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LIV CULTURE • LĪBIEŠU TAUTAS KULTŪRA • LĪVÕD ROVKULTŪR • LIIVILÄISTÄ KANSANKULTTUURIA
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The Livs are Finnish people who live the furthest
West on the Baltic Sea. They used to inhabit a wide territory in the Vidzeme and Kurzeme regions of Latvia. Before the Second World War, the Livs remained
only in twelve fishing villages along the Kurzeme seashore. These were: Lūžņa, Miķeļtornis, Lielirbe, Jaunciems, Sīkrags, Mazirbe, Košrags, Pitrags, Saunags,
Vaide, Kolka and Melnsils. The villages were located in an approximately 60 km long and a few kilometers wide coastal zone, which stretched from the
furthest northern point Kolka to the West.
The Western Livs called themselves rāndalist (the coast people) while the Eastern Livs called themselves kalāmīed (fishermen). The language of the Livs rāndakēļ (language of the coast people) consisted of Western and Eastern dialects. As a mother tongue, the Liv language now is spoken only by about ten Livs, while at the beginning of the 20th century the Liv language was spoken by a couple of thousand people. The Livs started to call themselves by the collective name līvli (Livs) during the First National Awakening in Latvia after the First World War. C o n t e n t s / Photographs / 1 - 144
Andreas Johan Sjögren
NATURE, INHABITANTS AND BUILDINGS Liv villages were clusters of small individual farmsteads. Erected among the coastal sand dunes, and stakes for hanging nets pointed to the existence of a village. As late as the beginning of the 20th century, archaic features characteristic of Latvian and Lithuanian construction could be found in the old Liv buildings. One of these was the dūmnams –– the smokehouse –– built of logs, a building that served as a special kitchen. In the middle of the floor was an open hearth and, from a beam located lengthwise above the hearth, hung a kettle. In the smokehouse various household tasks were done –– brewing of beer, washing of clothes, butchering of farm animals, preparation of meals, as well as eating of meals in the summer. On stakes in the house, plaice, Baltic herring and sprats were dried. A smokehouse in the form of a pavarda kambaris –– hearth chamber –– also was retained in the old dwellings of Livs, which consisted of a living room and an antechamber. In this antechamber there were no windows. There was an earthen floor, an open hearth and beams for hanging kettles. This hearth chamber also fulfilled the function of an entryway. The stove of the adjacent room was heated from the antechamber. On occasion, on the other side of antechamber a second common room was built. More living space was acquired also by extending the dwelling through the addition of another room, a kitchen or a chamber. As a result, the existing hearth chamber became the entryway on the other side of the house. The homestead buildings were located around the main house. The granary was divided into two sections, the two granaries being located side-by-side under a common roof so forming one specialized building. Dual-entry doors were located in the long wall of the building. A barn also included a storage area for hay and an attached lean-to, which was also utilized as a storage place or sleighs, carts or wagons. The sauna was located near the well, while the threshing barn was outside the yard. The threshing barn not only included a threshing-floor but also served as a storage barn for hay. The threshing floor was located at the end of the building. The old Liv buildings had a two-slope saddle roof. Covered with wood shingles, the heavy roof had an overhang supported by hooks and was held up by massive roof beams. The roof construction of the Liv buildings conforms with Latvian and Eastern European traditional construction. The buildings generally were erected on massive foundation logs directly on the earth. Roofed with wood shingles, the net huts of fishermen were located near the seashore. In them were placed the nets after they had dried out on stakes. These stakes, which were installed near the mooring place for the boats, were made of supporting wood poles, set up in rows in the sand parallel to the shore. Photographs 12 - 43
Photographs 44 - 61
Photographs 62 - 69
After being cut down with a scythe, the grain crops were tied into sheaves. The dried off sheaves were taken to the threshing barn for further drying on the beams. Afterwards the dried sheaves were spread on the floor. The grain was threshed with flails or two or three horses, led in a circle on the spread out grain. The summer crops were threshed by foot. After the threshing, the remaining chaff was gathered with pitchforks. The grain mixed with chaff was poured into a pile in front of the open door of the barn to be winnowed. Air currents separated the grain from the chaff. Coastal pines were used in the building of boats. The fishing boats were equipped with a mast that could be raised and lowered, with a sail and a foresail, reminiscent of the boats used in the Estonian coastal islands. Photographs 70 - 84
According to information dating back to the 18th century, women wore a large woollen shawl that was pinned on the breast with a silver brooch called a sakta. These woollen shawls were characteristic of the Baltic countries and Finland, and their origin is rooted in ancient history. When going outside the house, the head and shoulders were covered with this woollen shawl. At the end of the 19th century, a white woollen shawl (kõrtan) and a narrow-striped skirt (trīplimi gūngaseŗk) constituted the women’s folk costume. The stripes of the skirt were red and black. The bottom rim of the skirt was decorated with sewed on, coloured ribbons. Besides the narrow striped skirt, also black skirts with 3 to 4 red stripes around the bottom rim were worn. Distinguishing apparel for married women was a mouth scarf (mundangs) and a headdress made up of three parts (aube). The mundang was a long, narrow, white scarf. It totally covered the chin and cheeks and was tied at the back of the head. As early as the 17th century, information has been found concerning the wearing of such a scarf. The three-part headdress was sewn from three pieces of cloth. For decoration, small roses fashioned of cloth and glass beads were sewn on the back of the headdress. As footwear, men and women wore moccasin-type shoes made from a single piece of leather called pastalas, and bast shoes –– vīzes — made diagonally woven osier bark. The Swedes living in the northwest islands wore the same type of pastalas. Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians and White Russians wore vīzes prepared by the same technique. Photographs 85 - 92
Photographs 93 - 108: MIĶEĻTORNIS, LŪŽŅA, PITRAGS, SAUNAGS, JAUNCIEMS, MELNSILS Photographs 109 - 126: KOLKA, SĪKRAGS Photographs 127 - 140: VAIDE, LIELIRBE, MAZIRBE, KOŠRAGS AWAKENING OF LIV NATIONALISM AND CONTACTS WITH FINNS Photographs 141 - 144
Organiser of the Exhibition: National Board of Antiquities. Finland
Handwriting: Marja-Leena Kaasalainen Layout/Design: Maikku Soveri Translation/Latvian: Valts Ernštreits/Liv: Valts Ernštreits/English: Margita Gailīte Consultant/Historian: Valda Šuvcāne
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