Curious Traveler

(group singing in Seto) - With an indigenous culture so unique, it has a UNESCO designation, and a love of nature so intense, it takes you from the cool forest to the insides of a very hot sauna.

And then we travel along the trail of little villages that are so sweet but they're actually called the Onion Route.

Today we are taking you to get curious about the culture and traditions of Estonia.

(cheerful music) (cheerful music continues) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(train whooshing) (gentle music) (light upbeat music) (group singing in Seto) - [Christine] Estonia is a country rich in natural beauty with a fascinating history and oh so colorful folk traditions.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] Before this small but mighty country was invaded, occupied, and influenced by its Russian, Scandinavian, and German neighbors over the centuries, Estonian culture was more closely related to the Finnic and Baltic regions.

Fortunately, special regions of Estonia have managed to retain this unique identity through its culture, its language, its religion, and its traditions.

(group singing in Seto) (whimsical music) - [Christine] Today we take you to visit three regions of Estonia, each with their own distinct culture and history.

First, we go to Setomaa, to meet the indigenous Seto people, then it's onto Peipsimaa, for an old Russian village, and finally to Voromaa, to experience the traditional Estonian smoke sauna.

Yep, there's going to be a lot of costume changes in this episode.

So here's what I'm curious about in Estonia.

Who are these ladies and why does their music have a UNESCO status?

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] What is the meaning of this chant?

(Eda chanting in foreign language) - [Christine] Where can you find a traditional Russian art workshop?

Why am I wearing this hat?

No, seriously, why?

Is that really what it is?

When did a Russian religious group move over the border into Estonia?

And how does this incredible and incredibly heavy jewelry ward off evil spirits?

Who, what, where, why, when, and how, so much to be curious about with Estonia's culture and traditions.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] Our first stop is to the Setomaa region in the southeast corner of Estonia, right on the border with Russia.

It is here that the centuries-old Seto culture is preserved.

The Seto people are an indigenous group with Finnic roots.

The Seto religion is a hybrid of Eastern Orthodox Christianity infused with a few-old pagan customs.

This blending of beliefs happened when the Estonian pagans were Christianized beginning as early as the 10th century.

While most people converted, a few of the old pagan traditions were incorporated into the new religion.

That is why to this day, at church services like this one, you will see food offerings at the altar, a pagan custom brought into a Christian Church.

(congregation singing faintly) Many of these Seto folk traditions have been preserved as well, including these wonderful bright red folk costumes with shimmering silver jewelry and the Seto language, which for centuries was passed down only through the oral tradition with nothing written down.

Thankfully, some of that language is preserved through this tradition, the Seto leelo folk song.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] Seto leelo singing is at least a thousand years old, possibly more.

Its unique sound is polyphonic, with similarities to monks chanting.

It requires a lead singer- (singer singing in Seto) - and a choir.

The choir typically repeats the lead singer's last verse by joining her on the last syllable.

Seto leelo singing is so treasured and so unique that it was given a UNESCO intangible culture status in 2009.

To tell us more is one of the leelo singers, Mari and her daughter Eda, who was a little bit shy this day.

First of all, thank you for inviting us to witness this.

This is amazing for us.

You all look wonderful.

You sound wonderful.

Tell us a little bit about what is it that you're singing about and how does that incorporate into the Seto tradition.

- Well, leelo is a traditional song of Seto, as you might know already.

It is believed to be more than 2,000 years old.

- [Christine] Wow.

- And the leelo was accompanying the everyday life, like every activity, every work, every ritual had its own songs.

- [Christine] These songs were and are about everything from prayer to praise to politics, to even matchmaking or an Easter celebration and often simply about something to make the working day for the peasant a little bit more pleasant.

- Like the song you hear before, not this one here, but it was about how you walk to the fields and start to harvest.

And also the singing was helping with hard work.

To do the repetitive movements and you accompanied with the song and it goes easier.

- [Christine] And out of that whistle while you work origin came a very specific and unique form of music.

