Kurpie

Kurpie (ˈkurpjɛ) is one of a number of ethnic regions in Poland, noted for its unique traditional customs, such as its own types of traditional costume, traditional dance and distinctive type of architecture and livelihoods. Kurpie is also the name of the people of this culture. The Kurpie region is located in Poland on a lowland plain called the Mazovian Region (Mazowsze), which was once covered over by two forests known as the Puszcza Zielona (the Green Wilderness) and the Puszcza Biała (the White Wilderness). The Green Wilderness (Puszcza Zielona) is usually associated with the White Wilderness (Puszcza Biała), and together the two forests are often referred to as the Kurpie Forest (Puszcza Kurpiowska) because the two forests were populated by inhabitants who, over the centuries of isolation, developed a unique culture of their own, called Kurpie. On today’s map, the Kurpie region comprises Mazovia, Podlasie and, to a small extent, the Warmia and Masuria region. Populated areas in Kurpie today are generally in the towns of Myszyniec and Ostrołęka and the villages of Czarnia, Dylewo, Jednorożec, Kadzidło, Lipniki, Łyse and Zbójna. The people from this region were originally called people of the wilderness (puszczaki). However, these puszczaki made their shoes from fiber from the linden tree, and these bast shoes, called kurpś, became of a name the outsiders used to describe the inhabitants of this region. The first people who settled there found the heavily forested area to be sandy and muddy. Beekeeping, producing pitch, and iron smelting were the principal commercial occupations with beekeeping highly regulated; however, families also hunted and fished, gathered mushrooms, collected fruits and nuts, and generally used the forests to provide them with their daily needs. At home, amber was polished, and men used forest material to create wood products. The women became very accomplished in weaving linens and cloths. Until the middle of the 19th century the Kurpie forests remained generally pristine.