Kwakwaka’wakw Totem Pole Raised at the Japanese National Museum of Ethnology
Campbell River, Canada / Turtle Island and Osaka, Japan In preparation for the opening of Japan’s National Ainu Museum in April 2020, the National Museum of Ethnology (called ‘Minpaku’) wanted to present an exhibition of Indigenous art. They commissioned the Kwakwaka’wakw carver Bill Henderson of the Wei Wai Kum Nation in Campbell River to construct a traditional totem pole to be sent to Japan. The pole depicts an eagle, sisiutl (sea serpent), a grizzly bear, and a salmon, which evoked Henderson’s family history and Campbell River’s fishing industry. Professors and administrators from Minpaku visited Campbell River to view the totem pole before it was shipped to Osaka, and erected on June 24, 2020. The resulting exhibition, “Treasures of Indigenous Peoples”, featured Ainu artwork alongside Indigenous works from Taiwan (Tao), Guatemala (Maya), and Canada (Coast Salish). People Bill Henderson, Wei Wai Kum artist Nations Kwakwaka’wakw (Wei Wai Kum) Organisations Wei Wai Kum Band Council National Museum of Ethnology Sources Scott Harrison. (November 17, 2018) Enhancing Trans-Pacific People-to-People Ties: Japan-Canada Twinning (Sister) Relationships. Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Nuburi and Shusei Toko Build Kamui Mintara on Burnaby Mountain
Burnaby Mountain, Canada / Turtle Island When visiting Burnaby in 1986, Kushiro-based Ainu carver Nuburi Toko decided to create a sculpture representing the relationship between Burnaby and Kushiro, which have been sister-cities since 1966. The result is Kamui Mintara (Playground of the Gods), a landscape of carved wooden pillars on the western flank of Burnaby Mountain. Erected in 1990 for 25 years of Burnaby-Kushiro friendship, the park around it was officially renamed to Kushiro Park in 2015 in honour of 50 years of the Burnaby-Kushro relationship. Kamui Mintara does not exactly represent traditional Ainu art. Just like his contemporary Bikky Sunzawa, who had visited British Columbia in 1983, the Tokos were inspired by the visual forms of the Indigenous Northwest Coast style. Kamui Mintara’s carved columns are modelled on totem poles, which are not a feature of Ainu culture. The sculpture’s title and placement on the relatively diminutive Burnaby Mountain are supposed to evoke Hokkaido’s Mount Daisetsu, which the Ainu call Kamui Mintara, playground of the Gods. People Nuburi Toko, Ainu artist Nations Ainu Organisations City of Burnaby City of Kushiro Sources Scott Harrison. (November 17, 2018) Enhancing Trans-Pacific People-to-People Ties: Japan-Canada Twinning (Sister) Relationships. Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Ainu Carver Toko Nupuri Visits Burnaby
Burnaby Mountain, Canada / Turtle Island To celebrate twenty years of the sister-city relationship between the twin cities of Burnaby, Canada, and Kushiro, Japan, a delegation from Kushiro arrived in Burnaby in May 1986. Kushiro is part of the historic homeland of the Ainu people, called ‘Ainu Mosir’, and so the Ainu carver Toko Nupuri was a member of this delegation. While visiting Simon Fraser University, which sits on top of Burnaby Mountain, Nupuri wandered away from the rest of the delegation towards the mountain’s western side, which offers a sweeping view of Vancouver and the Salish sea. Moved by its beauty, Nupuri wanted to build a sculpture there in honour of the relationship between Burnaby and Kushiro. People Nuburi Toko, Ainu artist Nations Ainu Organisations City of Burnaby City of Kushiro Sources Scott Harrison. (November 17, 2018) Enhancing Trans-Pacific People-to-People Ties: Japan-Canada Twinning (Sister) Relationships. Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Ainu Dance Troupe Visit Campbell River
Campbell River, Canada / Turtle Island In April 1985, Masatoshi Sawai and ten other members of the Ainu Dance Troupe took a 12-day tour of British Columbia. They visited Campbell River and met Kwakwaka’wakw elders of the Wei Wai Kum nation. Sawai, who also worked for the Sapporo-Ainu Cultural Association, spoke to the New Canadian newspaper about the discrimination faced by Ainu in Japan. People Masatoshi Sawai, Ainu artist Nations Ainu Kwakwaka’wakw (Wei Wai Kum) Organisations Ainu Dance Troupe Sapporo-Ainu Cultural Association Sources New Canadian. (April 19, 1983) B.C. visit is cultural link with original people
Ainu Delegation Visit Bella Coola
Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada / Turtle Island After visiting Vancouver and the Interior, the Ainu arrived in Bella Coola sometime in October, where they were hosted by the Nuxalk Nation. Both the Nuxalk and Ainu are seafaring peoples who rely heavily on fishing, and so Nuxalk fishers took their Ainu counterparts out on several fishing trips during their stay. The trip went so well that the Nuxalk Nation were sent a letter of thanks the Union of BC Indian Chiefs leader George Manuel (who had just hosted the Ainu himself in Chase), and plans were made for a reciprocal visit of Indigenous Canadians to Ainu territory in Japan in the following year. It is unclear whether this trip ever took place. People Tokuhei Narita, Ainu activist Karen Edgar, Nuxalk host Archie Pootlass, Nuxalk host Emily Schooner, Nuxalk host Nations Ainu Nuxalk Organisations Ainu Society for Self Advancement Union of BC Indian Chiefs Sources Noohalk News (October 1978). Recent Cultural Exchange with 4 arrows and Ainu people’s groups. No page numbers. Accessed through UBCIC archives. Nuxalk News (February, 1979). Cultural Center Activity Report. No page numbers. Accessed through UBCIC archives. Pederson, Bob. (February 23, 1979). Japan’s Ainu native people group visits Canadian Natives at Bella Coola, B.C. The New Canadian, n.p.