If you listen closely, you will start to notice a certain rhythm and pattern to all the songs.

- The melodies take some time to get used to and to make difference.

When I first moved here, it sound quite awful to my ear.

- Oh, doesn't sound awful at all, it just sounds seamless.

- Sound like very monotonous and very repetitive.

But when you grow into it, it is really, really exciting.

It does have this very specific melodies.

It's called the one-three-semitone, and it is quite unique in the world.

It sounds quite different.

It sounds a little bit oriental and it's found in Setomaa and it's found in some little villages in Southern Russia.

- And that's it.

- And that's it, nowhere else in the world.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] In this unique sound with its unique math, must be performed in a unique formation.

You may have noticed that these ladies are always standing in a circle or a semi-circle.

Well, there's a reason for that.

- Traditionally, Seto singing was, I mean, polyphonic, so every singer had to improvise their own melody.

There was no set melody.

It's not like in choir singing when altos have their part and sopranos have their part.

Everybody was doing it with, there were very strict rules, how you can do it, how you can improvise.

But the melody itself is simple, but the variation of the melody, on spot, is quite challenging sometimes.

- I was gonna say, how does it work when everybody has different, you know, tones and things?

- To listen, you have always listening.

That's why they are standing in half circle.

And actually, it should be right to stand in the full circle so that you can see, you can interact with other singers, and you can hear what the other people are singing.

- And last but not least, just in case you weren't impressed enough with the leelo singing tradition, these songs and singing style were passed down through the generations in a very special way.

Is any of this written down?

'Cause I know Seto culture is an oral tradition.

- Yeah, you can write it down, there are systems invented by scientists, but originally nobody wrote anything down traditionally.

I mean, you were listening the other women singing and then you learned it from childhood.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] And today, the tradition lives on with Seto leelo singers gathering for special holidays and festivals, proudly carrying on the heritage of their ancestors here in their native homeland.

(whimsical music) And if you're lucky, you will experience a welcome Seto song, which we find at our next curious destination.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] This is the Obinitsa Museum named for its surrounding village of Obinitsa here in the Setomaa region.

The museum and the wooden houses surrounding it all used to be lived in by the Seto people.

In fact, they are descendants of the family who lived in this home, living today here in the region.

Teaching me about the heritage of their ancestral costume are Oie and her daughter Maarja.

And the best way to learn about the heritage is to dress like the Seto do.

Okay, what's the first piece?

(Oie speaking Seto) - The first thing would be something like a blouse.

- The blouse, okay.

- Yeah, it's called hamo.

- Hamo?

- Yes.

- Okay.

And I have been admiring this clothing throughout the festival that we attended today.

Is there a specific meaning, like maybe this signify which village you're from or something about your family?

- Well, since it takes a lot of time for a woman to do this, shows their good abilities and also their creativity because you can't find two similar patterns.

They're always different.

Also, the white part is always different.

- [Christine] So on with the blouse and then next comes the dress called a sukman.

I wanna say thank you while I'm doing it.

(Maarja speaking Seto) (Christine speaking Seto) Sorry.

(Maarja laughs) (Oie speaking Seto) (Christine speaking in Seto) - Yay, that's the only word, that's the only phrase I need to know.

Next comes my favorite part, a little bit of armor to keep the bad guys away.

Okay.

- The brooch.

- This, I saw this morning and they did say brooch.

Now to us, a brooch is a small pin.

- Yes.

- Why is this so big and why is it in the shape of a bowl or funnel?

(Oie speaking Seto) - My mother is telling that it is like a mirror because it will reflect back everyone who is here and also those who we can't see.

So if you wear it, you will be feeling that you are kind of protected because everyone is looking at your jewelry and they are not looking through you.

- Oh!

(Oie speaking Seto) - I like that.

(Oie speaking Seto) - [Christine] This giant metal brooch is fastened to the white blouse and seriously feels like a shield to carry into life's daily battles.

