View source for Hutsuls

{{Short description|Ethnic group in the Carpathian Mountains}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Distinguish|Utsuls}}
{{Redirect|Hucul|the horse breed|Hucul pony|the surname|Hucul (surname)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group        = Hutsuls
|native_name  = Гуцули
|image        = Hutsul famy from Verkhovyna, Ukraine.jpg
|caption      = Hutsul family from western Ukraine, 1925–1939
|population   = >26,400
|region1      = {{UKR}}
|pop1         = 23,900 <small>(2001)</small>
|ref1         = <ref>{{cite web |title= Всеукраїнський перепис населення 2001; Русская версия; Результаты; Национальный состав населения, гражданство; Численность лиц отдельных этнографических групп украинского этноса и их родной язык; Результат выбора |trans-title= All-Ukrainian Population Census 2001; Russian version; Results; National composition of the population, citizenship; Number of people of individual ethnographic groups of the Ukrainian ethnic group and their native language; Selection result |publisher= 2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua |url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/rus/results/nationality_population/nationality_popul2/select_55?box=5.5W&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1&k_t=00&botton=cens_db |access-date=2022-04-05}}</ref>
|region2      = {{ROM}}
|pop2         = At least 2,500
|ref2         = <ref>Hutsuls are counted as Ukrainians, Rusyns or Romanians in the 2011 and 2022 censuses</ref>
|languages    = [[Hutsul dialect]], [[Rusyn language]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]<ref>{{cite web |title=All-Ukrainian Population Census 2001 |url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/nationality_population/nationality_popul2/select_5/?data1=1&box=5.5W&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1&k_t=00&botton=cens_db |website=All-Ukrainian Population Census 2001 |lang=uk}}</ref>
|rels         = Predominantly [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic]] or [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]
|related      = [[Boykos]], [[Lemkos]], [[Rusyns]], [[Pokuttia#Population|Pokutians]]
}}
{{Ukrainians}}

The '''Hutsuls''' ([[Rusyn language|Hutsul]]/{{langx|uk|Гуцули|translit=Hutsuly}}; {{langx|pl|Huculi, Hucułowie}}; {{langx|ro|huțuli}}) are an [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] [[ethnic group]] spanning parts of western [[Ukraine]] and northern [[Romania]] (i.e. parts of [[Bukovina]] and [[Maramureș]]). 

In Ukraine, they have often been officially and administratively designated a subgroup of [[Ukrainians]],<ref>{{cite web|title=На Закарпатті Рахівська районна рада рада звернулася з протестом до Президента та Генпрокуратури проти рішення обласної ради про визнання національності "русин"|date=23 March 2007|url=https://ua-reporter.com/news/na-zakarpatti-rahivska-rayonna-rada-rada-zvernulasya-z-protestom-do-prezidenta-ta}}</ref> and, among Ukrainian scholars, are largely regarded as constituting a broader Ukrainian ethnic group.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1997-11-01|title=ARBA guide to subject encyclopedias and dictionaries|journal=Choice Reviews Online|volume=35|issue=3|pages=35–1240-35-1240|doi=10.5860/choice.35-1240|doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |issn=0009-4978|quote=For instance, the cross-reference "Carpatho-Rus" see "Carpatho-Rusyn" should include see also references to Ukrainians and Ukrainian Hutsuls because they constitute a subgroup of Ukrainians and speak Hutsul Ukrainian dialects.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Birch|first=Julian|date=1977|title=Détente and the Democratic Movement in the USSR|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2615362|journal=International Affairs|volume=53|issue=3|pages=499–500|doi=10.2307/2615362|jstor=2615362|issn=1468-2346|quote=in which he praised the Hutsuls, a little-known subgroup of the Ukrainian people|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=To build in a new land : ethnic landscapes in North America|date=1992|others=Allen G. Noble|isbn=0-8018-4188-7|location=Baltimore|oclc=23940528|quote=They were by no means a homogeneous group, for they included members of many ethnographic Ukrainian subgroups, such as Hutsuls from the Carpathian highlands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Victoria Coyne|first=Erin|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt7qd2v4j0/qt7qd2v4j0_noSplash_6658009d2bdbdd47a18b188c5cea229c.pdf?t=ny5vwe|title="Coming Down From the Mountain: Dialect Contact and Convergence in Contemporary Hutsulshchyna"|publisher=University of California, Berkeley}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dabrowski|first=Patrice M.|date=2018|title=Poles, Hutsuls, and Identity Politics in the Eastern Carpathians after World War I|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/1438-8332-2018-1-19|journal=Zeitschrift für Genozidforschung|volume=16|issue=1|pages=19–34|doi=10.5771/1438-8332-2018-1-19|issn=1438-8332|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Hutsuls|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsuls.htm|access-date=2021-03-07|website=www.encyclopediaofukraine.com|quote=An ethnographic group of Ukrainian pastoral highlanders inhabiting the Hutsul region in the Carpathian Mountains}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.22630/ahla|title=Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW - Horticulture and Landscape Architecture|year=2020|publisher=Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW Press|doi=10.22630/ahla|quote=The Hutsuls are Ukrainian highlanders who live on the Northern slopes of the Carpathians over the Prut river}}</ref> However, in the eyes of some scholars and of some Hutsuls, they are either their own nation, or a part of the [[Rusyns|Rusyn]] nation, alongside the closely related ethnic groups of [[Boykos]] and [[Lemkos]].<ref>„Czy w XX w. w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej powstają nowe narody?”. J. Lewandowski, [w:] Wokół antropologii kulturowej, pod red. M. Haponiuka i M. Rajewskiego, Lublin 1999, s. 42–43.</ref>

