Emma’s Blog

My year of Lithuania

It starts in Alaska, a place that is heavily influenced and guided by the Indigenous epistemology of its First Peoples. I wasn’t born in Alaska, but I came here looking for a place to belong, and found that and so much more.

It’s difficult not to absorb the Indigenous values from the state, and in my time here, I was enlightened to the understanding that my ancestors are powerful determinants that shaped who I am today. People I never knew are the reason I am who I am.

My mother didn’t grow up knowing her father, my grandfather. We grew up hearing stories, small pieces of a mystery of who this man was. My mother didn’t have much to say about him, but because of him, we are Lithuanian. That is something instilled in me. We are Lithuanian. I didn’t really know what that meant growing up. My family is so far removed from the old country that no one has spoken the language fluently in three generations. I didn’t grow up eating the food, wearing the clothes, or hearing the language. But that’s okay, it’s never too late to get to know your ancestors. So I started exploring.

I started with my Scottish ancestry on my father's side, and the information was more comprehensive. My father grew up knowing his family and their history and culture. I was able to travel to Scotland. I met cousins, I saw family ruins, and I grew a deep understanding of what being descended from that Scottish means.

I spent a couple years engaging with and giving much time and attention to Scottish culture. But growing up, to be honest, that vague fact that I was indeed Lithuanian was the most interesting thing to me. The most cultured thing, even though there was no real culture there for me.

So in my 30s, I started looking for a community I could join and learn from. And through Facebook, a wonderful resource for cultural connection, I found the Lithuanian Folk Art Institute (LTFAI), a Lithuanian culture non-profit based in Toronto that does many online workshops to connect people of Lithuania diaspora from anywhere. And I was grateful. I got to learn about Lithuanian art, history, and listen to North Americans speak the language. These women are my elders, they are my teachers, they are my insights into this world.

I started volunteering for LTFAI, doing social media posts and simple website edits. I just wanted to be involved. Then one day, the LTFAI board members mentioned to me, “We have another member in Alaska. She has a little Lithuanian museum, but we don’t know where it is. Her name is Svaja.”

Well, I found her!

I was lucky, a place of interest in Alaska could be drivable, but most of Alaska isn’t accessible by roads. We call it the “road system” here; most communities aren’t on the road system, and I was worried the mysterious museum wouldn’t be within my reach, but I was lucky! The Little Lithuanian Museum and Library and Art Gallery is in Chugiak, Alaska, and is less than an hour from where I live in Anchorage. That’s where I found her: in one of Alaska’s national forests on the side of a mountain.

Svaja is an adorable ball of energy, and she is a deep well of Lithuanian knowledge. She was even born there. Svaja is the closest I have ever come to Lithuania. Lithuania is where Svaja is; she is Lithuania.

I visited the museum one day, and I was blown away! I have NEVER seen so many Lithuanian artifacts! Svaja also has many features and publications where you can learn about the project. And it's all free! The museum's sole purpose is to share Lithuanian culture and history with whoever wants to partake. I have learned Lithuanians are like that; they just want to share the culture, no catch. I even told Svaja I felt like she had made the museum just for me.

During my first visit to the museum, I mentioned to Svaja, a practical stranger, that I have an affinity for volunteering and I would like to spend more time in the museum and learn more about it. Svaja made the door wide open for me, both metaphorically and literally. She even gave me a key to the museum.

In the last year, I have gotten to see Svaja present to the public on the project, and have presented on it myself! I have tried Šaltibarščiai, listened to hours of Lithuanian Folk music, and basked in Svaja’s collections of Gintaras (amber) and Folk Art.

I haven’t gotten all the way there, and I still have a lot to learn. But the Little Lithuanian museum, and Svaja, have gotten me so much closer to Lithuania than I ever have been before.