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Ikupasuy
Ikupasuy are wooden, carved ceremonial sticks used by Ainu men when making offerings to spirits. Background The central section of an ikupasuy is decorated, featuring animals, floral motives as well as abstract designs. The ends of an ikupasuy bear designs that represent the patriarchal lineage of the owner. The Ainu believe that the designs on the ends of the ikupasuy help the spirits in identifying the person who made the offering. The underside of the ikupasuy may on some occasions be carved with various symbols called shiroshi. A common shiroshi is symbol representing the killer whale. The pointed end of the ikupasuy is known as the 'tongue'. The libation process is performed when the ikupasuy's ‘tongue' placed into a lacquerware cup or saucer, containing millet beer or sake. Drops of the liquid then fall upon the venerated object. The Ainu limited their representation of animals and to the ikupasuy. Ainu men occasionally used the ikupasuy as a mean to lift their moustaches ...
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Ainu People
The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Yamato Japanese and Russians. These regions are referred to as in historical Japanese texts. Official estimates place the total Ainu population of Japan at 25,000. Unofficial estimates place the total population at 200,000 or higher, as the near-total assimilation of the Ainu into Japanese society has resulted in many individuals of Ainu descent having no knowledge of their ancestry. As of 2000, the number of "pure" Ainu was estimated at about 300 people. In 1966, there were about 300 native Ainu speakers; in 2008, however, there were about 100. Names This people's most widely known ethnonym, "Ainu" ( ain, ; ja, アイヌ; russian: Айны) means "human" in the Ainu language, particularly as opposed to , divine beings. Ainu also ...
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Millet Beer
Millet beer, also known as Bantu beer, malwa, pombe "Tchouk" or opaque beer, is an alcoholic beverage made from malted millet that is common throughout Africa. Its production process varies across regions and in the southern parts of Africa is more commonly known as umqombothi. Millet beer varies in taste and alcoholic content between ethnic groups. It is served in calabash gourds. Production This type of beer is common throughout Africa. Related African drinks include maize beer and sorghum beer. In the Balkans and Turkey a form of millet beer named boza is produced. In the U.S., Sprecher Brewery produces a type of beer that contains a mix of millet and sorghum known as Shakparo. A form of millet beer is also produced by the Ainu. Production process Millet kernels are soaked in warm water until they sprout, with the goal to increase the content of maltose in the grain. The millet is then dried out to arrest the germination process. The malted grain is then pulverized an ...
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Prayer Stick
A prayer stick is a stick-shaped object used for prayer. Background In the rituals of the Pueblo contain many prayers; thus the Zuñi have prayers for food, health, and rain. Prayer-sticks, that is sticks with feathers attached as supplicatory offerings to the "spirits," were largely used by the Pueblo. These sticks are usually made of cottonwood about seven inches long, and vary in shape, color, and the feather attached, according to the nature of the petitions, and the person praying. The stick is intended to represent the "god" to whom the feathers convey the prayers that are breathed into the "spirit" of the plumes. The Hopi Indians had a special prayer-stick to which a small bag of sacred meal was attached. Green and blue prayer-sticks are often found in the Pueblo graves and especially in the ceremonial graves of Arizona. In Ethiopian culture, the handle of a , a prayer stick, is shaped like a tau cross. The mequamia are used to create rhythm during processions, and to res ...
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Ainu Culture
Ainu culture is the culture of the Ainu people, from around the 13th century (late Kamakura period) to the present. Today, most Ainu people live a life superficially similar to that of mainstream Japanese people, partly due to cultural assimilation. However, while some people conceal or downplay their Ainu identity, Ainu culture is still retained among many groups. The Ainu way of life is called in the Ainu language (literally + "customs, manners"1905, ''An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary'', John Batchelor, Tokyo: Methodist Publishing House. ''Puri'' entry viewable onlinhere). The unique Ainu patterns and oral literature () have been selected as features of Hokkaido Heritage. Overview The term "Ainu culture" has two meanings. One is an anthropological perspective, referring to the cultural forms held by the Ainu people as an ethnic group, which includes both the culture held or created by the modern Ainu and the culture of their ancestors. The other usage, from an archeol ...