Bikki Sunzawa Visits British Columbia
Vancouver, Skidegate (Haida Gwaii), ‘Ksan, and Gitanyow Canada / Turtle Island While on a trip to Hokkaido in the Summer of 1983, the University of British Columbia professor Douglas Sanders, who was studying Ainu activism, made the acquaintance of the renowned Ainu carver, painter, and sculptor Bikki Sunazawa. While Bikki’s art had featured Ainu themes up to this out, and both of his parents had been prominent in the Ainu community—his mother Peramonkoro was a textile artist and his father Ichitarō was an organiser—he was not fully comfortable with his Ainu identity at this time. Seeing this, Sanders invited Bikki to visit British Columbia and offered to introduce him to Indigenous artists there. Bikki arrived in Vancouver in Fall 1983, and had soon travelled all across the province. He worked with the legendary Haida artist Bill Reid in his workshop, before being taken up north to visit a Gitsxan art school in ‘Ksan, where he was impressed by the adzes used in carving there. On the way back, Bill Reid invited him to a potlatch at Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, the Haida people’s island homeland. Inspired, Bikki spent the rest of the trip preparing and presenting an exhibition, “Images of British Columbia”, composed of pieces darawing on the Indigenous Northwest Coast style. Thse included a painting, “Indian Dance A”, depicting the Haida potlatch, and the sculpture “The Watchman”, which he carved using an adze in the Gitsxan style. Bikki returned to Japan in January 1984 a changed and inspired man, who no longer felt uncomfortable with his Ainu identity but fully embraced it. People Bikki Sunzawa, Ainu artist Bill Reid, Haida artist Nations Ainu Haida Gitsxan Organisations Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Art Sources Dubreuil, Chisato O. (2004) From The Playground of the Gods: The Life & Art of Bikky Sunzawa
Ainu Delegation Visit Neskolith Nation
Chase, British Columbia, Canada / Turtle Island In Fall 1978, 24 members of the Ainu Society for Self Advancement visited British Columbia and parts of the US. This was reported to be the first time that Ainu representatives visited North America for the purpose of engaging with other Indigenous peoples. On September 8, the Ainu delegation were hosted in the Neskonlith Hall in Chase, BC, by representatives from the Secwépemc nations including the Neskonlith, Skwlax, and Sexqeltqin. After eating together, the Ainu visitors shared in a Secwépemc-language prayer, and then conducted a hunting ritual of their own. They exchanged gifts, ate ice cream, and Ainu leader Tokuhei Narita handed out cigarettes. Talking through an interpreter, Tokuhei Narita and Neskonlith leader George Manuel discussed the challenges of poverty and language loss faced by the Ainu in Japan and the Secwépemc people in Canada. Manuel gave a speech explaining the gains made by Canadian Indigenous peoples over the last few decades, saying: “These facts were brought out to make you realise our common bond”. People Tokuhei Narita, Ainu activist George Manuel, Neskonlith activist Amy August, Neskonlith elder Billy Arnouse, Skwlax chieftain Mary Arnouse, Skwlax representative Norma Kenoras, Sexqeltqin representative Nations Ainu Neskonlith (Secwépemc) Skwlax (Secwépemc) Sexqeltqin (Secwépemc) Organisations Ainu Society for Self Advancement Union of BC Indian Chiefs Sources Lex’yem, August (1978). Native Indians from Japan. Pg. 35. Accessed through UBCIC archive. Indians Today (Neskainlith Newsletter), (October, 1978). Ainu, Indian People share experiences. No page numbers. Accessed through UBCIC archives.