The problem with Isabella Bird

An early 19^th century Ainu-e painting by Murakami Shimanojo published in Curious Sights of Ezo (Ezoshima Kikan) depicts the legend that dogs were the ancestors of the Ainu.

It has been remarked by some travellers that the Ainu consider themselves to have had a dog as their ancestor. But this is pure fiction, for I am well assured by the people themselves that they think nothing of the kind. Nor do dogs in any way figure among them as totem animals, as they certainly would do, did they consider themselves to be their descendants. (first published 1901) Bachelor, The Ainu and Their Folklore

At least four Europeans wrote about the late 19 th or early 20 th century Ainu in different light. The studied writings of Bachelor and Munro stand in contrast to the deprecating remarks of Henry Savage and Izabella Bird. While Landor Savage made significant contributions in art, Bird’s visit to Biratori was the briefest, only a few days, but her comments about the Ainu remain well known today because of her renown as a young female traveler/explorer. The travel notes and letters she sent home to her sister, though only superficial in observation, were read as fact. Astonishingly, it was enough that she was young and adventurous to credit her with insightful comments about a group she knew next to nothing about. If she had bothered to read John Bachelor, who had been working among the Ainu already 20 years, she may have been more measured in her comments.

It strikes the visitor to Biratori Yoshitsune shrine that a memorial signboard commemorates Bird, though only a casual visitor to the area in 1911. The shrine is only a few kilometers from Nibutani Kotan where she recorded her musings. She wrote about the Ainu in stupefying terms using here-say as fact. she writes the Ainu themselves claim descent from dogs. This misunderstanding we can surmise came from her Japanese guide companion and originated in the idea that Ainu from the Japanese point of view, were barbarians. Also, the word Ainu sounds so similar to inu, or dog in Japanese and it was common to speak derogatorily in this way. The fact that the Ainu revered wolves and were known to love domesticated dogs may have been a contributing factor. One thing is for certain though, Bird failed to make careful enquiries (or read up on the Ainu) and simplistically perpetuated a southern myth that these sophisticated hunter groups were basically animals. 

The sad upshot of this is that Biratori township seems to hold her in some esteem.