Chapter 1251 Hokkaido, the Lord's First Attention
"In the beginning, the world was an endless sea and a vast swamp in the sea. There was no solid land, only a swamp that swallowed everything... The chaotic swamp and the sea were equally chaotic, with thunder and dark clouds shining like thunderclouds... And the first god of creation, Kotan-kar-kamuy, the 'God of Creation', was born in the endless thunder clouds!
The snowflakes are flying, not falling from the sky, but blown up from the rolling mountains and hills by the howling north wind. The snow on the Kamchatka Peninsula always persists for years, covering the mountains and forests with silver. The sky is a clear blue and white, and even a little white is dazzling under the reflection of the snow. The sea is a shimmering ice, with not a trace of dust or grayish-yellow to be seen, let alone a gray-brown mire.
Exploration captain Zuvalo, holding the Ainu girl's Thousand Island Shell in his arms, stared at this cold white and bright world of ice and snow, and imagined the warmer and richer southern mountain islands. He pursed his lips and listened to the Ainu tribe's myth told by the girl, while his eyes flashed with thought.
"Shell, is this great god of creation, Kotan Ka, the main god that you usually worship and worship?..."
"Ah? Zu, what is the 'Lord God'?..."
"He is the supreme god who dominates everything!"
"Ah! Well... the creator Kamui god, Kotan Ka, is the highest god. But he doesn't care about anything except creating the world. He has no emotions, never speaks, just looks from the sky We...very few tribes will sacrifice to Him, but the ones we actually sacrifice are the guardian spirits sent by the three gods..."
"Huh? The three guardian spirits? Are they subordinate gods sent by the gods to manage human affairs?..."
"Yeah? What is 'from God'?..."
"It is a spirit that is subordinate to the main god, accepts the jurisdiction of the main god, and regards the main god as the master..."
"Ah! Zu, what you said is so complicated, I can't understand it... Gods have no emotions, and they don't have human bodies. But guardian spirits do exist, and they are incarnated in various animals, accompanying tribes and guarding villages... And These guardian spirits were also the original partners of the gods in creating the world!…”
"Huh? The invisible main god, and his companions who take the form of animals?"
Zuvarro was thoughtful after hearing such a simple image of the myth. The belief of the Ainu Island tribe seems to be still in a very primitive stage, which is far more primitive than that of Kazuto, Koreans, and even Yamabe and Shikabe. And if such a tribe slightly changes its mythology and beliefs, if the "main god" becomes the "Kotanka God" of the Ainu people...perhaps, these island tribes with ignorant beliefs can become the first tribe on the West Sea Continent. Devout believers of the Lord God…
"Hiss!... Shell, why are you biting me?"
"Ah, Zu! I am telling the tribe's mythology, which is the most important thing for a tribe. If you don't listen carefully, I...I will bite you!..."
"Uh... Then keep talking, I will listen carefully!..."
The two changed positions and sat on the big rock by the sea. Thousand Island Shell raised his head, looked seriously into Zuvalo's eyes, and gestured seriously. With a clear voice, she sang a folk song that had been passed down by the tribe for thousands of years, making a tinkling sound like the collision of shells.
"The God of Heaven was born from the thunder clouds and saw the vast swamp and sea! He sent the first bird spirit, the fishing owl that could fly and swim... The fishing owl flew over the water, hitting the swamp with its tail, Pressing hard with his feet, the water in the mire finally dispersed and turned into dry land, floating on the sea! And this is Moshiri, where we live! The big island, the land of the Ainu!…”
"Huh? Birds dive and create land? This is very similar to the creation myths of the fishing and hunting tribes on the far north coast of the east! Do these tribes also have ancient blood connections with the Ainu Island tribe? Well, The common Jiao people ancestors indeed have ancient connections..."
"Ancestor!..."
"Ah! Hiss!... Shell, keep talking..."
Zuvalo rubbed the bitten neck and smiled helplessly. He pinched Thousand Island Shell's plump cheeks lovingly and continued to listen to the girl's beautiful singing voice that tried hard to imitate the vicissitudes of life but could not hide her tenderness, just like seeing the first mountain spring melting from the snow-capped mountains.
"The fishing owl fell from the sky and pressed the land out of the swamp and the sea! However, such land was floating, and the sea water would come back again, turning the island back into a swamp. So the god sent a second fish The spirit is the strong orca that spits water... The orca rises from the bottom of the sea, carrying the earth on its back, completely separating the island from the sea. Then, the orca takes a deep breath of the sea water, and the loud whale sings as the sun and moon alternate. spit out, this is the tide on the seaside!…"
"Huh? There are also whales carrying islands on their backs and spitting out tides? This is very similar to the myth of the Markash Whale Tribe... Shell, you said that there are three guardian spirits. Where is the other one?..."
