AHN – Chapter 15 Africans Ponder in the Cell

Demba placed his hand on his chin in the darkness, pondering deeply. He couldn’t quite grasp the series of events that had led to their current situation.

“Could it be related to that beast that was dead in the cage?” Kanga said, swinging his arms over his knees.

Demba responded with a nod, but he still couldn’t fully understand. The beast, placed in a high-floored cage at the center of the square, was found motionless.

“They called it Kimun Kamuy. It was enshrined in such a way. It must have been something significant,” Kanga added, nodding.

“They kept saying ‘iomante’. It might be the name of a ritual or festival. That beast could have been a sacrificial offering for it.”

“It makes sense if they think the sacrificial offering to their ancestors was defiled. Remember the conflict with the Renboi tribe? It started over something similar,” Demba continued.

“Yeah, that was pure nonsense. The Renboi tribe’s shaman claimed the Mahi tribe’s curse killed their sacrificial cow, leading to the whole mess.”

“It seems they might have similar beliefs here. But the real problem is,” Demba said, looking at the rocky ceiling, “why are they blaming us?”

Kanga picked up the conversation, “Exactly.”

Demba looked towards the entrance of the cell. “Should we break out?”

Kanga muttered, “Those branches are thick, but I can smash them easily.”

Demba shook his head. “Not now. They think we did it. If we break out, they might see it as a hostile act. Negotiations will fail. We won’t fulfill our promise to the lord.”

Kanga scratched his head. “But staying here won’t solve anything. They’ll think we admit guilt by staying quiet.”

“We wait,” Demba said after a pause. “The captain will be doing something. It’s only been three days since we got here. Remember hunting in the bush? We once waited ten days for prey.”

Days of waiting in the scorching wilderness seemed like a distant past now.

Yet, when it came to endurance in the wild, no tribe surpassed the Mahi in patience.

Kanga nodded in agreement.

—

“How long do you plan to keep those two in the cell?” Captain Sakiyama Ichinai asked quietly, sitting around the square hearth in the chise house.

The elderly man in deerskin clothes stroked his long, bushy beard, looking towards the grass-woven walls. He was Kalheka, the head chief.

“We will await the decision of Elder Hawukase. Until then, they stay there,” Kalheka said in a low voice.

“Do you have any proof that my crew killed the bear?” Ichinai asked, his thick eyebrows furrowing.

“I heard a testimony of seeing a tall, dark figure. Without the bear, the ‘iomante’ cannot proceed. If we don’t perform the ‘iomante’, we won’t have game next year. We cannot overlook those who defiled such an important ritual,” Kalheka replied, his narrow eyes glancing sharply at Ichinai.

Ichinai’s eyebrows knit together tightly. “We’ve just arrived here. We, including Demba and his men, have no reason to defile your rituals.”

“I don’t care about your reasons,” Kalheka snapped. “There’s never a reason for what the Japanese do. Otherwise, Shakushain wouldn’t have been killed.”

It took Ichinai a moment to realize he was referring to the betrayal and killing of Shakushain by the Matsumae clan during peace negotiations.

Despite the years since Shakushain’s rebellion, the memory of that betrayal still caused significant pain among the Ainu, as Ichinai realized.

“The Mito clan is different from the Matsumae clan. We do not act irrationally,” Ichinai argued.

“When the rebellion ended, many soldiers came from inland domains, pointing weapons at us Ainu. You’re still Japanese. There’s no difference,” Kalheka said coldly.

The silence that followed Ichinai’s contemplation was interpreted by Kalheka as tacit acceptance. Kalheka slowly stood up.

“We’ll put off the trading talks for now. I’ll reconsider once this trouble is settled. Leave now.”

Ichinai bit his lip in frustration.

—

The initial progress had been smooth.

There was a relatively sturdy dock at the mouth of the Ishikari River, likely due to the trading ships from the Matsumae clan. The crew, split into two small boats, had landed safely.

When they informed the local village of their purpose and requested an audience with the head chief, they were warmly received and guided by a log boat.

Some of the crew, now on their third voyage, were fluent in Ainu, and many Ishikari Ainu, having long traded with mainland Japan, were familiar with the Japanese language, making communication easy.

The Ishikari Ainu territory was vast and ancient.

At its peak, it stretched over 200 kilometers along the Ishikari River, from the Ishikari River Basin, Ishikarabetsu, Sorachi, and Kamikawa, rivaling the Menashikuru of eastern Hokkaido and the Shumukuru of the Hidaka and Iburi regions in size among the Ainu.

Their base was the midstream area of the Ishikari River, from Takikawa Sorachipetsu to the river’s mouth, where Hawukase’s fortress was located. The Ainu villages were connected and communicated primarily via the river. The route upstream was mainly by water.

However, the overland route upstream didn’t necessarily follow the main flow of the Ishikari River. Though the mouth was distant from the main stream, the path from Ebetsu to Takikawa likely paralleled the current Route 12 alongside the Hakodate Main Line.

The main villages were concentrated from Sapporo and Ebetsu to Urausu. The total Ainu population was said to be several thousand.

The incident occurred in a village near Ebetsu.

On the second night after their landing, the crew returned to their ship in the evening, spending the night there. But when they visited the village again the next day, chaos had erupted.

A small bear, kept in a cage about three feet square at the center of the village, was found dead, with a dark red stain beneath the elevated floor. It was clear that it had been speared to death.

“The bear, Kimun Kamuy, is dead!”

“It was killed!”

“Who did it?”

“Who is responsible?”

“We can’t perform the ‘iomante’!”

“What about the ‘iomante’?”

“The gods will be angry!”

The Ainu gathered in the square, looking at each other and shouting.

“A black man killed the bear!”

An elderly woman with tattoos around her mouth shouted.

“Is it true?”

“Someone said they saw it!”

“The black man!”

“The black man did it!”

The Ainu’s gazes turned towards the crew, focusing on the two tall figures among them.

“It’s them!”

“They killed the bear!”

Surrounded by shouting Ainu, the crew could do nothing. Young men with sticks and machetes stepped forward, jabbing Demba and Kanga.

Eventually, Chief Kalheka appeared, listened to the people’s accounts, and told the crew, “We will take custody of these men.”

Demba and Kanga were separated from the crew and found themselves in the cell before they realized it.