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Of Hokkaido, Japan Underlying patterns that shape ecological restoration in the post-colonial landscape of the Ainu Moshir (land) of Hokkaido, Japan by Shinsaku Shiga B.A, McGill University, 2007 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Environmental Studies Shinsaku Shiga, 2011 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Underlying patterns that shape ecological restoration in the post-colonial landscape of the Ainu Moshir (land) of Hokkaido, Japan by Shinsaku Shiga B.A, McGill University, 2007 Supervisory Committee Dr. Eric Higgs (School of Environmental Studies) Co-Supervisor Dr. Pamela Asquith (School of Environmental Studies) Co-Supervisor Dr. Karena Shaw (School of Environmental Studies) Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Eric Higgs (School of Environmental Studies) Co-Supervisor Dr. Pamela Asquith (School of Environmental Studies) Co-Supervisor Dr. Karena Shaw (School of Environmental Studies) Departmental Member My main objective is to reveal and illustrate the patterns and processes underlying the practice of ecological restoration in post-colonial landscapes. To focus my analysis, I asked what these patterns are, and how they inhibit or enable the Iwor (Ainu Traditional Living Space) Restoration Project (IRP). The IRP is a state-funded project aimed at improving the well-being of Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan. I used interviews, participant observation and text analyses to elucidate the dynamics at work in and around the project. My findings suggest that colonial and technological practices inhibit good ecological restoration practices in IRP by disengaging people, or more subtly preventing them from engaging with it. Colonially, structural and discursive marginalization maintains economic deprivation through denying progressive conversations about community empowerment. This process also reinforces subjective power relationships of Wajin, the ethnic majority, dominance. Technologically, I observed signs of Borgmann’s (1984) “device paradigm” that are both institutionally (e.g. government agencies) and materially (e.g. infrastructure and tools) driving the IRP toward technological restoration and away from focal restoration. This was particularly apparent in such instances where means and ends were inverted, or the government agencies were inaccessible to the Ainu participants. These patterns in turn make IRP less appealing for Ainu and other local peoples. However, I also found that the room for creativity and attention to human-nature relationships in ecological restoration allow creation of the iv new space where Ainu can assert their values more strongly. This is the Kotan Iwor where the space embodies both Iwor and iwor, two representations of Wajin and Ainu views of the “Traditional Living Space” respectively. My findings on Kotan Iwor (the Ainu traditional settlement restoration site) suggest that there is a significant potential in the ecological restoration practices because of the practice’s inherent capacity to bring people and the landscape together in a creative context. With careful attention to colonial, technological, and other dynamics, good ecological restoration practices have the potential to restore and improve the well-being of indigenous and non- indigenous community members alike. v Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents..................................................................................................v List of Tables ......................................................................................................vii List of Figures .................................................................................................. viii Acronyms .............................................................................................................ix Glossary ................................................................................................................x Ainu Words........................................................................................................x Japanese Words ................................................................................................x Acknowledgments ...............................................................................................xi Introduction..........................................................................................................1 Organization of the Thesis and Chapter Summaries.....................................4 Chapter 1: Origin and Characteristics of Ainu Culture.....................................7 1.1 Archaeology.................................................................................................7 1.2 Ainu and Wajin: Trade, Diplomacy, and Colonization ............................11 1.2.1 1599- Matsumae han and Edo bakufu..............................................11 1.2.2 Modernizing Empire and Cultural Assimilation..............................12 1.2.3 Present Time ......................................................................................15 1.2.4 Recent Development ..........................................................................17 Chapter 2: Case Study .......................................................................................20 2.1 Iwor Restoration Project ..........................................................................20 2.1.1 Goals and Content of the IRP............................................................20 2.1.2 Iwor.....................................................................................................21 2.1.3 History of IRP.....................................................................................22 2.1.4 Biratori IRP........................................................................................26 2.1.5 Biratori as Field Research Site .........................................................32 2.2 Site Geography .........................................................................................32 2.2.1 Town of Biratori and the Forests ......................................................32 2.2.2 The Saru River ...................................................................................34 2.2.3 Nibutani Dam ....................................................................................37 Chapter 3: Literature Review............................................................................40 3.1 Colonialism and Environment .................................................................42 3.1.1 Theoretical Characterization of the Colonization of Ainu ...............42 3.1.2 Subjectivity and Power in the Environmental Discourse................46 3.2 Ecological Restoration ..............................................................................48 3.2.1 Historicity and Culture in Ecological Restoration ...........................48 3.2.2 Technology and Device Paradigm .....................................................51 3.2.3 The Threat of Technological Restoration..........................................53 vi 3.2.4 Focal Restoration ...............................................................................57 3.2.5 Higgs’ Response to Technological Restoration..................................59 3.2.6 Ecological Restoration and Colonialism ...........................................61 3.3 Summary...................................................................................................62 Chapter 4: Research Design ..............................................................................64 4.1 Methods of Data Formation/Acquisition .................................................64 4.1.1 Open-ended Interview .......................................................................64 4.1.2 Participant Observation ....................................................................66 4.1.3 Written Texts......................................................................................68 4.2 Analysis .....................................................................................................68 4.3 Limitations and Validity ..........................................................................70 4.4 Reflectivity and Subjectivity....................................................................72 Chapter 5: Findings ...........................................................................................73 5.1 Riverine Iwor ............................................................................................74 5.2 Rep-un-iwor...............................................................................................78 5.3 Iwor/iwor ...................................................................................................88 5.3.1 Ecological Ainu...................................................................................91 5.3.2 iwor .....................................................................................................95 5.3.3 Kotan Iwor..........................................................................................97 5.4 An ekasi’s Memoir and the Two Ainu ....................................................102
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