chances are....

so,
ive been wanting to do a post about indigenous people for awhile now. im still reeling about how truly disconnected our society has become from that way of life. i blame technology. i came across this picture while researching japan sometime ago. the Ainu are an indigenous ethnic group of Japan. some of them are still living today, but it is unsure how many are really left. Ainu culture dates from around 1200 CE. The Ainu were a society of hunter-gatherers, who lived mainly off fish and plants, and the people followed a religion based around phenomena of nature. all of these values and ways of life are almost distinct to us as a people now in a way....people take nature for granted more than anything, in my opinion.
the Ainu people wore such beautiful textiles as part of their garments. Traditional Ainu culture was quite different from Japanese culture. Never shaving after a certain age, the men had full beards and moustaches. Men and women alike cut their hair level with the shoulders at the sides of the head, trimmed semicircularly behind. The women tattooed their mouths, and sometimes the forearms. The mouth tattoos were started at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing with size. The soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of birch bark was used for color. Their traditional dress was a robe spun from the inner bark of the elm tree, called attusi or attush. Various styles of clothing were made, and consisted generally of a simple short robe with straight sleeves, which was folded around the body, and tied with a band about the waist. The sleeves ended at the wrist or forearm and the length generally was to the calves. Women also wore an undergarment of Japanese cloth.
i just love the prints and their ceremonious dress and dramatic makeup and layering..the head pieces, all of it...i thought everyone should take a look.....