Chapter 1290 Landing in Hokkaido, First Contact
The Thousand Island Cold Current flows southward along the Thousand Island chain. A series of islands, like ice beads on the sea, are strung into chains by the ocean currents and worn on the necks of the Ainu tribe. The high mountain peaks with the green smoke of the volcano are the best navigation on the sea, allowing the small boats of the local tribes to sail back and forth smoothly. Long green grass covers the mountains of the island. There are no trees in sight, only the green at the foot of the mountain and the white of the snow on the mountain.
Gray seagulls fly in the gray sky, chirping briskly from time to time, swooping down into the sea, catching marine fish traveling south, and then flying away against the sails of the long boats. The snow fox stood on the cliff of the snow-capped mountain, staring with dark eyes, watching the three long boats rowing in, then paddling away along the sea current, and disappearing into the south of the sky.
"The great god of the sea and thunder! There are so many islands in the Thousand Islands of the island!... These islands are covered with green grass and look like good pastureland. But they are too scattered and too small to be suitable. When reindeer migrate, there are no large prey groups, and they cannot support tribes with more than a hundred people... On islands that are too small, it is also difficult to find valleys to escape the wind and snow and survive the winter. The most important thing is that on these islands. It must be very windy, so there are no trees, no fuel and no houses!…It must be terribly cold in the winter here!…”
As a deer herding tribe in Kamchatka Peninsula, the evaluation of deer hunters is very fair. The Koryak Deer Tribe and the Kotelmen Mountain Tribe occupy the Kamchatka Peninsula and fight to the death for the peninsula’s pastures, but no tribe goes south to the Thousand Islands, leaving the scattered Ainu Island Tribe to occupy it.
The reason is not that the fierce hunting and hunting Kamchatka tribe cannot defeat the Ainu, but that such a broken cold island chain relies too much on boats, fishing and hunting, and cannot support the nomadic life of the Kamchatka tribe. When winter snowstorms come, these islands, large and small, will be completely submerged in ice and snow, and there will be no shelter from the winter camps. It is even colder than the Kamchatka Peninsula in the north!
"The Thousand Islands are the disappearing wind, silent with the divine power in the sea... It is our last refuge after the big island of Maoshili, and it is also the entrance to the underworld... The failed tribes wandered here, dying out in the wind and snow, and finally forgetting everything …Also forgotten by people…”
Qiandao Shell sang softly, her eyes gradually filled with tears. In the view of the Ainu, the demise of a tribe is not when the last tribesman dies. It is when the tribe loses its inherited poetry, loses its "storytellers", forgets everything about its ancestors, and is After being forgotten by other tribes.
As a loser on the island of Maoxili, her tribe was exiled to the north and struggled to survive on the Thousand Islands, with the number of people dwindling...and then, it was captured by Zuvalo's fleet that went south last year.
"This is the guidance of the Lord God! The shell is the power of thunder and the sea. It guides you to meet me. It also guides your tribe to return to the origin of its ancestors! It's not just you. On these large and small islands, these The scattered Ainu tribes are also our fellow Jiao people who have been separated for thousands of years!…"
Zuwaro comforted her softly, holding the thin and soft Ainu girl in his arms. This series of Thousand Islands, which the fleet traveled for nearly a month, is probably at least two thousand miles long! And every time the fleet stopped on a larger island and sent out scouts to investigate, the Ainu tribe on the island would panic and run away, hiding somewhere...
In Zuwaro's opinion, the size of these Ainu tribes is too small. A tribe often only has a few dozen or even a dozen people. No matter how many people there are, they will not be able to support themselves and they will not be able to survive the winter. Their camp was also very simple, with no decent wooden houses, and most of them were dug out caves. In those abandoned camps, there were no metal tools, only stone tools, and there were no poultry.
And when the "brutal Yamabu" who were "extremely numerous" and "riding big boats" appeared, the first reaction of the tribes on the island was to run away! Take the meager supplies of food with you, flee into the long grass and mountains, and abandon the camp directly...
"Lord God! The Thousand Island Chain of these two thousand miles is really terrible and barren! We can't find tribal supplies at all. We must rely on the food carried by the fleet and fishing along the way... The distance of these two thousand miles is a natural barrier. , no wonder the mountains of the peninsula cannot go south to reach the 'good place for people to live' in the mouth of the shell, Ainumaoshili..."
Zuvalo murmured to himself, until the outline of a vast land gradually emerged on the southern sea. As the fleet gradually approached, the distant mountains, continuous forests, flowing rivers, and gray beaches gradually came into view. The lively animals and birds also curiously poked their heads and looked at the "giant beast" on the sea.
