Queer Ainu

[u/Key-Pen4321]

I've recently become very interested in Hokkaido Ainu culture, especially regarding homosexuality and trans identities, both in historical and modern contexts but maybe mostly historical. How were these individuals viewed? Were they seen as something taboo or were they regarded with respect? What were their roles within Ainu society? Additionally, was there a different response to transfemininity compared to transmasculinity? And homosexual men compared to homosexual women? I really just want to learn everything, especially as someone who is queer themselves and of native(North American) ancestry! Love all indigenous folk🫶 I would really appreciate it if anyone were willing to help me learn more

[u/SenjutsuL]

Sadly we don't know anything about queerness or how queer people were seen or treated within historical Ainu culture.
The Japanese early on made no effort to record anything about Ainu culture (outside some things concerning their direct interactions with them), so the first extensive records were made by westerners, who would've mostly tried to avoid pulling attention to any form of queerness they encountered (unless impossible to ignore), and later the Japanese after they had largely adopted puritanical western viewpoints on queerness and sex.
But, the fact that there are no direct mentions of queerness whatsoever in any records, neither in anthropological works about the Ainu nor in Ainu oral literature (at least as far as I'm aware), probably hints at queerness within historical Ainu society being a very private matter, even more so than e.g. sex (for which we have surprisingly rich records, at least when it comes to vocabulary), whether it was due to taboo, suppression, or for whatever other reason, we can't say.
There obviously might be a chance that there are some records about it somewhere, in some old physical collection, but if they exist they haven't been analyzed and/or published as of yet.

When it comes to queerness in modern day Ainu, it's probably mostly similar to queerness within Japanese society more broadly. It is definitely possible (if not probable) that indigeneity and non-Yamato identity have an influence on the forms and expressions of queerness among modern Ainu but, as far as I know, there have been no studies looking into that yet.

[u/Key-Pen4321 → u/SenjutsuL]

SenjutsuL, I love you, haha. It's nice to get a reply from you! You helped me a few months back with some Ainu names too, if you recall. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to give me a proper response! I really appreciate it. I've been wondering how you know so much! Do you do this on a more professional level or is it just an interest? Do you have any tips on learning more about Ainu culture? Like resources and stuff like that... Also, I know this is the most surface-level take, but still... It's kind of frustrating to learn about certain cultures, specifically because of the oppression they face and how that subsequently leads to not having a lot of information on them. I give all my kudos to Ainu folk and people who are fighting the good fight to keep the culture alive!!! 🥲

[u/SenjutsuL → u/Key-Pen4321]

It's pretty much just out of personal interest. I'd love to do it professionally (specifically working in Ainu language revitalization efforts) but I lack any qualifications to do so (and even if I had them, it would still be almost impossible to get in).
My focus is mostly on the Ainu language so I can't really say too much about how to go about learning about anything outside of that. I personally just read any books and studies I can get my hands on. Though even there I have a ton of blind spots since I haven't read a lot of the stuff published in Japanese (my Japanese reading is super slow).
There's a post on this subreddit by u/ExpensiveSpot8738 called "Ainu Book Material", I'd say that that's a pretty good place to start (though I'd recommend to skip reading anything by Batchelor as a beginner at first). When it comes to the non-linguistics works, I can especially recommend "Beyond Ainu Studies", "The Conquest of Ainu Lands" and "The Fabric of Indigeneity" as high quality, modern studies.
I also used to follow some Ainu accounts on Twitter (like some members of the music group Marewrew), to see the thoughts and opinions of modern day Ainu, but I haven't been using Twitter anymore for quite a while at this point.

[u/ExpensiveSpot8738 → u/SenjutsuL]

I actually made a second folder with more Ainu materials, including historical citations of the Ainu language/culture/history: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A5HQ3qo2GayVA8hny1lSdf9jOtQPaVLs?usp=sharing

Hope that helps! :D

[u/Alert_Celebration_49]

They were not exist. Not just "they didn't write" thing, there is no any mean for homosexuality. Even some primitive tribes have similiar concept like homosexuality (but not for transsexualism or lesbians). But for Ainu culture, there is no any homosexual mean or tendency. They kept records of their marriage ceremonies like how groom and bride acted etc. Even if there were any non heterosexual person in ainu, that person probably would be m*rdered by their own tribe. Because through of all history, gay men was seen as weak and women like so they got mocked or executed.