"Well, there is another one, the ancestor of our Ainu people. He is the most important guardian of a tribe, and he is also the 'Aohou' that many tribes can domesticate. Black bear...ah! Zu, listen to me singing!..."
The girl Qiandao Keke put her hands up to her ears, playfully imitated the roar of a bear in the forest, and then sang seriously.
"The whale rose from the sea, carrying the heavy island on its back, and spitting out the surging tide! But the island was empty, with only birds and beasts, but no people. So the gods sent the third bear spirit, who walked out of the mountains and forests, and gave birth to the ancestors of the tribe, that is, the first couple, father Okikurumi and mother Turesh!..."
"What? The bear gave birth to the Ainu? This... Such ancestral legends are like the Pomo people of the West Coast Bear Hunting Tribe. Ah, the Lord God bless, I understand! The Ainu tribes and the West Coast tribes are indeed the origin of the Jiao people, and they were one family thousands of years ago!..."
The sea breeze blew, and the ancient ballads drifted away in the wind. Hundreds of Ainu tribes who heard the singing stopped their work and sang the desolate song together. They had almost no writing and rarely painted boards. The only way they passed on the history of the tribe was the ballads passed down from generation to generation.
"Okurumi, the moon father, Turesh, the sun mother! They exchange positions, just like a couple alternating day and night!... When the first child is born, the guardian bear spirit will come and teach him how to hunt! The guardian fish spirit will also come and teach him how to fish!... And until the sun rises and sets, year after year. Until the child becomes an old man, and the old man closes his eyes!... The last bird spirit will come and take his soul back to the sky where the gods are!..."
"May the old man's soul be taken into the sky by the fishing owl and go to the clouds of the gods! May the patriarch's soul float on the clouds, and then land in the settled village, drink a glass of our newly brewed fruit wine, and eat a bite of our newly caught trout... Awaaka, Amirulu!..."
"Ah? Shell, in your mythology, the moon is the father and the sun is the mother? This?..."
Hearing such husband and wife roles, Zuwaro touched his chin with one hand and the girl's face with the other, vaguely aware of the remnants of the matriarchal clan. He suddenly paused and felt the wetness of his fingers. He lowered his head and saw that the girl Qiandao Shell had red eyes and was crying silently. The tears fell on Zuwaro's hand, which made the devout exploration captain feel heartbroken and couldn't help speaking the new foreign language he had learned.
"Lord God!... Shell, you... why are you crying?..."
"Woo woo woo! The chief... father... he took us to migrate north last year... and was killed by the tribe!..."
"Ah? Who killed him? Shell, I'll avenge you!..."
"Really? Zu?... Their tribe is very powerful..."
"Haha! Shell, tell me, tell your powerful Okurumi, tell me the names of those tribes! Also, I want to know the situation on the southern island, the distribution and strength of those tribes, so that I can avenge you and the tribe..."
Qiandao Shell raised her head with tears in her eyes and looked at her husband's confident face, which was not burly and had no beard. This kind of appearance actually does not conform to the aesthetics of the Ainu people. Only strong and hairy men like bears are the most popular among women in the tribe.
However, she also saw the tribal warriors under her husband, all of whom were carrying bows and wearing armor, with fierce and indifferent faces. They were even more elite and stronger than the brutal Japanese warriors in the South Island... The girl's eyes could not help but become bright, and also brought a touch of hope.
"Zu, I believe you... The one who attacked our tribe was the leader of the three most powerful tribes in the South Island, the Ishikari Ainu tribes!..."
"The three major tribes in the South Island?..."
"Yes! On the big island of the Ainu land in the south, there are a total of five Ainu tribes, which are the five fingers left by the ancient ancestors... They are the 'Ishikari tribes' (Ishikari), 'Sumunkur tribes' (Sumunkur), 'Menasunkur tribes' (Menasunkur), 'Yoichi tribes' (Yoichi), and 'Uchiura tribes' (Uchiura) that have gradually become subordinate to the people! And our tribe was originally a distant branch of the Yoichi tribes, closer to the North Island tribes..."
As the chief's daughter, the Ezo girl Chishima Kaiko, narrated with tears, a chaotic scene of the Ainu tribes finally unfolded in front of Zuwaro. The Hokkaido Island, which had just been settled by the Japanese, the Ezo land with its hidden coal and iron, and the Ainu tribes with tens of thousands of fishermen and hunters, also fell under the attention of the Lord God! …
Note: The Easter egg chapter is a distribution map of the Ainu tribes in Hokkaido. I looked up a lot of information about the Ainu in this chapter, so it was posted a little late. Orz.