==Etymology==
The origin of the name ''Hutsul'' is uncertain.<ref name="EIU2004">{{cite book|title=ГУЦУЛИ|url=http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Guculy|author=Ковпак Л.В.|work=Encyclopedia of Ukrainian History|year=2004|publisher=[[Naukova Dumka]], [[NASU Institute of History of Ukraine]]|volume=2|language=uk|isbn=966-00-0632-2|quote={{lang|uk|Г. – нащадки давніх слов'ян. племен – білих хорватів, тиверців й уличів, які в 10 ст. входили до складу Київської Русі ... Питання походження назви "гуцули" остаточно не з'ясоване. Найпоширеніша гіпотеза – від волоського слова "гоц" (розбійник), на думку ін., від слова "кочул" (пастух).}}}}</ref> The most common derivations are from the [[Romanian language|Romanian]] word for "outlaw" (cf. Rom. ''hoț'' "thief", ''hoțul'' "the thief"), and the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] ''kochul'' (Ukr. ''kochovyk'' "nomad") which is a reference to the semi-[[nomad]]ic shepherd lifestyle of the inhabitants who fled into the mountains after the [[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongol invasion]].<ref name="EOU">{{cite book|author=Nicolae Pavliuc, Volodymyr Sichynsky, Stanisław Vincenz|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsuls.htm|title=Hutsuls|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=2001|isbn=978-0802033628|volume=2|quote=According to K. Milewski and Józef Korzeniowski, the name hutsul was originally kochul (‘nomad,’ cf literary Ukrainian kochovyk), which became kotsul and then hotsul, and referred to inhabitants of Kievan Rus’ who fled from the Mongol invasion into the Carpathian Mountains. Other scholars (eg, Ivan Vahylevych) believed that the name derives from a subtribe of the Cumans or Pechenegs—the ancient Turkic Utsians or Uzians — who fled from the Mongols into the mountains. S. Vytvytsky proposed that the name derives from Hetsylo, the brother of Prince Rostislav of Moravia, or from the name of a tribe allied with the Ostrogoths—the Horulians-Hutsians. Since the 19th century the most widely accepted view (held by Yakiv Holovatsky, Omelian Kaluzhniatsky, Omelian Ohonovsky, Ivan Krypiakevych, Volodymyr Hnatiuk, I. Pătruţ, and others) has been that the name comes from the Romanian word for brigand, hoţul/hoţ. The Soviet scholar Bronyslav Kobyliansky claimed that the Hutsuls are descended from the Slavic tribe of the Ulychians who resettled in the Carpathian Mountains. Based on the first written mention of the name (1816), Stefan Hrabec and Volodymyr Hrabovetsky believe the name is of recent origin and that it was originally a nickname given to the region's inhabitants by the neighboring Boikos ... The Slavic White Croatians inhabited the region in the first millennium AD; with the rise of Kievan Rus’, they became vassals of the new state.|orig-year=1989}}</ref><ref name="EIU2004"/> Other proposed derivations include from the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] tribe of the [[Oghuz Turks|Utsians or Uzians]], and even to the name of the [[Great Moravia|Moravian]] Grand Duke Hetsyla.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kosivart.com/eng/index.cfm/do/hutsulshchyna.name-origin/ |title=Hutsulshchyna: The Name and Origin |access-date=2008-07-23 |publisher=KosivArt}}</ref> As the name is first attested in 1816, it is considered to be of recent origin and as an [[Exonym and endonym|exonym]], used by neighboring groups and not Hutsuls themselves, although some have embraced it.<ref name="EOU"/> The region inhabited by Hutsuls is named as Hutsulshchyna.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hutsul region|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsulregion.htm|author=Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Nicolae Pavliuc|year=2001|orig-year=1989|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|volume=2|isbn=978-0802033628}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=ГУЦУЛЬЩИНА|url=http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Guculshchyna|author=Закревська Я.В.|work=Encyclopedia of Ukrainian History|year=2004|publisher=[[Naukova Dumka]], [[NASU Institute of History of Ukraine]]|volume=2|language=uk|isbn=966-00-0632-2}}</ref> Their name is also found in the name of Hutsul Alps,<ref>{{cite book|title=Hutsul Alps|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsulAlps.htm|year=2001|orig-year=1989|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|volume=2|isbn=978-0802033628}}</ref> Hutsul Beskyd,<ref>{{cite book|title=Hutsul Beskyd|author=Volodymyr Kubijovyč|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsulBeskyd.htm|year=2001|orig-year=1989|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|volume=2|isbn=978-0802033628}}</ref> [[Hutsulshchyna National Park]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Hutsulshchyna National Nature Park|author=Volodymyr Kricsfalusy|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsulshchynaNationalNaturePark.htm|year=2011|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]}}</ref> and the [[National Museum of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia Folk Art]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Kolomyia Museum of Hutsul Folk Art|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine|Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CK%5CO%5CKolomyiaMuseumofHutsulFolkArt.htm|year=2001|orig-year=1989|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|volume=2|isbn=978-0802033628}}</ref>

