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Kim-un-Kamuy, the Ainu Kamuy of bears and mountains. One of the most revered Kamuy, Kim-un-Kamuy is praised for his strength. However at the beginning of creation another Kamuy who rivaled Kim-un-kamuy’s strength challenged the bear Kamuy. This Kamuy was known as Etaspe-Kamuy, the Kamuy of Sea Lions. The two agreed to settle their rivalry with a race, whoever lost would have their respective species be banished to the sea. Though the race was close, the mighty Bear spirit won, with the Sea lions being banished to the Sea. In spite of their loss, Etaspe-Kamuy will provoke Kim-un-Kamuy by sending his Sea lions onto the shore, while Kim-un-Kamuy will send his bears to push them back into the sea. Another myth describes that when Kim-un-kamuy’s wife and daughter got lost in the mortal world, an Ainu village found them. When Kim-un-Kamuy came to rescue them, the village surprised him with a wonderful feast, a feast so delicious and wonderful that it lured several other Kamuy. At the end of the feast as Kim-un-Kamuy was leaving the village promised him that if any of his family were to be lost in the mortal world again, they’d guide them back to Kim-un-Kamuy with another banquet.
Kim-un-Kamuy is one of, if not, the most well known Ainu Kamuy. His importance among the Hokkaido Ainu is magnified due to the island being a mountainous region, as well as Hokkaido being the home of many brown bears. However the most conversed aspect of the worship of Kim-un-Kamuy is the sending back ritual. The ritual entails an Ainu village adopting an orphaned or abandoned bear cub. For a year the villagers raise the cub, feeding it and treating it with the up most amount of love. After a year passed the villagers then shoot the bear cub to death with arrows. The Cub’s death isn’t seen as cruel or inhumane to the Ainu, as in their belief, the cub’s death sends it back to its originator: Kim-un-Kamuy, in a sense continuing the tradition of the 2nd myth mentioned above.
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