I've been looking at a number of different history books, and perhaps the most comprehensive that I've come across is Kerr, G.H. Okinawa, The history of an Isand People. This section comes from a collection of Ryukyuan poems and songs that were collectively called the Omoro soshi, a document that is basically an anthology of early Okinawan songs. As Okinawans didn't have a written traditional prior to the introduction of Chinese characters, much of their society required story-telling to outline their ancestry.

Using etymology to discover Okinawan origins
The first people to live in Okinawa were 'Old Mongoliod' people who migrated from mainland China across the land bridge that existed until about 20,000 years ago. There is also evidence, however, of a later Japanese migration into Okinawa from a number of different sources. For example, looking at the etymology of some of the words found in the the Korean Chronicles of Japan written about 720 A.D., Southern Korea is referred to as Arihishikara, arihi is the archaic form of arp, meaning front, while shikara means south. Thus arihishikara means 'southern frontier' which suggests that Koreans migrated from north to south. The Japanese word for east is higashi, which literally means 'to follow the sun'. Nishi, the Japanese word for west, on the other hand is derived from inishi, meaning 'the past'. This suggests that the ancient Japanese migrated from west to east following the sun. In Ainu, the word for east is moshiripa, moshiri means 'land', pa means 'head', thus 'headland'. The Ainu word for west is moshirigesh, gesh means 'buttocks' or 'hips', thus meaning the rear end of the land. This suggests that the Ainu also migrated from west to east, however many thousands of years before the ancient Japanese. In Okinawan dialects or hogen, nishi, whose original meaning is 'the past' means north; thereby suggesting that ancient Japanese migrated south to Okinawa from Kyushu. Another etymological point to support this argument goes back to the creation myth of the Ryukyus found in the Omorn soshi a text containing 22 volumes of songs and poems from the villages and islands of Okinawa compiled during the 17th century.
According to this myth, the Great Sun God decreed to Amarnikyo and Shinerikyo to create islands in the sea and to people them. The name of one of these Gods, Amamikyo, probably comes from amami, which is derived from amabe, ama meaning 'fisherfolk' and be, meaning 'occupation'. The Amami were fisherfolk who were in the service of the Yamato Dynasty in Japan from as early as 275 A.D. They supplied marine products to the Imperial Court as a tax in kind, and as a group they were spread out along the coastline from southern to northern Kyushu, even as far as the Ise and Owari coasts of Honshu (the main island of Japan). It has been argued that a branch of this tribe migrated southward and settled Amarni and Okinawa islands, eventually to become the dominant tribe within these island communities. There are many names of places, hills and rivers that have 'amami' attached to them on the main island of Okinawa and Amami, giving this theory greater weight. However, there is a school of thought that argues that the migratory patterns actually came from the south and not the north. The main reason for this concept is the natural flow of sea currents which head northward along the coastline of Honshu from Okinawa. The logic is that ancient people would have used the sea currents in their migratory behaviour. This is certainly true of some cultural groups such as Polynesians moving across the Pacific.

In the Beginning
This creation story was maintained through an oral tradition, and reads very much like a song or poem. Professional story tellers would pass these stories from generation to generation, with extraordinary clarity, until they were finally recorded in the Omoro soshi. Story tellers, called kataribe, would have enjoyed a certain level of status in their communities and they would have taken great pride in maintaining accuracy in their accounts, changing as little as possible of the content from one generation to the next. There are three variations of this creation myth, which might be better explained later.
Tedako Onushi the Great Sun God looked down below and decreed to Amamikyo and directed Shinerikyo to make islands and countries. Amamikyo came down from heaven and made numerous countries and islands. The Sun God grew weary and asked Amamikyo to bear the Amamya people. As the story goes Amamikyo and Shinerikyo came down to live on the island and "though there was no consummation of the Yin and Yang between them, because their houses stood side by side, the passing wind became instrumental in the pregnancy of Amamikyo. This is where there are some discrepancies between stories in historical accounts;
I) If you are reading the Kikoe-ogimi-ogishiki account then they have three children, one boy who becomes King, and two daughters, one of whom becomes the high priestess and the other the local (noro) priestess. This account may originate from the northern regions of the main island.
2) According to the Ryukyu Shintoki, the couple have three children, one son becomes the Lords (Anji), the daughter becomes the priestess, and the third son, the commoner.
3) In the Chuzan sekan, added much later expands on this family to three sons and two daughters; one son becomes the king, the second son becomes the Anji, the third son, the commoner, one daughter-the high priestess, and the other daughter the local noro priestess.

The reasons for changes in these accounts is a reflection of the social structure within early Okinawan communities. For example in the first account societies would have been based around family groups, with women maintaining the role of spiritual advisers and also maintaining household shrines for ancestors. The second account suggests it was altered around the 10th -12th centuries when Okinawan society was ruled by regional Lords (Anji), and the inclusion of the commoner gives the Lord someone to rule The third account is much later when the Ryukyu Kingdom is well established after unification, and was probably used as a means of justifying the feudal order of society.