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Ainu Ikupasuy (libation Stick), Katsura Tree II
Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu language, extinct language from the island of Sakhalin *Ainu music *Ainu cuisine *Ainu (Middle-earth), spirit in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium *Ainu (insect), a beetle in the family Tenebrionidae * Äynu people, of Western China ** Äynu language See also *Äynu (other) Äynu may refer to: * Äynu people * Äynu language Äynu is a Turkic languages, Turkic cant (language), cryptolect spoken in Western China. Some linguists call it a mixed language, having a mostly Turkic grammar, essentially Uyghur language, Uy ... * Ainur (other) * Aino (other) {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...
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Floral Design
Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally designed floral designs, arrangements or artwork incorporate the elements of floral design: line, form, space, texture, and color, and the principles of floral design: balance, proportion, rhythm, contrast, harmony, and unity. There are many styles of floral design including Botanical Style, Garden Style (Hand Tied, Compote or Armature), Crescent Corsage, Nosegay Corsage, Pot au Fleur, Inverted "T", Parallel Systems, Western Line, Hedgerow Design, Mille de Fleur, and Formal Linear. The Eastern, Western, and European styles have all influenced the commercial floral industry as it is today. Ikebana is a Japanese style of floral design, and incorporates the three main line placements of heaven, human, and earth. In contrast, the European s ...
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Abstract Art
Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of Perspective (graphical), perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality. By the end of the 19th century many artists felt a need to create a new kind of art which would encompass the fundamental changes taking place in technology, science and philosophy. The sources from which individual artists drew their theoretical arguments were diverse, and reflected the social and intellectual preoccupations in all areas of Western culture at that time. Abstract art, non-figurative art, non-objective art, and non-representational art are all closely related terms. They have similar, but perhaps not identical, meanings. Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in depiction of imagery ...
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Killer Whale
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, orcas can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Orcas have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales. Orcas are apex predators, as they have no natural predators. They are highly social; some populations are composed of very stable matrilineal family groups (pods) which are the most stable of any animal species. Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviours, whic ...
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Sake
Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asian rice wine (such as huangjiu and cheongju), is produced by a brewing process more akin to that of beer, where starch is converted into sugars which ferment into alcohol, whereas in wine, alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in fruit, typically grapes. The brewing process for sake differs from the process for beer, where the conversion from starch to sugar and then from sugar to alcohol occurs in two distinct steps. Like other rice wines, when sake is brewed, these conversions occur simultaneously. The alcohol content differs between sake, wine, and beer; while most beer contains 3–9% ABV, wine generally contains 9–16% ABV, and undiluted sake contains 18–20% ABV (although this is o ...
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Moustache
A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' (14th century), dialectal ''mostaccio'' (16th century), from Medieval Latin ''mustacchium'' (eighth century), Medieval Greek μουστάκιον (''moustakion''), attested in the ninth century, which ultimately originates as a diminutive of Hellenistic Greek μύσταξ (''mustax'', ''mustak-''), meaning "upper lip" or "facial hair", probably derived from Hellenistic Greek μύλλον (''mullon''), "lip". An individual wearing a moustache is said to be "moustached" or "moustachioed" (the latter often referring to a particularly large or bushy moustache). History Research done on this subject has noticed that the prevalence of moustaches and facial hair in general rise and fall according to the saturation of the marriage market. Thu ...
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Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today. Terminology The Latin term ''sacrificium'' (a sacrifice) derived from Latin ''sacrificus'' (performing priestly functions or sacrifices), which combined the concepts ''sacra'' (sacred things) and ''facere'' (to do or perform). The Latin word ''sacrificium'' came to apply to the Christian eucharist in particular, sometimes named a "bloodless sacrifice" to distinguish it from blood sacrifices. In individual non-Christian ethnic religions, terms translated as "sacrifice" include the Indic ...
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