==Geography==
The territory historically inhabited by Hutsuls is known in Ukrainian as '''Hutsulshchyna''' ({{langx|uk|Гуцульщина}}). It encompasses parts of the historical regions of [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Halychyna]], [[Bukovina|Bukovyna]] and [[Transcarpathia|Zakarpattia]], spanning across the basins of rivers [[Prut]], [[Cheremosh]], [[Siret (river)|Seret]], as well as the upper flows of [[Suceava (river)|Suchava]], [[Bystrytsia Nadvirnianska]] and [[Tisza|Tysa]]. In the southeast Hutsul ethnic territory borders areas populated by [[Romanians]], in the west - [[Boykos]], and in the north and south its territory is bordered by several river valleys and the [[Carpathian Mountains]]. The historical western border of Hutsul territory is traditionally delimited by the settlements of [[Deliatyn]], {{ill|Bystrytsia|uk|Бистриця (Надвірнянський район)}}, [[Zelena, Nadvirna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Zelena]] and, according to some authors, [[Pasichna, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Pasichna]], and in Zakarpattia - the villages of [[Dilove]] and [[Kosivska Poliana]]. Hutsul population is also present in some villages of [[Romania]]n [[Maramureş|Marmarosh]] region.<ref name=ency>{{Cite book|title=Енциклопедія українознавства. Словникова частина (ЕУ-II)|date=1993|volume=2|pages=466-470}}</ref> 

