Ainu Ritual Carvings and Landscape in Northern Japan

About

Dr. Susan Dine, Vanderbilt University

Ritual libation sticks (ikupasuy) were widely collected from the Ainu, the Indigenous peoples of northern Japan. The Brooklyn Museum, for example, has over one hundred of these carved wooden sticks, also called prayer sticks. Though small, these objects are richly visual and, when considered in an Indigenous environmental and artistic framework, they enhance our understanding of the diverse ways humankind has materialized their relationship with nature. Drawing on archaeological findings and Ainu oral histories and traditional knowledge, this talk explores how art, environment, and movement activate both object and personal intention.

AIA Fall 2026 Lecture Series

*Free and open to the public