Ukraine: A Hutsul Wedding, Part I

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dykun
October 19, 2006

This is part one of two short (8-10 min) pieces I have edited of footage I took at a wedding in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine in August 2004. The wedding was that of a cousin of a friend, Anna. Much of Anna's heritage is Hutsul. Hutsuls and their descedents have lived in their part of the Carpathians for some 500-600 years. The sign at the entrance to Anna's home village of Jabloniv, 15 km from the town of Kolomyja in the state of Ivano-Frankivsk, boasts 450 yrs of settlement.

The video begins with footage of Anna, two other friends (including my second-cousin Oksana Kolodnytska from Pidhajtsi in Ternopil state) and I leaving from Anna's village for another, nearby village for the wedding.

The majority of Hutsuls identify themselves as Ukrainians, unlike other peoples of the Carpathians who, like the Hutsuls, speak a language closely related to Western Ukrainian dialects but who have traditionally called themselves Rusyns--i.e., who never adopted the Ukrainian sense of their Rusyn identity, such as many Lemkos, Bojkos and Dolynjany. Many members of these Carpathian ethnic groups insist that they form a seperate ethnic identity from Ukrainians and refer to themselves as Rusyn or Carpatho-Rusyn.

I am of the mind that the outsider must accept the ethnic self-definition of the majority of any ethnic group. Hence, Hutsuls indeed are Ukrainian, while it is up to Lemkos, Bojkos and Dolynjany to work out whether they belong to the Ukrainian group or are still to this day Carpathian-Rusyns.

In general, the people of Western Ukraine and the Carpathians of Ukraine are thought to have preserved a great deal of their traditions. These are quite rural and agricultural areas that were once dubbed as among the most isolated and "backward" in Europe --and they may still be. "Backward," however, is a strong and wrong word, depending on one's prejudices (i.e., need of creature comforts); this can be a deeply enchanting and powerful land, especially if one can forego the typical requirements, service expectations, and judgments of a Westerner. Much of what many consider the traditional past remains contemporary here--with all its plusses and minuses (many of the latter of which are formidable vis-a-vis the young and especially for women).

Some notes to the footage:

This is Ukraine, and so drinking vodka (or better, horylka, as it is known in Ukrainian) plays a big role in the wedding festivities. I encourage the viewer to have an open mind about this and also to pay attention to a unique tradition in this area: when drinking a shot outdoors, people frequently would throw the bottom 1/3 or so of the shot over their right shoulder or downward at the ground.

There are some substitles, but much is left untranslated. From what is subtitled, one should easily get the gist of what is going on.

This was obviously shot and edited by a folk music fanatic, thus the emphasis on
music/musicians. Note that while much if not most of the music is specifically Hutsul, some of the music is part of a general repertoire of Western Ukrainian Wedding Music--in particular, note the Wedding March played outside the Groom's Home, which is common throughout Western Ukraine, though with some variation.

Part II will come later, containing:

-Footage of the wedding ceremony at the church
-More footage of the Carpathians from this village of Nyzhnij Bereziv
-The Reception line and various traditions as people arrive at the reception
-Reception dinner and singing
-The Dance--including footage of authentic Hutsul dancing as done, not for the sake of performance but for enjoyment, by contemporary-day Hutsuls, including an arkan
-More footage of the musicians!

Category: News & Politics

Tags:

ukraine hutsuls carpathians eastern europe folk music dance traditions weddings post soviet

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kachyr (2 months ago) Show Hide

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Прекрасна українська музика. Українські люди мають такі чудові й дружні душі! Я їх скучаю.
Многая літа!...Слава Україні й всім їй народам.
Ukrainian people have such wonderful , warm spirits!

northatlantic78rpm (2 months ago) Show Hide

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Great video, showing a forgotten part of Central Europe. Thank's for uploading.

lostturtlesandbox (3 months ago) Show Hide

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The video is great! Could you maybe make the subtitles a different color though? At times they can be difficult to read.

glazedhoneybunz (3 months ago) Show Hide

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All Ukrainians are Rusyny.
That's a fact.
It's just that a few of them didn't change their name to Ukrainians.
I think that Ukrainians need to go back to calling themselves Rusyny.

Raokenx (4 months ago) Show Hide

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A beautiful celebration!!

widelooking (4 months ago) Show Hide

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А де брама ?В карпатах,що сосни бракує?

HotCoconutCookie (5 months ago) Show Hide

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i'm from yabluniv. this video made me want someone to get married when i go to ukraine in one week. i can't wait!

ripleyLV426 (6 months ago) Show Hide

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my 93 year old Grandmother is from Kolomyja . I'm looking for dvds or vhf videos for her to watch that are non pal .

dykun (7 months ago) Show Hide

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One further point I want to mention; it matters not that the people calling themselves today Ukrainians once also called themselves Rusyns or Ruthenians. What matters is that there are many people, in the Carpathian Mountain region, who still refer to themselves as Rusyn, Rusnak, or some such thing. What matters is a) some Rusyns never developed a Ukrainian sense of their identity & thus never became Ukrainians & b) many Rusyns developed a Ukrainian identity & stopped being Rusyn.

ioan01 (7 months ago) Show Hide

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souhlas! :-))

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Ukraine: A Hutsul Wedding, Part I

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