==History==
===Origins===
[[Image:Huculi 1902.png|thumb|left|150px|Painting of a Hutsul man and woman in 1902 by [[Seweryn Obst]].]]
Hutsuls inhabit areas situated between the south-east of those inhabited by the Boykos, down to the northern part of the Romanian segment of the Carpathians. Several hypotheses account for the origin of the Hutsuls; however, like all the Rusyns, they most probably have a diverse ethnogenetic origin. They are generally considered to be descendants of the [[White Croats]], a Slavic tribe that inhabited the area,<ref name="EOU"/><ref name="EIU2004"/><ref name="Magocsi1995">{{cite journal|title=The Carpatho-Rusyns|first=Paul Robert|last=Magocsi|author-link=Paul Robert Magocsi|journal=Carpatho-Rusyn American|volume=XVIII|number=4|year=1995|url=http://carpatho-rusyn.org/cra/chap3.html|quote=The purpose of this somewhat extended discussion of early history is to emphasize the complex origins of the Carpatho-Rusyns. They were not, as is often asserted, exclusively associated with Kievan Rus', from which it is said their name Rusyn derives. Rather, the ancestors of the present-day Carpatho-Rusyns are descendants of: (1) early Slavic peoples who came to the Danubian Basin with the Huns; (2) the White Croats; (3) the Rusyns of Galicia and Podolia; and (4) the Vlachs of Transylvania.}}</ref> also [[Tivertsi]], and possibly [[Ulichs]] who had to leave their previous home near the [[Southern Bug]] river under pressure from the [[Pechenegs]].<ref name="EOU"/><ref name="EIU2004"/><ref>{{cite web |author=George Shevelov|author-link=George Shevelov|title=A Historical Phonology of the Ukrainian Language|year=2002|orig-year=1979|url=http://www.litopys.org.ua/shevelov/shev03.htm |access-date=2008-07-23 |language=uk |quote=Говорячи про Україну, слід брати до уваги такі доісторичні слов’янські племена, перелічені та/або згадані в Київському Початковому літописі, як деревляни (Середнє Полісся), сіверяни (Східне Полісся), поляни (Київщина, цебто ядро Русі), бужани (називані також волинянами або дулібами), уличі або улучі, тиверці (Подністров’я) та хорвати (Карпати? Перемищина?). Дуліби востаннє згадуються в записі за 907 р., уличі за 922 р., поляни й тиверці за 944 р., деревляни за 990 р., хорвати за 992 р., сіверяни за 1024 р. Дивлячись суто географічно, середньополіські говірки можуть бути виведені від деревлян, східнополіські від сіверян, західноволинські від дулібів; висловлено також гіпотезу, обстоювану — з індивідуальними нюансами — низкою вчених (Шахматовим, Лєр-Сплавінським, Зілинським, Нідерле, Кобилянським та ін.), що гуцули, а можливо й бойки, є нащадками уличів, які під тиском печенігів залишили свої рідні землі над Богом, переселившися до цієї частини карпатського реґіону. Проте нам нічого не відомо про мовні особливості, якими відрізнялися між собою доісторичні слов’янські племена на Україні, а отже будь-які спроби пов’язати сучасні говірки зі згаданими племенами ані довести, ані, навпаки, спростувати незмога.}}</ref> There is also considered a relation to [[Vlach]] shepherds who later immigrated from Transylvania,<ref name="Magocsi1995"/><ref>{{cite book|title=ГУЦУ́ЛЫ|url=https://bigenc.ru/ethnology/text/3432422|author=И. А. Бойко|work=[[Great Russian Encyclopedia]]|year=2016|publisher=Bolshaya Rossiyskaya Entsiklopediya, [[Russian Academy of Sciences]]|language=ru|quote=Г. сложились в результате заселения в 14–18 вв. возвышенной части Украинских Карпат выходцами из равнинных областей Украины, испытали влияние румын и других соседних народов.|access-date=20 June 2019|archive-date=4 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204160323/https://bigenc.ru/ethnology/text/3432422|url-status=dead}}</ref> because of which some scholars like Romanian historian [[Nicolae Iorga]] argued that "huțuli" or "huțani" are denationalized Vlachs / Romanians.<ref>Nicolae Iorga, Românismul in trecutul Bucovinei, BUCURESTI, 1938, pag.1</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Ewa Kocój|title=Heritage without heirs? Tangible and religious cultural heritage of the Vlach minority in Europe in the context of an interdisciplinary research project|date=2015|journal=Balcanica Posnaniensia Acta et Studia. Baner|publisher=Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Kraków, Poland|volume=22|issue=1|pages=141–142|quote=The prevailing religion among Lemkos and Boykos, who are the representatives of the Vlach minority in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, includes the Orthodox faith and then the Greek Catholic Church ... Hutsuls, who inhabit the south-west of Ukraine (Chornohora) and the north of Romania, are mostly Orthodox and, to a much lesser extent, Greek Catholics}}</ref> 
===Early history===
First historical information about Hutsuls appears in [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Polish]] chronicles from the 14-15th centuries. The Hutsul settlement of [[Verkhovyna|Zhabye]] is first mentioned in 1424. The territory populated by Hutsuls was frequently engulfed by rebellions against the Polish rule, such as the [[Muha Rebellion|Mukha uprising]] of 1490, and during the [[Moldavian-Polish War (1502-1510)|Polish-Moldavian Wars]] local nobility fought on the side of [[Moldavia]]. In 1648 the uprising led by Semen Vysochan, a supporter of [[Bohdan Khmelnytskyi]], spread around the area. Starting from the late 17th century, gangs of [[opryshky]] were active in the territory populated by Hutsuls, with their most notable leader being [[Oleksa Dovbush]] from [[Pechenizhyn]].<ref name=ency/>

