Traditional and Non-Traditional Means of Visualizing the Ritе: The “Bear Festival” of the Nivkhi and Ainu (Mid-19th – Late 20th
Centuries)

Abstract

This article is an attempt to discuss the ritual complex of the Nivkhi and Ainu, called the “bear festival of the Amur-Sakhalin type”, by examining a wide range of visual means such as painting, drawing, photography, films, etc. I explore both the typical means of visualization that are commonly addressed by researchers (drawings, paintings, photos, and films), and the means that have received less attention (arts and crafts, decorative arts, particularly depictions on various ritual objects). I argue that a broader contextualized study of the latter is important both as a way of expanding ethnographic knowledge and as a way of helping those inquiring into the topic of bear festivals among native peoples of the Pacific coast better understand the range of available verbal and non-verbal information pertaining to what essentially has been one of the most significant rites of the Nivkhi and Ainu.