Then come the many, many necklaces.

You can definitely hear when a Seto woman is in the vicinity.

- I like to call it like a bank or something.

(Oie speaking Seto) - While the necklaces were made out of real coins, they were not used like a wallet where you could just pull off a coin or two to buy the weekly groceries.

These necklaces were a symbol of the family's wealth.

Oh, yes, yes.

(Maarja speaks indistinctly) I guess my family is pretty wealthy because this fashion statement has some serious weight to it.

Dangerous at all to be walking around wearing, I mean, I guess.

In the years when Seto women wore these costumes as their everyday dress, it was perfectly acceptable to wear all your wealth and parade about town.

But showing one's hair was an absolute no-no.

One braid on the side of my hair.

In different cultures, a woman having her head covered means different things.

What does it mean in the Seto culture?

- Hair is very personal, and also some people say that hair has so much information about you that- - [Christine] Oh, interesting.

- you will keep it to yourself.

(chuckles) - Oh, no, that's nice.

- Yeah.

You go back in time.

- [Christine] So the hair is braided and then tucked under a kerchief, with various ribbons or hair bands added depending on the wearer's age and marital status.

Then it's time for the belt, usually in red to symbolize youth and good health.

- Because with your... - I saw what she's doing.

She just looks at me and she goes, "Let's see how tight we can go."

(Maarja laughs) Do it.

Make it super tight.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

And then a final spin and the transformation is complete.

I think she's just wanting to spin me now to see what happens.

(Maarja laughing) - A grandmother.

- Thank you.

Is hugging appropriate?

(Oie speaking Seto) - Setos also like hugging.

- Setos, okay, all right, we're gonna do a group hug.

I can't sing, but I can hug.

And tell me thank you again.

(Maarja speaking Seto) (Christine speaking Seto) (Oie speaking Seto) - Or (Maarja speaking Seto).

(Christine speaking Seto) (Oie speaking Seto) - Thank you.

I feel like I'm part of the club now.

(group singing in Seto) - [Christine] And club membership involves dancing Seto style, especially if you're a walking piece of jingly musical history.

(group singing in Seto) (whimsical music) This one street village of Kolkja lies along the sweet-smelling Onion Route, a path from the city of Tartu- - And there are also the cucumbers.

- [Christine] out here to the Peipsimaa area where, you guessed it, onions have been grown and harvested for years.

In fact, this sometimes stinky staple has been a primary crop and has helped support the farmers and families here for generations.

(whimsical music continues) But this route has another unique curiosity, the fascinating history of a group called the Russian Old Believers.

(curious music) In the mid-17th century, there was a schism or division in the Russian Orthodox Church called the Raskol.

The division happened because over the centuries, Russian Orthodox practices had slowly changed from their original Greek Orthodox roots.

So the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Nikon, made sweeping reforms to the rituals and traditions.

Nikon changed practices like when and how to bow.

He also changed the two-finger sign of the cross to a three-finger sign, and he also made changes to the liturgical books.

Because of radical changes like these, some traditional Russian Christians called Nikon the Antichrist.

This group became known as the Old Believers because they believed in the old ways of the church and not Nikon's new ways.

In order to worship as they pleased, some of these Old Believers left Russia and settled here in Estonia, in the Peipsimaa region.

Here they built new churches and freely practiced their faith in the old traditional ways.

There are 11 of these churches still here, including this one.

You can see the Russian Orthodox cross here with the three bars, the bottom bar tilted.

To learn more, we visit this adorable pink house, once the home to some of those Russian Old Believers.

Today it is the Peipsimaa Heritage Center, which works to preserve the culture and history of the area through its arts and crafts.

- So this looks like little duck marks.

- [Christine] Uh huh, yeah.

And it is where we meet Daniel Rygovsky, a volunteer here and also a student of Russian Old Believers history.

- So the problem in Russian church was that they wanted to edit liturgical books, so the service books that are required for a religious service.

