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Salt in Ukrainian History, Folklore, and Art Part I of a series by Helene Turkewicz-Sanko Map illustrating Professor Pavlo Fedaka’s project on Salt Roads o f Ukraine. Welcoming guests with “bread and salt” is one of the most ancient Ukrainian customs. Since Ukraine has for centuries been labeled the “bread bas ket of Europe,” it is easy to relate to the “bread” part of this custom, but what about salt? The history of salt 1 reveals that through the centuries this simple food has been the cause of war everywhere in the world. It was also used as money to pay soldiers. Thus, the Latin word “salarium” was the origin of the word “salary” which one receives in payment in return for work. In ancient times as well as in more modem times, people from defeated nations were sent to work in salt mines. Salt was an essential ingredient to preserve food, and poor people of many countries were heavily taxed on the purchase of salt. In France, this taxation, la gabelle, led people to rebel and this rebellion is con sidered as one of the reasons which fueled the French Revolution of 1789. A similar rebellion occurred in India in 1930 when Mahatma Gandhi led the March to the Sea to protest English mle in India. Walking more than 300 miles, Gandhi gathered salt on the beach, which was against the law. Ukrainian history is also connected to the ex ploitation, distribution, and taxation of salt. In fact salt has had such a major impact on the lives of Ukrainians that in 1947, Ukrainian ethnographer, Dokia Humenna, did not hesitate to call Ukrainians the “Children of the e 2 Salt Road Waggoners” (Dity Chumats’koho shliahu). This hints at the fact that for generations, our Ukrain ian forefathers were salt transporters whose celestial road map, “the Chumak’s way,” mirrored their earthly dirt tracks. It is a historical theory that the main highways of today’s Ukraine were originally traced by the “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2003 17
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