A picture of Okinawan life through poetry and song
Some of the songs found in the omoro soshi tell of the early structure of villages. Many were located on the side of mountains and hills, while rice fields and sugar fields were spread out in the valleys. The mountains and hills afforded protection from attack as well as an easy system of sanitation, as gutters would have directed water downwards into the valleys. The most important part of the village was the otake or mori called the Kwenya umui- the holy grove. There is a holy grove located in the main market place of Shun Castle and it was believed that the God (kami) would inhabit this place while visiting earth. They were the spiritual as well as the physical center of ancient Okinawan villages. The types of plants that these groves usually contained include: kuba (fountain palm), maui (black boxtree) Ryukyu aoki (ryukyu laurel) sasuki (H.sinensis Anders) yamashoga (wild ginger). "Mayko" refers to the connection between God and man, and this relationship was controlled by the founding family called Neya (pronounced niiya) or redokaro both meaning "roothouse". The Neya family was headed by the Nebito (pronounced nichu, meaning root man) and Negami (pronounced nigan, meaning "root deity"). The head of a family was made up of the eldest male of the original family; this is exactly the same as the Japanese system of household authority (apparently at one time it was
codified into law). The Nebito maintained political and administrative control of the village while his eldest sister became the Negami (high priestess) and regulated the spiritual relationships between the villagers and their gods. The younger sister often took the role of Noro, or common priestess. These villages were largely made up of one clan, and branch families from the head family were called bunke. The Neya family was positioned closest to the otake and depending on the relationship to the head families other families were located accordingly around the otake. The further away from the otake you were positioned then, the lower your position in the village.

The coming of the northerners
Jomon culture is a specific era in early Japanese history, and literally means rope writing. Characteristics of this culture are the extensive use of rope-designed ceramics, and provide perhaps the oldest example of ceramic manufacture in the world, with some artifacts dating 12,000 years BP. Jomon culture is believed to have spread from Kyushu southwards to Okinawa, even though there are some distinctions between ceramic designs and styles. The arrival of the Miruya People (probably during the 7th and 8th centuries and well after the arrival of the amami some four centuries earlier), from the north appears to have been a gradual process that put very little pressure on ancient Okinawan society. Furthermore, from songs found in the omoro soshi, the ancient Okinawans looked upon the Miruya people with awe, they possessed far more material culture (ceramics) and the technology to produce it. Essentially they were not different racially or culturally from the islanders, so they were easily integrated into Okinawan society. All over the Ryukyus, Oshima, Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama omoro were written and sung about these groups of Japanese warriors who wore swords with bells hanging off them.
There were many more subsequent migrations from the north. There is a song called the omoro of Tametomo, who was a leader with the Minamoto clans. He fled mainland Japan as his clan had been defeated and dispersed by the Taira clans in the 11th century. He settled on the main island of Okinawa and was to subsequently establish the ruling house.
Eventually, the Taira clans were to be defeated in a great sea battle by the Genji Minamoto clans at Dannoura in 1185. The Taira clans were renowned seafarers in Western Japan and many fled to the island of Tsushima and south to the islands of Okinawa. However, none settled on the main island of Okinawa, as the descendants of Tametomo ruled there. Interestingly, the name Taira is not very common on mainland Japan as much of the clan was wiped out in the 12th century, however is commonly found in Okinawa. During this time warring states developed in Okinawa, similar to that of feudal Japan a few hundred years earlier. Local Lords called Anji controlled regions called magiri, each magiri made up of between 10-15 villages (mayko). Eventually, these regions were incorporated into three separate kingdoms; Hokuzan (Northern Mountain), Chuzan (Middle Mountain) and Nanzan (Southern Mountain). Each of these kingdoms traded individually, mainly with Japan. Imports from Japan included hammers, jewels, especially comma-shaped jades called magatama in Japanese, and were worn by priestesses for religious and ceremonial purposes. Many of the ships built at this time for trade followed a Japanese design, and it was only much later that Okinawa developed its own design and style of construction. Many tradespeople were Japanese migrants, these included shipwrights, blacksmiths, goldsmiths and folding screen makers.
The first trade ship to China recorded in the Omoro soshi tells of Tachi or Taiki's journey from the kingdom of Chuzan, which carried with it horses, swords, gold, silver dusted fans, copper, zinc, fabrics, cowhides, sandalwood, sapanwood and other perfume materials, pepper, sulphur and grinding stones. Most of these items however were not from the Ryukyus but from Japan and South East Asia. Taiki visited China in 1373, 1374, 1376 and 1382, there were many other trade ships that visited China from other kingdoms, but Chuzan enjoyed the lion's share of trade.

Paul Saeki

References:.A brief history of Early Okinawa based on the Ornoro Soshi, Sakihara, Mitsugu, 1987, Honpo Shoseki Press, Tokyo. Onarigarni wo utatta Oshima no ornori, Iha. Fuyu, 1942, Ko Ryukyu