Linguistic Propertires
Ainu Alphabet
Ainu existed until the early 20th century without an alphabet until Christian missionary John Batchelor transcribed the language in the Latin alphabet and later in Katakana, (Frederic, "Japan Encyclopedia). Due to some restricitons of the japanese alphabet, Ainu developed different dipthongs to help make certain sounds Japanese and Latin alphabets do not have the ability to make.
Ainu Literature
Due to Ainu's lack of a writing sytem, the indigenous tribes developed oral traditions for story telling. These stories often told moral stories about the role of humans, gods, and the role of mortality.
Yukar
Yukar were the sagas the Ainu told often through group chants and accompanied by instruments. They told tales that had to deal with their animism and were lead by female story tellers, (Strong, "Ainu Spirits Singing").
Yaysama
Women also performed what are called, yaysama, which are dances accompanied by singing. The Foundation for Ainu Culture writes that they are typically improv stories about their own feelings and expression, but also orally passed down stories as well. They sing about their feelings and carry the narratives of their mothers and even grandmothers, each carrying on their lineage's matriarchal stories.
Importance
Since these stories were not transcribed until the late 90s and early 2000's these stories were close to nonexistence. Without the efforts to revitalized the language and see the importance of indigenous people's languages, Ainu culture may had lost their stories all together. With the lost of their stories imporant parts of history and knowledge of the way humans carry their history pre-alphabet had existed.