DescriptionIn Slavic culture, hair was associated with vegetation due to its rapid growth, strength and density. You can often meet the following comparison in folklore: “growing like weeds in the road”, “Girl like a guelder rose,” “son like oak”. It was also believed that disheveled hair was associated magic & the underworld and Women with such hair were called witches. Young women wore their hair down in single braids, but at marriage, it was braided in two braids as part of the wedding ceremony, and from then on hair worn up, and the head covered with a scarf.In the late 1890’s, the Canadian government advertised heavily in Europe, encouraging immigration & opportunity to own land in Canada’s western territories. Ukrainian immigration began in 1891, with the growth of Russian socialism by 1911, & the increasing failure of Tsar Nicholas II to manage political unrest among rural lower classes. Ukraine became more destabilized and many left their homes as political & economic refugees.When the Slavic people immigrated they exchanged, shared, & received folklore, folk magic, plants, & culture with the local indigenous people which is why you see “Kokum scarfs” worn to this day. In the book Kohkum’s Babushka: A Magical Métis/Ukrainian Tale, Marion Mutala tells of an Indigenous man who stopped by her booth at a literary festival. After looking at her book, he remarked that “Pootishka” is a Cree word. “Pootishka means ‘she is wearing’ and he said it was either pronounced babushka or pootishka, while in Ukrainian: хустка (khustka) is a scarf & Baba, бабуся (babusya)”, means grandmother. The words all sound very similar and I believe with that our ancestors intermingled them & why you see some folks using the words interchangeably in Alberta.Imported from UkraineApprox 27 x 27 inches
