This Late 19th Century Lithuanian Folk Song Archive, c. 1890s. Collection of images, music notation, various artefacts, and Lithuanian sashes, recorded and curated by Jonas Basanavičius. Lithuanian Art Exhibition; Aleksandras Jurašaitis (1859-1915)/. Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus (National Museum of Lithuania).represents a crucial moment in the preservation of Baltic oral traditions. Collected from the villagers of Dziegcioriai, the song forms part of Lithuania's intangible cultural heritage—stories and melodies that maintained cultural identity during periods of political suppression and foreign domination.

The preservation of such folk songs is particularly significant in the Baltic context, where sung poetry served as a repository for collective memory and shared values during centuries of occupation by various powers. The act of collecting and archiving these songs was not merely an academic exercise but a deliberate effort to document and legitimise national identity at a time when Baltic political independence was still an aspiration rather than a reality.

Basanavičius himself was not simply a collector but a central figure in Lithuania's national awakening, understanding that folk traditions provided essential material for constructing a coherent national narrative. His work exemplifies how the documentation of folklore often serves dual purposes: preservation of cultural heritage and creation of foundational resources for national mythology.

Now housed in the Lithuanian Folklore Archive, this song exists in a transformed state—from a living, performed tradition to a documented cultural artefact. This transition from orality to archive represents a common pattern in how traditional mythologies are simultaneously preserved and changed by modern institutional practices. While the archival process ensures the song's survival, it also fundamentally alters its context, transforming a participatory community practice into an object of study and cultural memory.