ABSTRACT
This essay is concerned with how the economy controls the culture of ethnic minorities. Using fieldwork, the chapter examines Lithuanian migrant groups in the border regions of Latvia. These people are mostly twentieth century economic and political refugees. It is interesting to study how these Lithuanians determine themselves in Latvia by examining the creation of textiles as a household tradition at the same time as the development of the Latvian souvenir business inspires the assimilation of the culture of ethnic minorities. In the process of globalisation and the market economy, ethnic minorities often use traditional crafts to produce income from tourism as well as from export. Working for Latvian companies, Lithuanian women adapt to Latvian ways of textiles creation while retaining their Lithuanian roots. The market economy and the traditions of the homeland thus protect the survival of a native culture evident in domestic textile production. Lithuanian people in Latvia keep some of their heritage in everyday practices by making souvenirs.
