The Ainu people (an indigenous tribe from
parts of Japan and Russia) are a once-suppressed racial minority whose
religious roots are animist. Because of their worship of nature, they developed
a tradition in which bears were killed in order to send their soul to heaven to
bless mankind. This ritual (Iyomante) involves the slaughter of a hibernating
mother bear in her cave. Her cubs are raised in captivity for two years and
then fatally choked or speared in a sacramental act meant to show religious
devotion. The villagers then drink the bear’s blood and eat its flesh. The
skull is placed on an upturned spear which is wrapped with the bear skin. This
bizarre type of scarecrow is then worshipped. The Ainu people believe bears are
gods walking among humans. This ritual still occurs in some parts of Japan as
the law that banned it was evoked, and made legal.
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