| Research Abstract |
Purpose of this research is to clarify the relation between the natural environment and the life of the Ainu who lived in Yezo-chi, old name of Hokkaido in the Edo-period. The authors tried to gather research material on wildlife from historical records, and then classified the data.
The main species of wildlife are as follows.
(1) Animals : bear, deer, wolf, marten, fox, raccoon dog, otter, hare, squirrel, chipmunk, fur seal, seal, sea lion, sea otter, whale.
(2) Birds : eagle, hawk, crane, owl, wild duck, bush warbler, crow, sea mew(mewgull), swan, heron, wild goose.
(3) Fish and Shell fish : herring, salmon, trout, codfish, sardine, flatfish, halibut, shark, sturgeon, squid, abalone, scallop, sea cucumber.
The types of analysis on wildlife are as follows.
(1) place or area, (2) ecology, (3) amount catch, (4) technique of hunting or fishing, (5) damage from animal, (6) way of use, cooking and processing, (7) selling, (8) legend and cult, (9) place name.
In this research, authors found that the life of the Ainu depended heavily on the salmon and trout before the coronial development of Hokkaido. The authors also researched aconite poisons which were used for hunting. A quantity of historical materials was collected. However, there are still more records and unresolved questions which need further study.
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