CULTURE

THE WILNO HERITAGE SOCIETY
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Embroidery

 

Kashubia is famous for its embroidery. Because of the poverty of the soil, it produces flowers that are stringy but that are colourful. There are seven main colours in Kashubian  Embroidery

 

  • DARK BLUE represents the Baltic Sea
  • MEDIUM BLUE the colour of the Kashubian Lakes
  • LIGHT BLUE for the sky
  • YELLOW  represents both the sand and amber
  • GREEN represents meadows and forests
  • RED symbolizes in the heart and love
  • BLACK sorrow and adversity

Kashubian Embroidery was a lost art with the Canadian Kashub Poles, although the craft of Embroidery was not. Embroidery is still very much alive in the Valley. Kashubian Embroidery was abandoned in Canada and the ladies took to Canadian patterns which they could purchase from the Sears' or Eaton's Catalogues. When the ladies did this, they did not realize that they were losing a part of their Kashubian Culture. Today the Wilno Heritage Society has revived the old country craft. We now offer  Kashubian Embroidery classes in the local elementary schools: St. Mary's School in Wilno, St. John Bosco School in Barry's Bay, George Vanier School in Combermere, St. Casimir's School in Round Lake, etc.[on a rotational basis]

The Heritage Society is very fortunate to have Theresa Chapeskie to help with these classes.  Theresa has been embroidering all of her life, but the Kashubian style was new to her until she visited Kashuby, Poland in 2004. She immediately fell in love with the patterns and carries that love forward to the classes she now coordinates with the young people in our community.

Joining Theresa in her teaching program are Bernice Bleskie, Rose Marie Recoskie, Rose Marie Trader, Eva Kulas, Veronica Bialy, Helene Urbanowicz, Sophia Kosinski, Eva Kaczkowski, Leokadia Ziemiak, Bronislawa Mazgaj and Joanna Szymanski. 

The effort of these wonderful ladies will ensure that the tradition of Kashubian Embroidery will be passed down in future.

One of the goals of the Wilno Heritage Society, was to have Kashubian Embroidery on the altar cloths of the local Polish parish churches. Students and volunteer teachers worked on this project in the spring and summer of 2008, so that the three main altars of St. Mary's Church were covered with beautifully decorated Kashubian embroidery for the special 150th Anniversary Mass on August 3, 2008.

Canadian Kashubian Embroidery pieces created by our local school children are on display in a Museum in Zukowo.  Another way of connecting to the homeland.

For more information on the Wilno Heritage Society e-mail:
heritage@wilno.org