Three nice sites for Kashubian research are: http://www.ka-na.org/2005.html Kashubian Association of North America http://www.pgsa.org/kashub.htm Kashubian Surnames http://www.winonasistercities.org/bytow/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5button=12 Winona, Minnesota and Bytow are sister cities. There is a Polish Institute in Winona. I was in contact with them and was able to send mail to a person who resides in the Kashubian area of Poland. Just an excert here of what he stated to me: "The name of my B&B is from Zabory Land. A district in Kashubia - part of Poland. The name was mention first time in 1200's. It means like "za borem" behind the woods. Word "zabor" plural olso "zabory" mend like take away from somebody = partition of somebodies land. I'm visiting US almost every year in winter time. Last visit was my 4th visit. I plan to be back in US in November and bring exhibition to Polish Museum in Winona. My picture and another Kashubian naive artist. My art is not naive. Naive art is a kind of art - nothing to do with being stupid. The exhibition will be open first this June on 23rd on the Teutonic Knights Castle in Bytow. Bytow is Polish sister city to Winona. In Winona the exhibition will be open in April next year, 2008. You can come! The website for the Institute: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/brochures/polishmuseum/polishci.htm It states: Winona, Minnesota became home for the largest concentration of Kashubian Poles in the U.S.. Many of them were highly skilled tradespeople who were unable to use their skills because of language barriers. Instead, they labored long hours for low pay in factories and mills, enduring enormous hardships, but thankful to avoid Europe's wars, to pursue economic opportunity and maintain their Polish culture and traditions. Across the river, in Wisconsin, Kashubians settled in Dodge and Pine Creek, while in Arcaidia, Independence and North Creek, the Poles were mainly from the Silesian (Southwestern) area of Poland. Over there, Silesians were coal miners: here, many became farmers. The Silesian and Kashubian dialects are different enough so that there is much difficulty understanding each other. The museum tries to preserve the folk songs, recipes and traditions of both groups of Poles. The Polish Cultural Institute of Winona, Minnesota, known as the Polish Museum, was founded and organized in 1976 by Rev. Paul J. Breza, a Winona native. He was determined to preserve Polish history which he felt was being lost. It originally was meant to accommodate his own collection of Kashubian history and artifacts. Today, the museum is growing to mirror the cultural and religious heritage of the large number of Poles who settled in Winona and nearby areas. Sandie