What does it mean to be Ainu in the twenty-first century?
-Ainu Authenticity-
People of Northern Japan, the Ainu once described as a “dying race,” continue to remain and develop their culture even today. Throughout the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, the Ainu were targeted as a fascinating research object for both Japanese and foreign researchers. This was a result of the discourse of “race” together with Social Darwinism. Such history continues to affect Ainu communities negatively, and various challenge remain. In this lecture, Dr. Uzawa highlights the living experiences of the Ainu today by sharing her personal stories on her ongoing website project and an artistic project, which expresses contemporary Ainu authenticity through dance and song.
Speaker
Dr. Kanako Uzawa obtained a master's in Indigenous Studies and a doctorate in Community Planning and Cultural Understanding from the UiT Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, in 2020. She held an internship in the Project to Promote ILO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (PRO 169) at the International Labour Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland. Currently, she is an affiliated researcher at the Research Faculty of Media and Communication at Hokkaido University. Dr. Uzawa contributes to collaborative research and Ainu performing art on the multifaceted articulations of Indigenous knowledge. She is also a research collaborator with the ArCSII (Arctic Challenge for Sustainability). She sits on the editorial board member of AlterNative: an International Journal of Indigenous Peoples in New Zealand, Aotearoa.
Sponsors
Date
Monday, June 21, 2021
Time
10:00 am - 12:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
Place
Online
Registration required for this free event.
