Living life as an Ainu was peaceful at first, they hunted and gathered for what they needed and treated nature well. However, as time went on and Japan developed more, the Ainu would soon be met with opposition.
The Meiji regime’s nation-building policies began and vast changes happened across Japan. One of these policies/goals was to “Develop” the land of Hokkaido (at the time called Yezo), where the Ainu resided. As seen in the text “Writing Ainu Out”, the Ainu’s ancestral lands were taken and they were forced to adapt to new policies that negatively impacted them. The new populace that also choose to settle in Hokkaido began to deforest and destroy the land to create fields for crops and homes. The new settlers killed many animals and left the Ainu little to no food since the settlers have been overkilling their game. The Ainu also wanted to coexist with the new settlers, but they were denied many rights such as practice to their customs and religions. The Ainu were also divided and isolated from one another which decrease their chance of survival at the time, leading to many deaths. The life of the Ainu drastically changed (for the worst) during the Meiji regime’s nation-building policies era.
If I was an Ainu I would have tried to gather my fellow clans' mate to try to convince the new settlers to give us some of our customs and freedom back. We would not perform any violent acts and instead look for a peaceful resolution, although it may be a long and tough fight we have to resort to such ways since these settlers carry powerful tools that can easily wipe out our population. We would debate about the Former Native Protection law and how our culture should be preserved as one of our strong points. Should the settlers refuse to coexist with us, the Ainu may have to find new ways to survive whether it would be to cultivate food or raise livestock ourselves (instead of hunting). If we do not adapt to the new situation the Ainu may be wiped from existence on Earth.
The above paragraph was my take on life as an Ainu. At first, newly established rules as described on pg 40–41 of “Writing Ainu Out” describe the limitation and destruction of the Ainu’s lifestyle through the conquering of Ainu’s land and the new regulations the Ainu must follow. However, around 1871 the government set up “protection” laws to protect some of the customs and way of life of the Ainu, and for settlers to “coexist” with the Ainu. However, even with these protection laws, the Ainu had their daily life changed drastically. Through the loss of land, the restrictions on the killing of animals, the limitations placed on their culture, and so on.
