Attus garment

This handmade and embroidered attus was created by award-winning Ainu maker, Akemi Shimada. Akemi gifted this attus to Te Papa in acknowledgement of her years of friendship with Māori across Aotearoa.

Attus are a distinctive and highly-prized robe associated with Ainu, the Indigenous people of northern Japan. To make this attus garment, strips of inner bark flesh from trees such as the lobed elm, typically collected by women in Spring and Summer, were soaked in water and then bleached in the sun. The fibrous strands are subsequently split and joined together in a thread that is woven on a loom into cloth. The cloth is then sewn into an attus and decorated with embroidered navy and black applique.

The embroidery patterns - historically created by women to decorate many different kinds of Ainu garments - are said to possess protective powers, warding off evil spirits. Patterns vary between regions and include those passed down through generations of Ainu women. While attus created for everyday wear tended to be less ornately decorated, ceremonial attus usually featured embroidery on the front, back and sleeves. As cotton became more easily available, attus became less common; instead, women concentrated their creativity and effort on the embroidery. However, attus are considered a highly important kind of jacket by many who identify as Ainu, who still wear the robes for ceremonial occasions.

Due to their durability and resistance to water, attus were an important trading item for Ainu during the Edo period (1603-1867). Following the formal colonisation of Ainu Mosir during the Meiji period (1868-1912) and subsequent introduction of assimilationist policies, however, practices such as making and wearing Ainu garments were criminalised. While some Ainu were able to continue to defy these oppressive measures, pervasive discriminatory attitudes and stigma associated with Ainu identity made it difficult for communities to pass their practices down to successive generations. In more recent decades, Ainu have achieved important political gains, including formal recognition as an Indigenous people and Ainu ethnic consciousness, including interest in Ainu language and cultural revitalisation, has been increasing.

For Akemi Shimada, textiles have played an important role in her personal journey as an Ainu woman. Raised by Ainu-speaking parents in Shizunai, Hokkaido, Akemi moved to Tokyo in her early twenties. Like many Ainu, she initially hid her Ainu heritage while in Tokyo for fear of discrimination, but an encounter with Māori later inspired her to start learning more about her culture and share it with others. She has since become a passionate advocate for Ainu living in Tokyo and a respected Ainu embroiderer active in Ainu cultural revitalisation efforts.