Thanks. More or less what I was saying, although there are some unanswered questions.
See also:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hokkaido/ainu2.html
And of course the Ainu Museum:
http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/english/english.html
The "Ainu Culture" extended from about 1400 to the early 1700 s. According to one theory, the Satsumon Culture developed into the Ainu Culture through the influence of the Okhotsk Culture.
S. Malhi and D.G. Smith. 2002. "Brief Communication: Haplogroup X Confirmed in Prehistoric North America." * Am. J. of Physical Anthropology* 119: 84-86.
Abstract: Haplogroup X represents approximately 3% of all modern Native North american mitochondrial lineages. Using RFLP and hypervariable segment I (HVSI) sequence analyses, we identified a prehistoric individual radiocarbon dated to 1,340 =/- 40 years BP that is a member of haplogroup X, found near the Columbia River in Vantage, Washington.
The presence of haplogroup X in prehistoric North America, along with recent findings of haplogroup X in southern sSiberians confirms the hypothesis tha haplogroup X is a founding lineage.
....(p. 84) Derenko et al [2002. "The Presence of mitochondrial haplogroup X in Altaians from south Siberia," *Am. J. Human Genetics* 69: 237-241] reported the presence of haplogroup X in altaian populations from southern Siberia, where the other four Native American founding haplogroups are also present.
Doug