Changes

''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p15.</ref>

''Kotan'' were self-organized, usually locating themselves near a river or seashore. They did not "own" land in any manner resembling modern concepts of ownership, with written contracts, legal codes, and/or systems of inheritance. Rather, so long as a plot of land was under cultivation by an individual, family, or ''kotan'', others would respect the claim or "rights" to that land.<ref>Morris-Suzuki. "Creating the Frontier." p15.</ref>

The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, bred dogs, which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.

The men of a given ''kotan'' would hunt and fish in their area, chiefly [[bear]] and [[salmon]], while the women farmed, mainly millet, beans, barley, wheat, sorghum, and vegetables. They would usually burn the field first, creating ash which served as fertilizer, and would then cultivate a given plot for a year or two before allowing that area to return to nature, and turning to a different plot of land to claim as theirs to cultivate for a period. Bows called ''ku'' and made of [[Japanese yew]] (Ainu: ''kuneni'') were used along with poisoned arrows for hunting boar, bears, deer, and other animals.<ref>Gallery labels, "Master - An Ainu Story," photo exhibit by Adam Isfendiyar, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Fall 2018.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33763404288/in/photostream/]</ref> The Ainu, especially in Sakhalin, also bred dogs, which they used for a variety of purposes, including as hunting companions, sled dogs, and for their fur/skins and their meat.

Ainu never engaged in rice cultivation traditionally, but purchased rice from the Japanese, who called themselves ''Wajin'' (和人), among other terms, to identify themselves in contrast to the Ainu Other. This term, ''wajin'' only first appears in extant texts in [[1799]], however, while the Ainu term ''shamo'', used to refer to the Japanese, appears as early as [[1467]].<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 109.</ref>

Ainu never engaged in rice cultivation traditionally, but purchased rice from the Japanese, who called themselves ''Wajin'' (和人), among other terms, to identify themselves in contrast to the Ainu Other. This term, ''wajin'' only first appears in extant texts in [[1799]], however, while the Ainu term ''shamo'', used to refer to the Japanese, appears as early as [[1467]].<ref>David Howell, "Is Ainu History Japanese History?," in ann-elise lewallen, Mark Hudson, Mark Watson (eds.), ''Beyond Ainu Studies'', University of Hawaii Press (2015), 109.</ref>