Lasovians

Lasovians

Lesioki
A group of Lasovian youths in traditional dress in Bukowsko, 2010
Regions with significant populations
Subcarpathia
Languages
Lasovian
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Sandomierzans

Lasovians (Polish language: Lasowiacy; Lesser Poland dialect: Lesioki) are a subethnic group of the Polish nation, who reside in Lesser Poland, at the confluence of the Vistula and the San rivers, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, southeastern Poland. They are descended from various ethnic groups, which settled in the dense Sandomierz Forest (hence the name, literally meaning "forest people") across centuries, with a dominant Polish element. The Lasowiacy were formed as a separate subethnic group in the late 19th and early 20th century. They use their own dialect, which belongs to Lesser Polish dialect cluster of the Polish language. Like most Poles, the Lasowiacy are Roman Catholics.

Area

The area inhabited by the Lasowiacy ranges from Sandomierz and Nisko in the north, to Głogów Małopolski, Leżajsk, and Ropczyce. According to Polish ethnographer Franciszek Kotula, their territory is much wider, reaching to Tarnogród, Janów Lubelski and Biłgoraj.

Language

The Lasowiacy dialect (Polish gwara lasowiacka or gwara lasowska) belongs to the Lesser Poland dialect of the Polish language. Since the forest was settled by the Mazovians, the Lasowiacy dialect has several features of the Masovian dialect, such as mazurzenie. Melchior Wańkowicz in his 1939 book Sztafeta gives an interesting example of the Lasowiacy dialect. In 1938, he went to the Lasowiacy village of Pławo, where a brand new industrial town of Stalowa Wola was being built. Wańkowicz talked to local residents, writing in the book: "The people in this village call themselves Lasowiacy, speaking a funny accent, which sounds like a mix of Goral dialect, and the language of Kurpie".

A Lasowiacy cabin from the village of Huta Przedborska, now at the open-air museum in Kolbuszowa

External links

• Webpage of the Lasowiacy Ensemble from Stalowa Wola
• Lasowiacy dialect of the Polish language Archived 2016-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Lasowiacy at the webpage of the Center of Civic Education
• Lasowiacy, or Poland You Don’t Know – an interview with Ewa Skoczylas