“WWelcome to Kihnu. We are not a matriarchy,” says Mare Mätas as she meets me off the ferry. I have stepped onto the windswept and wild Kihnu Island, which floats off the western coast of Estonia in the Gulf of Riga like a lost castaway. This Baltic outpost, which is only four miles long (7km) and two miles in width, has been long shielded from modernity. Motorbikes and horse-drawn carriages share the roads, and women wearing brightly striped skirts sing old sea songs. But Kihnu is no museum – it’s a living, breathing culture all of its own, proudly cared for by its 700 or so residents.
Mare, a local guide and traditional culture expert, ushers me in the back of her open truck. She takes me for a tour around the island and gives me a quiz on history as we visit the museum, lighthouse, cemetery, and school.
Kihnu men used to spend many months at sea hunting seals or sailing. The women of Kihnu became family heads and guardians of the cultural heritage of the island out of necessity. The BBC called it Europe’s last matriarchy. Mare is clear about this: “If I had to use a word you could call our culture matrifocal. But I would rather say that we are all equal on Kihnu. Women have status in the community, and older women have a higher status – they are seen as wise elders. Women work as the guardians of our culture, and we look after the circle of life on the island – we have the children, we tend the land, we care for the dead.”
Women of Kihnu were lighthouse keepers and tractor drivers, as well as stand-ins for priests. The women of Kihnu play the accordion or violin to ancient melodies. They teach their daughters how to dance and sing Kihnu’s runic songs. These are believed by many to be pre-Christian. Most eyecatchingly, they wear traditional dress – bright red woollen skirts, embroidered blouses and patterned headscarves. These aren’t just garments donned for weddings or festivals – this is the only place in Estonia where folk dress is still donned daily.
Mare wearing red stripes kört The skirt is paired with a woollen jacket. Her daughters in their teens or 20s pair her traditional skirts and slogan T-shirts. Each skirt is unique and tells its own story. Young women usually wear red – they are supposedly in the “fairytale” era of their lives. When a woman is mourning, her skirt will be black. In the following months, she will wear more and more stripes of red and purple until her outfit is red. The designs are still influenced by the apron worn over the skirt of a married woman. Mare says that after paisley from India was introduced to the island we began wearing it on our headscarves. “And in the 1960s, when miniskirts were the rage, we wore mini körts!”
As I ride my sit-and-beg bike on the island’s dirt road, I see women of all ages wearing bright red flashes. Kihnu’s landscape is made up of a patchwork pattern of pine groves and wildflower meadows. The rocky coastline and wooden houses painted in yellow and red are scattered throughout. Jaak Visnap is waiting for me outside one of the homesteads. He is an artist from Tallinn who has been running naive summer camps in this area for the past 20 years. Jaak and a group from Kihnu, the mainland, and other painters are working on a richly colored painting for an exhibition at the island museum.
Estonians have a reputation for being cold and distant, but these painters are warm and friendly and offer wine. The sun comes out and transforms the island – moody grey skies swept away by golden light – so I join them for a swim in the warm, shallow sea. As we bob on our backs in the evening glow, Viola from Tallinn tells me a joke: “It’s raining, and a foreigner asks an Estonian man: ‘Don’t you have summer in this country?’ ‘Of course,’ he replies. ‘But sadly I was at work that day.'”
Jaak tells me that the island has changed a lot since his first visit. “This used be the fishing islands,” he says. “Now it’s a tourist island.” Kihnu hasn’t yet been transformed by visitors. Locals drive modern cars, trucks and motorbikes. I also see Soviet-era motorcycles with sidecars. In the few shops and cafés there are seal meat, smoked-dried fish, and coffee.
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Elly Karjam knits traditional Afghan rugs outside her craft store troi Knitted in protective symbols, the sweaters of Kihnu men have a beautiful pattern made from blue and whitish wool. She says: “I can knit up to 200 jumpers a winter and it takes me hundreds of hours per one.” Her fingers click in a blur while she creates a new masterpiece.
Mare tells us that the island wants to only attract tourists interested in culture, craftsmanship and art. The islanders are debating if campervans ought to be banned. Tourism allows for the next generation to stay on the island rather than move to the mainland looking for work. And for now, most visitors seem to embrace slow travel, staying with local people in guest houses and B&Bs, and visiting to join midsummer dances and violin festivals, to learn to paint or knit, or just to find pastoral peace.
It is not accurate to call Kihnu an “island for women”. Kihnu is a place with a balance that feels old-fashioned, yet still has dynamism. Winter, when it is covered in snow, must make living there difficult. This island, which is slow-paced in the summertime, is an absolute delight to explore. It rains as I depart, and the island is lush again. Kihnu has been swallowed up by the sea before the ferry even leaves the harbour.
Kihnu may be reached via a Ferry crossings in one hour (foot passengers €4 one way, cars €16 one way) from Munalaid harbourWhat is it? an hour’s bus journey From the coastal town Pärnu. See visitkihnu.ee. Mare Mätas offers guided tours of Kihnu as well as guesthouse accommodation on her farm, about £40 A person A night, kihnumare.ee. Elly Karjam sells homemade crafts and knitting at her homestead. There are also comfortable rooms and a traditional Sauna., visitestonia.com/en/elly-bed-breakfast-in-kihnu. Set up a tent on the Kihnu Vald camping site. kihnurand.ee
