Ainu Creed and Cult

An account of the Ainu people and their customs. This book describes their religious beliefs, homes, ceremonies, social organization, arts, festivities and funerary practices. It establishs the intricacy of Ainu spirit beliefs and ritual pratices which dominated their culture and daily life.

His unique position of trust among the Ainu enabled him to describe fully their religious beliefs, homes, ceremonies, social organisation, arts, festivities and funerary practices. In it he established the intricacy of Ainu spirit beliefs and ritual practices, which so dominated their culture that daily life could not be understood without reference to religious and magical procedures. Munro's work stands today as a fine example of the anthropological method, as a historical record of those decades at the beginning of the century when the old Ainu ways were still followed, and as an eloquent and timeless plea for the dignity and survival of a minority culture.

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
THE KAMUI
THE INAU
EFFIGIES
HEARTH AND HOME
HOUSE-BUILDING RITES
THE HOUSE-WARMING CEREMONY (Chisei Nomi)
THE FEAST OF ALL SOULS OR FALLING TEARS (Shinurapa)
EXORCISM (Uepotara)
VARIOUS RITES
DEATH AND BURIAL
SOCIAL ORGANISATION
APPENDIX I: Invocations to a Kamui for Help in Cases of Severe Illness
APPENDIX II: The Bear Ceremony.