===Modern era===
[[Image:Huculy 1933, Verkhovyna district.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Hutsul family in Verkhovyna, 1933.]]
Until the 1770s the lands of Hutsulshchyna were divided between [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]], [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish Moldavia]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526-1867)|Hungary]]. Following the establishment of [[Austrian Empire|Austrian rule]] numerous uprisings against [[serfdom]] took place in the area, the most important of which took place during the 1840s under the leadership of [[Lukian Kobylytsia]]. In the following decades Hutsuls were influenced by the ideas of [[Ukrainian national revival]], which included the creation of the [[Ukrainian Radical Party]] and formation of the [[Ukrainian Sich Riflemen]].<ref name=ency/> A volunteer Hutsul-Bukovyna Legion of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army|Austrian army]] was created in 1915-1916.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Енциклопедія українознавства. Словникова частина (ЕУ-II)|date=1993|volume=2|pages=465-466}}</ref> In 1918-1920 Hutsuls took an active part in the [[Ukrainian War of Independence]].<ref name=ency/> In 1919 a Hutsul [[kurin]] fought as part of the XI ([[Sambir]]) brigade of the [[Ukrainian Galician Army]], distinguishing itself during the [[Chortkiv offensive|offensive]] in Galicia and in course of the following [[Battle of Vapniarka]], when it was subordinated to the [[Ukrainian People's Army|army]] of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Енциклопедія українознавства. Словникова частина (ЕУ-II)|date=1993|volume=2|pages=465-466}}</ref>

According to the 1930 Romanian census, in Romania within its borders at that time, including northern Bukovina, currently a part of Ukraine, there were 12,456 Hutsuls.<ref>[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Recensamant1930-II-XXIV.jpg Recensamant 1930] Wikimedia</ref> According to the Romanian census of 1941, in addition to the mostly (51.2%) self-identified ethnically Ukrainian population of [[Bukovina|Northern Bukovina]], almost all the 6,767 inhabitants of the [[Seliatyn|Seletyn]] district (plasa) were self-identified ethnic Hutsuls.<ref>I. M. Nowosiwsky, ''Bukovinian Ukrainians: A Historical Background and Their Self-Determnation in 1918'' (New York, NY: The Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1970), p. 168. </ref>

