Cultural Anthropological Study on the Ecology and Worldview of Yaeyama Islanders in Okinawa

今天，随着现代化的到来，不仅人们的日常生活，而且宗教习俗也发生了变化。本研究从文化人类学的角度，对冲绳八重山群岛居民的生态与世界观进行实证与科学的分析。选择八沼岛作为重点野外研究区域，通过参与者观察和访谈，采用照片、录象带和录音带等方式记录野外生态和世界观数据。最后，比较了哈特鲁玛群岛与阿伊努人的神灵观念。当地基础设施改善工程的实施，使人们的生活变得便利和现代化，耕地的重新划分使甘蔗种植减少了辛苦，自然植被面积大大减少。通过对传统宗教活动和生态知识的分析，发现：(1)传统的植物知识已经消失，它们的白话名称被普通的日本人或冲绳人所取代，然而，在仪式中使用的那些知识仍然生动地保留下来。(2)虽然甘蔗是主要作物，种植年历也发生了变化，但在缺少女祭司和女助手的情况下，人们仍然每年举行46次仪式。(3)虽然程序已部分简化，但最重要的农作物感恩仪式的表演仍是一项社区活动，由所有当地居民参与。(4)仪式表演的维持不仅是一种信仰的表达，也是一种整合他们对岛屿归属感的中介。此外，还揭示了婆罗洲人的神性观念与一定地域和空间的地域性有着密切的联系。他们的神不像阿伊努人的神一样由动物或植物来体现，而是通过提供水的实践来表现。因此，神的观念与耕作的生态有关，而阿伊努人的神的观念与狩猎和采集的生态有关。少

Today, with the advent of modernization, not only people's daily lives but also religious practices have been modified. In this research project, the ecology and worldview today among the local inhabitants of Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa were empirically and scientifically analyzed from a cultural anthropological viewpoint. Hateruma Island was selected as a focal field study area, where field data on the ecology and world view were recorded by photos, VTR, and audio tape through participant observations and interviews. Lastly, the idea of deities in Hateruma Islands was compared with that of the Ainu.The implementation of projects to improve local infrastructure have made people's lives convenient and modernized and the re-division of cultivated fields into larger division makes sugar cane cultivation less painstaking and the area of natural vegetation greatly reduced. Therefore, in particular, the dynamism of traditional religious practices and the ecological knowledge through moderniza … More tion is analyzed and the followings are the findings :(1)The traditional knowledge on plants has passing away in the point that their vernacular names are replaced by common Japanese or Okinawan, however, the knowledge on those that are utilized during the rituals are still vividly maintained.(2)Although the sugar cane is the main crop and the annual calendar of cultivation has changed, people still perform rituals 46 times in a year despite a shortage of female priests and helpers.(3)The performance of the most important thanksgiving ritual for the crop is maintained as a community-based event by the participation of all the local inhabitants, although the procedure has partly been simplified.(4)The maintenance of ritual performances is not only an expression of faith but also an agency to integrate their sense of belongingness to their island.Furthermore, it is revealed that the idea of deities of Hateruma people is closely linked with the locality of a certain land and space. Their deities are not embodied by an animal or a plant not similarly as Ainu deities are, but are shown by the very practice of offering water. The idea of deities is thus related with the ecology of cultivation, while Ainu idea of deities with the ecology of hunting and gathering. Less