At this moment, all the Shikabu Dingzhuang in the fleet were stunned. They never thought that behind the series of desolate and extremely cold islands, there would be such a pasture with rich water and grass! The Ainu tribe on the boat cheered with joy, and many shed tears.
Qiandao Shell looked at the coast infatuatedly, at the hometown she had been forced to leave, at the scenes that appeared again and again in her dreams, and imagined the prosperous old days of the tribe... Then she sat on the bow of the boat and gently sang Ainu songs. The singing was very soft, but it made all the Ainu people listen quietly and even close their eyes.
"The vast Ainumoshiri! It was once a free world for our ancestors... They were like innocent children, living a happy and leisurely life in the arms of the guardian gods..."
"What a happy day! In winter, our ancestors kicked the snow in the forest, climbed over the mountains, and hunted bears under the watchful eyes of snow foxes... In summer, they were at sea, driving boats that floated like leaves, hunting sea fish in the singing of white seagulls..."
"In spring, there is warm sunshine and flowers of various colors bloom. Our ancestors sang with the birds, picking celandine and sagebrush... In autumn, there are blooming red leaves, strong winds and bright full moons. They split the long silver grass and hunted trout along the river..."
"Until the fishing fires went out, the full moon brought the instructions of the moon father, and everyone slept in the moonlight. The psychic deer called his companions in the valley, from one person's dream to many people's dreams... Until everyone's dreams woke up, and the mother of the sun looked at us warmly and illuminated the earth of people..."
The singing of the Thousand Island shells danced like birds. The Ainu people were so quiet, quietly shedding tears. The Koryaks could not understand this emotion. They carried composite horn bows, put on strong deerskin armor, and jumped from the boat to the shore. Then, the warriors of the kingdom, wearing the amulets of the main god, holding bronze spears, and carrying flint javelins...
"Ainu Mauhili Island, the last protected place of Ainu, the border with contact with humans... Now, the emblem of the main god has finally arrived here!... Your Majesty's divine prophecy, the contact of powerful tribes, is also at hand..."
Zuwaro watched all this quietly, and stood quietly beside the Thousand Island Shell. After a long time, he exhaled a long breath, rubbed the head of the Thousand Island Shell, and said softly.
"Shell...you are back...and I am with you...we are here too!..."
The contact on Ainu Island was not as smooth as expected. The location where the fleet arrived was the northeast end of Ainu Island, which was also the coldest place on the entire island facing the Thousand Island cold current. This area belongs to the "North Island Ainu" and there are no large tribes, let alone villages that can be supplied.
According to Qiandao Shell, the "North Island Ainu" is like this. The tribe is small, the village is also small, and they will even migrate and move every once in a while. Such a small tribe is very wary of outsiders. Because they have no ability to resist risks, they will try to stay away from the sudden and unfamiliar large group of "hunters". The attire of the fleet tribe is half like the ferocious Japanese and half like the dangerous Yamabe. Anyway, no matter how you look at it, it is "very evil, not a good person!".
The fleet stayed for two days, and its main task was to catch fish and replenish the food consumed on the ship. The deer tribe scouts found traces of many tribes, but in the end, they only came into contact with an Ainu tribe of about 200 people who had no time to hide.
"Found the Ainu village?! Lord God bless! Put on armor, put on weapons... Shell, you help me translate, I want to meet them in person!..."
Even with the Ainu guide, the first contact with the Ainu people of the North Island was still not friendly. More than a hundred fully armed kingdom warriors and deer tribe archers, led by Zuwaro himself, appeared in front of the Ainu village. And more than a hundred Ainu villagers, all holding their spears tightly, gathered at the entrance of the village with vigilance and fear.
"Lord God! This is the Ainu village?... Isn't it said that the tribes in the south are all strong and prosperous?... Hmm..."
Zuwaro widened his eyes and looked carefully at the village in front of him. The scale of this Ainu village is far smaller than the Yamabe camp on the Kamchatka Peninsula, but it is already larger than the tribes seen on the Kuril Islands.
In the village, there is a row of compact cabins. These wooden houses are all trapezoidal, and the walls seem to be made of wood and mud, which looks very thick. On the top is a very high thatched roof, and some fish and deer bones are hung, which seems to have special symbolic meaning. It is worth noting that all wooden houses have no windows, only the chimneys left above the roof. Obviously, this is to keep warm in winter and save fuel, just like the houses of many tribes in the far north...
"Wooden houses, settled villages... um... what do they grow and raise?..."