In the 1996 elections to the [[Chamber of Deputies (Romania)|Romanian Chamber of Deputies]], the General Union of the Associations of the Hutsul Ethnicity (Uniunea Generala a Asociatiilor Etniei Hutule) obtained 646 votes (0.01% of the total).<ref>[http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/indexElections.asp?country=ROMANIA&election=ro96cd Archived copy]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614133919/http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/indexElections.asp?country=ROMANIA&election=ro96cd|date=14 June 2011}}</ref> In the 2000 elections to the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, the General Union of the Associations of the Hutsul Ethnicity (Uniunea Generala a Asociatiilor Etniei Hutule) obtained 1225 votes out of 10,839,424	votes (0.01% of the total).<ref>[http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/indexElections.asp?country=ROMANIA&election=ro20cd Archived copy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020212080328/http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/indexElections.asp?country=ROMANIA&election=ro20cd|date=12 February 2002}}</ref> According to the representatives of the Hutsuls, in the 2002 census, they "preferred to declare themselves Romanians in order not to be included in the category of Ukrainians".<ref name=":0"> [https://www.newsbucovina.ro/actualitate/10884/gheorghe-flutur-imputernicit-de-hutuli-sa-le-reprezinte-interesele-in-parlament Gheorghe Flutur imputernicit de hutuli sa le reprezinte interesele in Parlament] News Bucovina, 8 November 2004</ref>

==Language==
{{main|Hutsul dialect}}
In Ukraine, Hutsul dialect is classified among [[Southwestern Ukrainian dialects]], with its closest counterparts being the [[Pokuttia-Bukovina dialect|Pokuttia-Bukovyna]], [[Boyko dialect|Boiko]] and [[Transcarpathian dialect|Middle Zakarpattian]] dialects.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Енциклопедія українознавства. Словникова частина (ЕУ-II)|date=1993|volume=2|page=465}}</ref> However, all three{{clarification|date=November 2025}} are also often classified as either their own languages or as dialects of [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]].{{nosource|date=November 2025}}

Since the annexation of western Ukraine regions, including [[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]] and [[Chernivtsi Oblast]] as well as [[Zakarpattia Oblast|Transcarpathia]] by the [[Soviet Union]], compulsory education has been conducted only in standardized literary Ukrainian. In recent years there have been grassroots efforts to keep the traditional Hutsul dialect alive.{{update needed|date=June 2022}}

==Religion and culture==
[[File:Полонина під Петросом.jpg|thumb|Herding of sheep on a [[polonyna (mountain meadow)|polonyna]] in the Ukrainian Carpathians]]
[[File:Писанка Гуцульщини.jpg|thumb|Hutsul pysanka (Easter egg)]]
[[File:Hutsul musicians with trembits.jpg|thumb|Hutsul musicians with trembitas]]
[[File:Глиняний куманець.jpg|thumb|200px|A decorated Hutsul drinking vessel]]
[[File:Sheep cheese production ukraine 01.png|thumb|Hutsul sheep cheese ([[Hutsul bryndza|bryndzia]])]]
Ukrainian Hutsul culture bears a resemblance to neighboring cultures of western and southwestern Ukraine,<ref name="encyclopediaofukraine">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/D/R/Dress.htm|title=Dress|publisher=encyclopediaofukraine.com|access-date=2014-09-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nat.com.ua/ukrainian_folk_costume.html |title=KIEV, UKRAINE: Ukrainian folk costumes |access-date=2006-07-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227124605/http://www.nat.com.ua/ukrainian_folk_costume.html |archive-date=2007-12-27 }}</ref> particularly [[Lemkos]] and [[Boykos]]. These groups also share similarities with other Slavic highlander peoples, such as the [[Gorals]] in [[Poland]] and [[Slovakia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgsa.org/Towns/Gorale.htm |title=PGSA - Gorale&#91;Highlanders&#93; |access-date=2006-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215064607/http://www.pgsa.org/Towns/Gorale.htm |archive-date=2006-02-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Similarities have also been noted with some [[Vlach]] cultures such as the [[Moravian Wallachia]]ns in the [[Czech Republic]], as well as some cultures in [[Culture of Romania|Romania]].<ref name="swipnet">{{cite web|url=http://home.swipnet.se/roland/ukrainiantribes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010629062908/http://home.swipnet.se/roland/ukrainiantribes.html |archive-date=2001-06-29 |url-status=dead |title=Ukrainian Tribal Divisions and Ethnographic Groups |access-date=2014-09-14 }}</ref> Most Hutsuls belong to the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] and the [[History of Christianity in Ukraine#Eastern_Orthodox|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]].
===Way of life===
Hutsul society was traditionally based on [[forestry]] and logging, as well as cattle and sheep breeding; the Hutsuls are credited with having created the breed of horse known as the [[Hucul pony]]. One of the main attributes of Hutsuls' is their [[shepherd's axe]] (bartka), a small axe with a long handle that is still used to this day for chopping wood, as a cane, for fighting and traditional ceremonies. They would often be intricately decorated with traditional wood carving designs and passed on from generation to generation especially upon marriage.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://destinations.com.ua/travel/authentic-ukraine/510-unique-traditions-of-hutsuls-in-ukraine|title=Unique Traditions of Hutsuls in Ukraine|access-date=2020-04-03|archive-date=2022-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226234239/https://destinations.com.ua/travel/authentic-ukraine/510-unique-traditions-of-hutsuls-in-ukraine|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Crafts===
Traditional Hutsul culture is often represented by the colorful and intricate craftsmanship of their clothing, sculpture, architecture, woodworking, metalworking (especially in [[brass]]), rug weaving (see ''[[lizhnyk]]''), pottery (see [[Kosiv painted ceramics|Kosiv ceramics]]), and egg decorating (''see [[Egg decorating in Slavic culture|pysanka]]''). Along with other Hutsul traditions, as well as their songs and dances, this culture is often celebrated and highlighted by the different countries that Hutsuls inhabit.{{cn|date=July 2022}} 

