Jotvingių kaimų pavadinimai Gardino srityje

ENVaida Kamuntavičienė wrote about Yotvingians living in Grodno province in the 17th century (Terra Jatwezenorum 5). She listed the territories which I have been visiting for forty years. There have been the Catholic and Orthodox churches in the towns for several decades. There are two villages with Yotvingian names in both Volkovysk and Svislach districts. I had the possibility to get acquainted with Yotvingian villages in Svislach district. One of them belongs to the Catholic community, the other one - to the Orthodox. Even though there were a lot of obstacles, 30 years ago, I finally met one enlightened person from the Orthodox village. He confessed with sorrow that, for all those years, no one was concerned about the village and its name. He, as well as other residents of the village, claims that they are the descendants of Yotvingians. Today Orthodox Yotvingians are on the verge of extinction. Most of the houses in the village are abandoned or there is one or two elderly people is some of them. The Orthodox Church is locked. Yotvingian name remains only in the Svislach museum.