Zuwaro looked around, but didn't see any decent fields. At most, there were some vegetable plots cultivated in front and behind the houses, and they were planted with long-stemmed vegetables that I didn't know what they were called. And there were no domesticated deer or poultry in the whole village. There were only a few dogs used for hunting and tracking, which were tied to the door in a hurry, and they were obviously hungry. There was also a fence built of logs, and a black and gray, not very big... um! A bear cub was locked in the fence with a strong rope. …
"Raising bears? These Ainu people raise bears?! Bears are so wild, can they be domesticated?...Are they letting the bears help with hunting, or riding bears to fight?..."
Zuwaro looked at the young black bear in confusion. The black bear also looked at him stupidly. It was obviously raised from childhood and had no aggressiveness. In addition to bears and dogs, he did not see the reindeer and horses he had seen before, as well as the "four-legged cattle, sheep, donkeys, pigs, and two-legged chickens, ducks, and geese" predicted by His Majesty...
"Well... What a poor tribe! Although the mountain tribe is poor, they have deer herds... And these Ainu island tribes are as poor as the northernmost tribes in the northern continent... But they have to be vigilant and hostile, and are not simple and hospitable at all!..."
Soon, Zuvalo found a simple "altar" next to the black bear. It was actually just a platform made of stones, without any emblems or statues of gods, and no tributes. But out of the priest's intuition, he keenly judged that it was an altar from the bones and blood stains around the platform!
"An altar for worshiping nature...is not limited to fixed gods, but all things have spirituality...or can become the guardian gods..."
Zuwaro squinted his eyes, recalling the Ainu beliefs that Chishima Shell had told him. Then, he moved his gaze from the impoverished village to the gathered villagers. Some of these villagers wore woven straw clothes, and some wore crude furs. Anyway, there was no "common clothes" in sight. There seems to be no "cloth" in this village. These villagers are basically men, old and young, holding various wooden and stone spears in their hands, and occasionally two iron spears, but I don’t know where they got them...
"There is no cloth, and the clothes are only made of straw and fur... The main tools are stone and wooden, and no copper or iron is produced... But iron tools can be obtained from the surrounding tribes... Most of them are men, and the women and children should be hiding, or I went to avoid the tribes I knew well inland... The whole tribe was very primitive, but they seemed to be no strangers to fighting, and they were very vigilant... Well, this island is not peaceful, there must be a lot of disputes around this village! , there should also be a larger and more powerful tribe!…”
From the details of his observations, Zuvalo made another judgment. Finally, he looked at the leading Ainu chief. The other party was wearing a long coat made of fish skin and a short deerskin hat on his head, and his face was full of anger and anxiety.
"The power of the ocean spirit protects our fish skin village!... Foreign tribes who emerged from the northern sea, why do you want to invade the territory of our village?... You hunt our fishing grounds and shoot our deer herds. We have endured it. Go on... But why do you still bring the tribe's warriors to our camp? What else do you want to ask for? ...As you can see, we are a poor tribe and have no extra food. How much fur for you!…”
Zuwaro frowned and tried hard to listen to the other party's Ainu language. It's a pity that although he has excellent language talent, he worked hard to learn the basic Ainu language. But the other person spoke so fast and urgently that it was really hard to hear clearly. Fortunately, Qiandao Beike helped him translate, and through his careful teaching, Little Beike also learned part of the Mexican language... Well, this is the mutual promotion of dual cultivation...
"Blessed by the Lord God! Blessed by the divine power of the ocean and storm! We are the maritime tribe from the Thousand Islands in the North. We don't have any ill intentions, we just want to trade supplies with you!..."
The sound of Thousand Island shells is as clear as a lark. And with this familiar accent, the Yuskin Chief's expression finally softened. He still held the iron spear in his hand tightly, looking at the hundreds of fully armed soldiers with vigilance, looking at the appearance and figure that were very different from the tribe, and asked suspiciously.
"The power of oceans and storms? From the north? Are you a tribe from Thousand Islands?..."
"That's right! We are a tribe from Thousand Islands. We are your friends and your lost brothers!..."
Chief Yuskin sneered at Zuvalo's nonsense. It's just that the other party's force is too scary. If you can make the other party leave, don't call him brother, even call him father.
"Ah! The lost tribes of brothers in the distance... we have no supplies to exchange with you... Well... we can treat you to a meal and give you all the furs!..."
"As for supplies... you should go west! At the end of the big island in the west, there is a really big tribe. It is big and rich. It must have everything you want!..."
Note: The ballads sung by the Thousand Island Seashells are based on the oral collection of "The Last Ainu Singer", Chiri Yukie. The gods and legends will be used later.