Comparative Study of Euro-American Ainu Collections

弗雷德里克·斯塔尔的阿伊努人收藏和相关文件，现在存放在布鲁克林博物馆、洛根人类学博物馆（伯洛伊特学院）、威斯康星州立历史学会、芝加哥大学图书馆和俄勒冈大学（图书馆、艺术博物馆和校园内的国家自然历史博物馆），是世界上最大和最重要的收藏之一。我们认为在不久的将来出版他的阿伊努人收藏的各种信息是一件紧迫的事情。欧美阿伊努人收藏的比较告诉我们为什么欧洲学者对阿伊努人研究和阿伊努人标本收藏感兴趣的有趣历史事件。在弗朗兹·冯·西博尔德的不朽作品之后，阿伊努人被视为“高贵的野蛮人”、“失落的欧洲人”或“消失的狩猎采集者”的可能案例，这种思想趋势促使学者们访问阿伊努人，并保护他们的物质文化。大约在19世纪中期，所谓的“阿伊努=高加索人”假说给了基本上受过自然史训练的欧美学者更大的影响，他们继续建立阿伊努人的收藏。这一趋势随着第一次世界大战（1914- 1918）而结束。令人遗憾的是，日本学者在第一次世界大战之后，在阿伊努人传统的乡村生活发生大规模改变之后，才开始研究阿伊努人，并在博物馆进行收藏。史密森学会北极研究中心已经开始准备以我们的研究成果为基础的阿伊努人专题展览。我们认为这是将研究成果提供给关心此事的北美人和日本人的最佳途径之一。最后，对北方文化感兴趣的欧美学者高度评价我们目前的研究项目，认为这是收集某一特定民族博物馆藏品全部信息的第一次尝试，我们有信心我们的项目将成为他们进行将在美国自然历史博物馆启动的Jesup II项目的典范。少

Frederick Starr's Ainu collections and related documents, which are now stored at the Brooklyn Museum, Logan museum of anthropology (Beloit College), State Historica Society of wisconson, University of Chicago Library, and University of Oregon (Library, Art Museum and State Museum of Natural History on its campus), are one of the largest and most important in the world. We regard it as a matter of urgency to publish all sorts of information his Ainu collections in the very near future.Comparisons of Euro-American Ainu collections tell us interesting historical episodes on why European scholars became interested in Ainu studies as well as collections of Ainu specimens. After Franz von Siebold's monumental works, the Ainu were regarded as a possible case of "Noble Savages, " "Lost Europeans" or "Vanishing Hunter-gatherers" and this intelectual trend spurred scholars to visit the Ainu and to secure their material culture. Around the mid-19th century, the so-called "Ainu=Caucasoid" hypothe … More sis gave more influences to Euro-American scholars, who were basically trained in natural history, and they continued to build Ainu collections. This trend came to an end with the World War I (1914-18). It is a regretful fact that Japanese scholars started Ainu researches and nuseum collections only after the WWI,aftre Ainu traditional village life was changed on a large scale.Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution, has begun preparations for an Ainu special exhibit on the basis of our research results. We think it one of the best ways to make research results available both to concerned north americans and Japanese. finally, Euro-American scholars, who are interested in Northern Cultures, highly regard our current research projectas the first trial to accumulate all the information on museum collections of one particular ethnic group, and we are confident our project would be a model for them to proceed the Jesup II project, which will be launched at the American Museum of Natural History. Less