And because before, they were copied by hand, there were lots of mistakes and they couldn't find the original, so eventually, they decided to turn to Greek books, contemporary Greek books, like 17th century Greek books, to check if everything is correct, as a guide.

But a part of Russian society thought that Greek church was fallen because it was under Turkish rule at that time already, so they didn't want to accept it.

- [Christine] And there was another very important reason why the Old Believers refused to adapt to the new ways.

- They were convinced that actual Russian books are also, let's say, holy, so, like, you don't have to change the rituals.

- [Christine] And after all that strife, all that upheaval, all these centuries later, there are thousands of descendants of those Old Believers living here in the Peipsimaa region.

(whimsical music) Some of these descendants carry on the old traditions, including the church ceremonies and the arts and crafts brought over to Estonia all those years ago.

This is Pavel Varunin.

He has written extensively on the history of Russian Old Believers, and he's also a descendant of the Old Believers.

And as you can see, he is also an artist with the children's book series featuring Raabu, a fish born here in Lake Peipus but travels the world on his bike.

Pavel is also known for a special type of Russian woodblock painting called Lubok, which dates back to the 16th century.

He even built this wooden printing press in the 15th century style so that his works are as traditional as they can be.

- [Artist] Yes, just tap or not.

- This one.

- A dry one?

- This dry one.

- Perfect.

That's probably safer.

Yeah, we're traveling around in a bumpy van.

- Yes.

- And to try out a more simplified version of this centuries-old tradition similar to the technique used to create these beautiful textiles, aprons, and traditional clothing, I'm joined by Kairi Gusson, who owns the Heritage Center.

Is this tradition a Russian tradition or an Estonian tradition or has it become Russian and Estonian?

- This is already the Russian Old Believers.

They come more than 300 years ago.

And so these two cultures they, it's like- - Blend.

- Blended.

- Yeah.

Okay, now I love making things.

I love art, I love painting.

I would love for you to teach me this technique.

What do we do first?

- So unfortunately, you don't have two days to do this- - No, we do not, unfortunately.

- old indigo dyening, but we are doing this direct printing, and so it's easy.

- And the symbols we are printing are all connected to the Russian Old Believers and the region.

The samovar, a special Russian teapot.

(whimsical music) (mallet thudding) Let's see.

Ah, beautiful.

Next, the onion.

- In the spring.

- [Christine] And of course our wonderful little friend, Raabu, a symbol of the local Peipsimaa fishermen, complete with his little Russian fisherman's cap.

Now I have the three main symbols, right, of the region.

Voila!

The perfect blend of Russian, Estonian, and quirky art culture.

Thank you so much.

- You're welcome.

- How do I say thank you in Estonian?

(Kairi speaking Estonian) (Christine speaking Estonian) - And how do I say thank you in Russian?

(Kairi speaking Russian) (Christine speaking Russian) (whimsical music) - Our final stop takes us to the Voromaa region, to experience a centuries-old steamy tradition and to meet Mother Nature, walking barefoot in the grass with her dog.

Oh, big stretches, look at!

Her cat, probably some friendly insects too.

Oh, hello.

All flocking to her any chance they get.

See why I call her Mother Nature?

Well, her real name is Eda, and this is her home, Mooska farm, where she invites guests to practice Estonia's unique form of smoke sauna.

(steam swishing) The smoke sauna tradition here in Voromaa earned a UNESCO status for its history, its rituals, its architecture, and especially for its knowledge of traditional healing and health practices.

And the origins of this hot and healthy ritual are so much more than just a beauty routine or a spa retreat.

'Cause I know it's different in Finland and it's different in maybe Sweden, it's different in all these different places.

What makes the Estonian smoke sauna tradition unique?

- It has been a lot of repression from the church to the old, what they call pagan customs, I would say nature connected customs.

And in this villages, a lot of those old customs, what, can be 3,000 years old or even older are still alive.

