or for short is an
Ainu ''
kamuy
A ''kamuy'' ( ain, カムィ; ja, カムイ, kamui) is a spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology, a term denoting a supernatural entity composed of or possessing spiritual energy.
The Ainu people have many myths about the ''kamuy'', passed ...
'' (''god'') and
culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group ( cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are imp ...
. In Ainu mythology, he is credited with teaching humans domestic skills, and for this reason he is called Ainurakkur (アイヌラックㇽ, ''father of the Ainu'' or ''father of humanity''), and otherwise known as Okikurmi.
Names
Oyna or Ae-oyna-kamuy/Ayoyna-kamuy, who in Ainu tradition is a culture hero or , is otherwise known by the names Ainurakkur or Okikurmi/Okikirmiy according to some sources.
Aynurakkur and Okikurmi may have originally been distinguished, but seem to have become conflated after a body of similarly plotted narratives became attached to them.
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Etymology
Oyna-kamuy literally signifies "god who is passed on (in lore)" ( Kindaichi) or "god of the sacred tradition, ''oyna''" (Donald Philippi).[ But the name has also construed to mean "god who engages/participates in ]shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
" by Chiri)".
The Ae- prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
is "we", thus Ae-oyna-kamuy means "god whom we pass on (in our lore)" or "god concerning whom we sing the ''oyna''".[ In formal grammatical terms, Ae-oyna-kamuy has also explained as a ]morphological derivation
Morphological derivation, in linguistics, is the process of forming a new word from an existing word, often by adding a prefix or suffix, such as For example, ''unhappy'' and ''happiness'' derive from the root word ''happy.''
It is differentiat ...
with the addition of a "pronominal
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not c ...
affix
In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English ''-ness'' and ''pre-'', or inflectional, like English plural ''-s'' and past tense ''-ed''. They ar ...
" (prefix).
Ainurakkur, signifies "he who has a human smell". The name, which contains the element ''rak'' meaning "smells of~", is literally "human who smells like human" hence "humanlike person" according to Kindaichi.[
Okikurmi is glossed as "he (who) wears a fur/leather robe with a shiny hem" by Chiri.
]
Depiction
Ae-oyna-kamuy is described as a large man wreathed in smoke. When the smoke parts, he is seen to be surrounded by flames from his waist to his feet, and wearing a coat of elm bark and a sword. He also wields a magical spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
of mugwort
Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus ''Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species '' Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species '' Artemisia argyi'' i ...
. The flames he is wreathed in indicate his virtuous character.
Mythology
There are a number of myths of Ae-oyna-kamuy's origin, arising from different Ainu tribes. He is said to be begotten by Pakor-kamuy (, the god of the year or the god of smallpox) on an elm tree (''Chikisani'') on Mount Oputateshike
is a mountain of the Tokachi Volcanic Group.
Geology
Mount Oputateshike is made from non-alkaline mafic volcanic rock.
References
See also
* Tokachi Volcanic Group
* Central Ishikari Mountains
* Daisetsuzan National Park
Oputateshike
...
according to a version collected at Shiunkot village,[ while other traditions name the father as the sun or thunder.
Ae-oyna-kamuy is taught by ]Kamuy-huci
Kamuy-huci (カムイフチ, ''Kamui Fuchi'') is the Ainu ''kamuy'' (''goddess'') of the hearth. Her full name is Apemerukoyan-mat Unamerukoyan-mat (''Rising Fire Sparks Woman/ Rising Cinder Sparks Woman''), and she is also known as Iresu Kamuy (' ...
, the hearth deity, and descends from the heavens to impart his knowledge to humanity. He is responsible for teaching weaving to the Ainu women and carving to the men. He is credited with teaching techniques of fishing, hunting, gathering, architecture, medicine, and religious ritual, and is associated with law and singing. He also fights several battles on behalf of humanity; in one instance, he destroys a personification of famine with his spear of mugwort, then creates herds of deer and schools of fish from the snow on his snowshoes.
Eventually, Ae-oyna-kamuy, disappointed at the decline of the Ainu, departs for another country; some myths say he returns to the heavens.
In one myth, when he returns to the heavens, the gods send him back because he reeks of humans. Then he leaves his clothes on earth in order to return. It is said that his old sandals turned into the first squirrels.
Explanatory notes
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
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* Etter, Carl. ''Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan''. Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1949.
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Ainu kamuy
Textiles in folklore