Chiri Yukie

In the 19 years of her life, Chiri Yukie (知里幸恵)(1903-1922) became an important transcriber of the rapidly diminishing Ainu oral traditions.

Along with her aunt, Kannari Matsu, her younger brother, and the Japanese scholar Kindaichi Kyousuke, she was one of the first non-Westerners to attempt ot record Ainu tradition in a sympathetic light.

Her posthumously published book, Ainu Shinyoushuu(アイヌ神謡集), contains parallel Ainu and Japanese transcriptions of 13 Ainu yukar or oral epic poems.

Unfortunately, despite being one of the most authentic and accessible collections of yukar, the Ainu Shinyoushuu is not available in English.

This English Translation

I freely admit that this translation is extremely bad and that I may on occasion confuse the subject of a sentence with its object, among other similar minor mistakes.

The reader is strongly urged to contribute corrections and suggestions!

Some Ainu Words

There are several places where a translation tends to contain many different words, but Ainu uses only a single, particularly important word.

Nispa

The word nispa denotes a chief or member of an important family in a village. Whenever 'rich man', 'lord', 'chief' and so on appear in the translation the original word is usually nispa.

Kani

Kani means literally gold or metal, but also refers to anything particularly grand or good. The 'golden' arrows are kani. This word is obviously related to Japanese kane.

Ainu

Ainu means people. Whenever 'people', 'Ainu', or 'human' appear in the translation the original word was Ainu.

Inau

An inau is a kind of stick with a tassle on it, much used in Ainu religion. They are obviously related to the go-hei of Shinto religion. Chiri Yukie sometimes left the word inau unchanged and sometimes translated it to go-hei.

Kotan

A village and the area it stands in is the kotan. When 'village' or 'land' appear in the translation, the original word is kotan. One of the owl god's epithets is Kotankor Kamui, the god of the land.

Kamui

Although usually translated as 'god', this word has about the same meaning as Japanese kami -- in other words the spirit inherent in any animal, place, or thing. In Ainu thought kamui were often associated with animals, directions, and parts of the house.