Life of the Setos' ülembsootska 'fit for a king,' says rocker Jalmar Vabarna
Best known internationally as a member of Trad.Attack! and Zetod, musician Jalmar Vabarna is also the Seto people's ülembsootska — and, oddly enough, must sleep on the job.
Every summer, the highlight of Seto Kingdom Day in Setomaa, Southeastern Estonia, is the democratic direct election of the next ülembsootska, or regent of the Seto god-king Peko.
Together with the children's own elected nuursootska, the regent serves as a leader and representative of Seto people across Setomaa and beyond.
Speaking on ETV's "Hommik Anuga," Vabarna recalled the exact moment he realized he would step up and run for the role.
"I already knew Trad.Attack! was breaking up — we'd just had the meeting a couple of days earlier," he said. "Fall had just set in, and I was onstage playing, and I saw sootska Anzelika Gomozova dancing. And I was thinking to myself, 'What am I gonna do next year?'"
Suddenly, Vabarna had felt as if someone pushed him — though no one was there beside him.
"I looked at Anzelika and realized, 'Aha, I'm going to run for ülembsootska,'" he said, taking it as a sign.
Even just thinking about that moment still gives him goosebumps.
Vabarna is the Seto people's 19th ülembsootska. At Seto Kingdom Day in Saatse this August, he ran against his own sister, two-time former ülembsootska Jane Vabarna, sparking one of the highest vote counts in the election's history.
"It was such a heartfelt moment," he said, recalling how he and Jane stood onstage while voters lined up, voting for the Seto people's next regent by holding onto a long string leading to the candidate of their choice. "My sister and I stood up on those blocks and realized, 'Jesus Christ, we're really doing this Seto thing.'"
The ülembsootska carries a distinctive wooden staff known as the kiiora, adorned with colorful woven belts added by each person serving as regent in turn.
"It symbolizes the oak club that Peko once used to fight off his enemies," he explained.
Peko is said to sleep under Petseri Monastery in the historical Seto capital that, like much of the Seto people's ancestral territory, now lies on the other side of the border with Russia.
The new regent's home is just ten minutes from the border as well.
Vabarna said he feels honored to represent the Seto people, serving as a role model and helping preserve their language, culture and stories.
"And, of course, what Peko reveals to us — and he comes [to us] in dreams," he added. "My job is to sleep a lot."
When all is well, Setomaa has its ülembsootska, he said. But if things ever get really bad, "Peko will awaken and drive off his enemies with his oak club."
The role doesn't come with a salary, although some compensation is possible. It does, however, come with its own chief brewer, baker, pie-maker, strongman, master musician and even wordsmith.
"You could say it's a life fit for a king," he quipped.
Jalmar Vabarna's term as ülembsootska will continue through the next Seto Kingom Day, which will take place next August 1 in Mikitamäe.
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Editor: Annika Remmel, Aili Vahtla
