It is the old persons who cling to the customs of the past despite prohibitions by the japanese government on themore bloody and weird rituals. More than 100 years ago the japanese ordered a halt to the practice of Tattoo ing women but it persisted for Man years. The painful process of tattooing involves piercing the skin around the Mouth of a Young woman and rubbing charcoal dust and other dyes into the wounds. This form a pattern much like a Man s moustache and Goatee. Tattoo ing of the arms and the brow is also performed occasionally. Today ties tattoos Are usually seen Only on old women. Ti1k ainu also believe in a Ani mistic religion in which bears Are really gods in disguise. Only death can return these Bear gods to heaven and the ainu Speed their return journey with  japanese government after world War ii prohibited the ritual killing of bears As unnecessary cruelty to animals. But it is still practice secretly. The1 ritual killing is carried out by lashing a Bear to a stake whipping it for hours and repeatedly firing arrows into it. The actual killing is performed with stabs from a Long Spear. At the moment of death the ainu dance and chant around the body. Then they ski the beast and eat its flesh and drink ils blood. The hide becomes a decoration for the ainu huts. Sake plays a big role in this As inmost ainu religious ceremonies because the Amu believe that the drunker on gets the More the gods Are pleased especially the slain Bear god who presumably is on his Way Back to heaven. The ainu have a nonlethal version of the stars and stripes tuesday a 13, 1968 the stars and stripes the Bear killing ritual which they per form for picture taking outsiders. As in most primitive societies women play an inferior role limited to child bearing and keeping House. In fact after the birth of a child it is the father who undergoes a period of rest. He must re lax and meditate for six Days so that part of the spirit which resides in him May pass Over to his Newborn child. But this ceremony is practice less each year As fewer pure blooded ainu Are born. According to father Huber in another generation at most pure blooded ainu will have  this time conies he feels the never Bright Hope of discovering the origin of the ainu will become Little More than a  Huber says the ainu know they Are doomed and this of in fill them with despair. He says there is nothing left for them and they know they Are a lost  Page 13