Kotan-kar-kamuy (コタンカㇽカムイ, lit. 'world-making-god')[1] is the creator deity of the Ainu people. He should not be confused with god of the land Kotan-kor-kamuy,[2] or the god of the sky Kandakoro Kamuy.

According to missionary John Batchelor, all kamuy are intermediaries responsible to Kotan-kar-kamuy in the Ainu religion, who is regarded as the almighty and eternal ruler of the universe.[3] This led to assumptions that the Ainu faith had originally been monotheistic.[2] Although he stands on top of the hierarchy of gods in Ainu mythology he is only rarely worshipped.[2] Therefore, Norbert Richard Adami criticises the monotheism theory, and holds that Batchelor's views leading into this direction resulted from a straitened and sometimes misinterpreted mode of perception based on his faith, through which they would lose in value.[4]

References

  1. ^ アイヌ民族博物館. "アイヌと自然デジタル図鑑". www.ainu-museum.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  2. ^ a b c Dettmer, Hans A. (1994). "Die Mythologie der Ainu". In Haussig, H.W. (ed.). Götter und Mythen in Ostasien. Wörterbuch der Mythologie (in German). Vol. Band VI. Klett-Cotta. pp. 199–200. ISBN 9783129098608.
  3. ^ John Batchelor: The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore, London 1901, p. 35, p. 575–585.
  4. ^ Norbert Richard Adami: Religion und Schaminismus der Ainu auf Sachalin (Karafuto), Bonn 1989, p. 40-41.


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