The settlement and household of the Ainu in the mid-nineteenth century

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the types of mobility and to find out the mechanism of the Ainu of Hokkaido, Japan, in the mid-nineteenth century. The mobility of household members as analyzed in this study did not necessarily have a direct relation to hunting-gathering activity and/or the nomadic mode of life. If there were any relations to such activities or mode of life, the mobility was stimulated by the decrease in population at first and then it was influenced by them. From lack of historical data, it is difficult to conclude whether the high death rate was the main propellant of mobility all over the Ainu land, however, there is a good possibility that will be proved. The Monbetsu district where the population decrease was quite high as in the Takashima district is the most probable place to certify this. Similarly, it is presumed that the same mechanism caused the mobility of household members in the Ainu in the northern half part of Hokkaido during 1804-1870. This study suggest that the hunting-gathering societies which have experienced rapid decrease in population by some reasons such as the contact with other society may have caused high mobility of household members. In the hunting-gathering societies where mutual aids playd indispensable role for their daily life fulfilllment, it is not the social networks of persons living at different households, but the helps of persons living in the same household that functioned to keep up their society.