- [Christine] And part of those customs and traditions include these tools used for the sauna, all found in nature and each with their own meaning, including salt, believed to protect from evil, wood ash, a symbol of cleansing, and honey, a symbol of gratitude, and also these sweet smelling bouquets, with branches picked right here from the Estonian forest.

- If there were no medicine and doctors were not available for the countryside living people, then we used to heal ourselves.

Somehow we needed something and we used to make different kind of bouquets and in the strong rituals, it was 21 branches for ladies and 29 for men.

(Christine counting faintly) - 21.

So 21 for women and 29 for men?

- Yes.

- Oh my goodness.

And was it magic numbers of some sacred numbers or... - I believe that this numerology was in Estonia as well, but I always say that those strong rules are for the weak people who need strong rules, the other people are using their intuition.

My father told me that look at the plants and ask who wants to heal you today or who wants to help you today and do the whisk from the plants which are talking to you today.

(comical music) - Okay, let's see what those plants are telling us today.

So we put them to work inside the sauna.

First, put on the lovely little sauna dress and yes, I know I look like a potato sack.

But I do love my hat.

All right, so what's the hat for?

- It's just funny.

(laughs) - Is that really what it is?

So we can feel like little elves.

- Yeah.

Life has to be fun.

- Okay, good.

Hat's on, now we're ready to enter the sauna and to find out what those lovely bouquets are for.

This is called whisking, a unique form of massage to say the least where the oils from the leaves are released in the heat, and the whisking motion is meant to relax the muscles and to promote blood circulation.

I promise it doesn't hurt and the aromatherapy part of it is very true.

It smells wonderful in here.

So the whisking takes care of the body and the next part of the ritual takes care of the soul.

(drum thudding) Eda chants and beats on a drum as part of the ancient ritual and mythology of the sauna.

(Eda chanting in foreign language) - [Christine] For everything from greeting the sauna to cleansing to chants of gratitude to honoring our ancestors.

- We are making connections.

You should exhale to the roots and inhale high, like you are a tree.

- [Christine] And not just any tree but a family tree where each quadrant of your body represents a different branch of your family.

- The right feet, they are father bloodline.

From the left feet, there is mother bloodline.

- [Christine] And from the right shoulder upwards is for the sons.

And from the left shoulder upwards is for the daughters.

- Let's do it together, one, two, three.

(Eda inhales deeply) (Eda exhales deeply) - Okay, so watching us breathe for 20 minutes is probably not all that interesting, so we'll wrap it up here.

Plus, I think Eda is onto me.

And after all this chanting, breathing, connecting with, and honoring of the ancestors, and let's not forget the whisking, you really do feel cleansed, detoxed, and revitalized.

Do you do this every day?

- Almost.

- Almost?

- Yeah.

- That's why you're such a wonderful, calm, mother nature figure, and all the animals flock to you.

The final step of the ritual is taking a dip into the cool waters.

She's amazing.

Okay, so for the record, I chickened out, but the whole experience really was incredible.

We should all be a bit more like Mother Nature- - You're supposed to.

- I'm positive.

Even though I still don't know what my hat is all about.

(gentle majestic music) So from an incredible form of song born from the fields of peasants today elevated to a UNESCO status- (group singing in Seto) - {Christine] to a beautiful form of dress, complete with a delicate form of armor that jingles when you dance- (group singing in Seto) - [Christine] to a not so smelly onion trail which was a refuge for Russians and today has a wonderful workshop which preserves its fascinating history- (majestic music) and finally, to another centuries-old tradition started by nature worshipers long, long ago, whose knowledge of and faith in nature's miraculous cures still holds true today- (Eda chanting in foreign language) - [Christine] Estonia's culture and traditions have so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and hows of Estonian culture, folklore, and traditions.

As they say here in Setomaa- (group speaking Seto) (group singing in Seto) - [Christine] "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(Train whooshing) (gentle music) (light upbeat music) Still curious?

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(whimsical music) (bright music)