THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA OCTOBER 29, 1999

Graduate student co-organizes 300-piece
Ainu exhibition

by Mike McNeney The Ainu people of Japan, victims of centuries of social discrimination, lost territory and political and economic subjugation, are relatively unknown beyond their homeland where some would prefer to think of them as a people of the past. But they’ve survived and now a landmark exhibition -- co-curated by a University of Victoria history in art doctoral student -- is underway at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., featuring the spiritual beauty and living traditions of these indigenous people of northern Japan. Chisato Dubreuil is the person credited with bringing to life the Smithsonian’s Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People. Born to a mother of Ainu descent, Dubreuil was hired by the Smithsonian just after completing her master’s degree in native art history at the University of Washington in 1995. (She began directed studies toward a UVic PhD in First Nations art of the northwest coast last year with Dr. Victoria Wyatt.) Chisato and her husband David Dubreuil (an American Mohawk/Huron Indian who left his career to serve as the exhibition’s project manager) became involved in almost every aspect of staging the exhibition, the largest and most complex representation of Ainu life ever assembled. “The theme of this exhibition is a celebration of (Ainu) spirituality, culture, history and art...we are still here and our culture is vibrant,” says Chisato. The Ainu are believed to come from the Jomon culture, a Neolithic people who occupied much of the Japanese archipelago between 20,000 and 2,000 years ago -- before ancestors of today’s Japanese population migrated from mainland Asia and drove the Ainu north to Hokkaido and the remote Kurile and southern Sakhalin islands. In the latter part of the last century, Japan’s Meiji Restoration forged into Hokkaido and the Ainu’s adherence to traditional ways was seen as an

Chisato Dubreuil with a pendant designed by the late Ainu artist and activist Bikky Sunazawa. Mike McNeney photo obstacle to progress. An Ainu “protection act” was passed in 1899, but its actual intent was to terminate Ainu culture and force assimilation into Japanese society. It was not until 1997 that the Japanese government, through legislation, for the first time provided positive support for the culture and language of the 25,000 to 50,000 who call themselves Ainu at the risk of discrimination and social stigma. “That was a big icebreaker. Discrimination is a very serious problem in Japan,” says Chisato. “For instance, I have wavy hair and the majority of Japanese have very straight hair. So my school teacher thought I was perming my hair. When I told him this was natural he didn’t believe me and I was punished.” The Dubreuils poured their lives into the Ainu exhibit. They helped with everything from fundraising (close to $2.5 million U.S.) to book publishing (an impressive history of Ainu culture and art was issued by University of Washington Press last month to complement the exhibition). They worked alongside William Fitzhugh, director of the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Centre, to inspect various museum collections of Ainu artifacts that had mostly been

locked-away in cabinets and not afforded any sort of conservation treatment. The show covers 5,000 square feet and includes over 300 pieces representing the anthropology, geography, history, spirituality, art and community of the Ainu. Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi saw the exhibition just after it opened this spring, making him the first Japanese head of state to visit an Ainu exhibition. It has also attracted widespread media attention -- from a 67-page spread in a leading Japanese art magazine to coverage in major U.S. and Japanese publications. At Chisato’s insistence, the exhibition contains a section devoted to contemporary Ainu art. It includes the work of the late artist and political activist Bikky Sunazawa who drew inspiration from the work and popularity of Northwest Coast native art, particularly that of the late Haida artist Bill Reid. Sunazawa is credited with lifting Ainu art from tourist-based commerciality to the realm of fine art. “Without her demanding a contemporary section, there would not have been one. She said, ‘If I am going to be a part of this then you must know that we are alive,’” says David. “She doesn’t look like it, but she’s very tough.” Including contemporary art with other elements of the exhibition has drawn the fury of some Japanese scholars who, Chisato suspects, would prefer to consider the Ainu a “dying race.” “That’s why I wanted to get involved in this exhibition -- to include living people’s voices and living artists. It’s very important at this point in time, especially for young people.” Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People continues at the Smithsonian until Jan. 2. A major Canadian museum has expressed serious interest in bringing the Ainu exhibition to this country in the summer of 2001.

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