Kihnu Island: Keepers of the Place
Welcome to an island where women rule and take charge as gatekeepers of tradition and culture
While writing this story about Kihnu Island, I was going for a more catchy title:
Welcome to No-Man’s Land.
However, at the last minute, I decided to change it because that wasn’t exactly accurate. Women haven’t banished men from the island.
Kihnu women aren’t modern Slavic Amazons or enraged Valkyries. No, these women are custodians of an ancient culture. They are:
The Keepers of the Place.
Today, I want to take you to a feminine haven where traditions thrive and where an island’s legacy endures.
Kihnu is a small Estonian island in the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Riga, seven kilometers off the country’s west coast, home to a few hundred people.
What makes this island so alluring is the fact that it’s a place where time-honored matriarchy reigns supreme.
