IN

THE FABRICATION OF AINO CLOTH.

BY PROF. D. P. PENHALLOW.

N view of the very uncertain history of the Ainos, it is difficult to obtain reliable information respecting the origin of any of the rude arts with which they appear to be familiar. According to the testimony of the Ainos themselves, weaving has been practiced by them from very early times, while their traditions also state that their knowledge of the art was original and not obtained from the Chinese or Japanese. There appears but little either in support or contradiction of such statements, other than can be obtained by a comparison of the machines used by the Ainos and their Japanese neighbors. Those used by the former involve a simplicity not to be found in any of the Japanese instruments, pointing to originality or marked deterioration in the first. case, or, in the second, a greater improvement of original forms than has generally been recognized as a feature of the old style of mechanical ingenuity. While the whole subject is involved in its present obscurity, we can only look upon the statements of the Ainos as of traditional interest.

The fabrication of the cloth involves processes and implements of the greatest simplicity, such as may readily be executed or procured under the conditions of a wild forest life. The material used is coarse bast fiber obtained from two species of elm, Ulmus campestris and U. montana, respectively known to the Ainos as Akádamo and Õhiyo. The slight maceration or simple bruising to which the fiber is subjected, results in nothing more than a separation of the various bast layers, no attempt being made to separate individual fibers and produce twisted threads; hence we

find the prepared material very coarse, and the finished product correspondingly so.

As a class, the Ainos are not yet susceptible to the demands of higher and increasing wants. Their desires are few, of a low order, and easily satisfied; and in the matter of clothing, it is sufficient for them to know and feel that their one garment satisfies the demands of decency, that the material costs only the expenditure of time-which, to them, is nothing-and that the processes of preparation and fabrication are both simple and easily accomplished. Delicacy of touch, pliability, fine texture and a pure color are considerations which do not find place in the Aino mind, yet with an exhibition of the truly savage taste which delights in a display of rude and brilliant ornamentation, we find them expending great effort upon their garments to secure striking, if not altogether symmetrical and harmonious decoration.

The collection and preparation of fiber, though properly belonging to the women, is not unfrequently undertaken by the men in connection with their own peculiar work. Thus with a hunting expedition, which may last several days, they often combine the object of collecting bark, either for cloth or the manufacture of ropes; while their visits to pools where the bark is macerating, will be combined with a search for their principal source of farinaceous food-lily bulbs.

Three or

The bark is generally drawn from the standing tree. four good blows with the heavy knife, which every man carries, suffice to permit a good hold with both hands, when by the exercise of a little skill, a strip of bark nearly a foot wide, is drawn off quite up to the branches, often a distance of twenty feet. If taken from the Õhiyo, it is macerated for about ten days in quict pools of tepid water, such as are common about the borders of swamp lands. As soon as sufficiently macerated, the outer bark readily separates from the bast portion, when this latter is again split into long and broad strips, usually about ten in number. These are then dried slowly to prevent rendering the fiber brittle, after which they are stripped into threads having an average width of one-eighth of an inch. No twisting or other process performed, but as soon as the threads (Ah) have been made of the proper size, they are joined together by a simple square knot, and nicely wound in balls, five inches in diameter, which unwind

is

from the interior. The bark of the Akadamo is not macerated,
Ākādamo
but as soon as gathered, the outer bark is separated from the
bast. The latter, in strips about three inches wide, is repeatedly
doubled and thoroughly broken by the teeth at the point of fold-
ing. By this means it is soon possible to separate the various
layers of bast without any difficulty. The subsequent treatment
is the same as of the Õhiyo bark.

The instruments employed in weaving are but seven in number, and while they are of great simplicity, they seem quite efficient for the class of work demanded. They may be enumerated as follows:

With the exception of the bera, which is usually maple, all the implenients are made of some soft wood, such as pine. The only instrument used for making and carving them, is a small sheath knife, having a slightly curved blade about six inches in length. Oftentimes the Aino will call into requisition all his skill in carving, to produce an elaborate set of instruments, while in the majority of cases they are left quite plain. The general forms and sizes will be understood from the accompanying figures. With the exception of Figs. 1, 3, 7, the instruments are perfectly plain. In the ōsha, Fig. 2, the bars are of such number as to admit the use of one hundred and sixty-five warp threads. The bera is used only for the purpose of tightening the threads. The ǎhonishi, or shuttle, usually holds enough thread to complete about three feet of cloth.

To prepare the threads for the loom, several sticks, one foot long, are driven into the ground constituting the house floor, arranged as shown in Plate II, from 1-7. The number and distance apart, vary according to the length of the threads to be used, consequently of the cloth to be made, Two balls of thread, prepared as previously described, are then selected and unwound together, thus greatly facilitating the operation. The threads start at 1, turn 2 and pass around peg I again, thence to 4-3, and so on, when after passing the last peg, 5, they return

over the same course to I. This process is repeated until, without counting, the operator thinks she has enough threads to fill

PLATE II.-Method of Stretching and Tying Warp threads.

the loom. Between pegs 5 and 6, the threads are crossed each time by a simple twist, as shown at a, and secured by a side peg,