Ainu Medicinal Amulet
Collected in late 1800s or early 1900s
Bearskin
35 cm long
Cat. 132500
© The Field Museum
This bear-claw amulet was donated by Robert H. Baker in 1912, suggesting it was collected sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s in Hokkaido. Field Museum documents refer to it as a "medicinal amulet" although other claws of its type were produced for the tourist market or for use in the iyomante, or "sending-back" ritual (explained here). During this ceremony bear-spirits trapped in the physical world were sent back to their metaphysical homeland through the public sacrifice of a bear-cub.
This particular bear-claw amulet, which consists of the skin around the base of the foot and four claws, would be worn around the neck to prevent disease or catastrophe. Ainu people deeply respected the bear, and the spirits that inhabited them were thought to be extremely powerful. Spirits also inhabited diseases such as smallpox, syphilis, and the flu. It is unclear how this particular amulet worked or what it represented. Perhaps by draping their neck with a bear claw, an Ainu person hoped to call upon the powerful bear-spirit to protect them from an impending disease-spirit, thereby keeping them safe from infection.
Increased contact with Japanese people from Honshu in the 1800s brought many new diseases. Outbreaks of smallpox could kill 60% of a region. Tidal waves and earthquakes could result in even more deaths. Amulets, such as the one to the right, were important to the Ainu in order to prevent these disasters. Animals, such as blowfish, and herbs were also used as amulets to ward off evil spirits.
(Commentary by Stev Weidlich)