Forest in the everyday life of Lasowiacy and Poleszucy : selected issues

The article attempts to compare the role of the forest in the everyday life of the inhabitants of the former Sandomierz Primeval Forest (Lasowiacy) and Polesie (Poleszucy/Poleshuks).The study has used the findings of the research conducted by the Museum of Folk Culture in Kolbuszowa in 2008-2014 and 2016-2017, the materials from the Museum’s scientific archives, and information from sources and ethnographic and historical studies on the subject. The obtained material was compared with the information on the use of forest crops by the inhabitants of Easter Polesie from the ethnographic studies by Kazimierz Moszyński and Czesław Pietkiewicz (available as digital resources). Attempts were made to show that the similarity between these groups was evident in the method of harvesting forest crops, meal preparation, and folk medicine. Life in the Sandomierz Primeval Forest and Polesie developeda sense of their own cultural distinctness in Lasowiacy and Poleszucy, expressed in many aspects of everyday life, the richness of customs and annual rituals.