===Music===
Hutsuls use unique musical instruments, including the "[[trembita]]" ''(trâmbiţa)'', a type of [[alpenhorn]], as well multiple varieties of the [[Fife (musical instrument)|fife]], or ''[[sopilka]]'', that are used to create unique folk melodies and rhythms. Also frequently used are the ''[[Duda (bagpipe)|duda]]'' (bagpipe), the ''drymba'' ([[Jew's harp]]), and the ''[[tsymbaly]]'' (hammered dulcimer).

===Architecture===
Hutsul architecture preserves traits and forms unique for the region. Hutsul settlements tend to be dispersed across large areas, with permanent residences ([[Ukrainian khata#Hutsuls|grazhda]]) being constructed at elevations of up to 1,700 meters above sea level. Such residences were built as fortified locations protected from wild animals and equipped against enemy attacks. In some cases several generations of one family could live in a grazhda. Many Hutsul buildings have a seasonal nature, being used for accommodation of herdsmen during the pasturing season. Hutsuls are also known for thir intricate [[Wooden churches in Ukraine|wooden churches]], such as the ones in [[Kryvorivnia]], [[Vorokhta]] and [[Yasinia]].<ref name=ency/>

===Cultural influence===
The Hutsuls served as an inspiration for many artists, such as writers [[Ivan Franko]], [[Lesya Ukrainka]], [[Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky]], [[Vasyl Stefanyk]], [[Marko Cheremshyna]], [[Mihail Sadoveanu]] and [[Stanisław Vincenz]], and painters such as [[Kazimierz Sichulski]] and [[Teodor Axentowicz]]—noted for his portraits and subtle scenes of Hutsul life—and [[Halyna Zubchenko]]. In 1911 an amateur Hutsul theatre was organized by [[Hnat Khotkevych]], with [[Les Kurbas]] later serving as its director.<ref name=ency/> [[Sergei Parajanov]]'s 1965 film ''[[Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors]]'' (''Тіні забутих предків''), which is based on the book by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, portrays scenes of traditional Hutsul life. Composer [[Ludmila Anatolievna Yaroshevskaya]] composed a work for piano based on Hutsul folk music (''Fantasy on Hutsul Themes'').{{cn|date=July 2022}}

===Cultural events and exhibitions===
Every summer, the village of Sheshory in [[Ukraine]] hosts a three-day international festival of folk music and art. Two Hutsul-related museums are located in [[Kolomyia]], Ukraine: the [[Pysanka Museum|Pysanka museum]] and the Museum of Hutsul and [[Pokuttia]] Folk Art. Traditional Hutsul sounds and moves were used by the Ukrainian winner of the [[Eurovision Song Contest 2004|2004 Eurovision Song Contest]], [[Ruslana Lyzhychko]].{{cn|date=July 2022}}

The Romanian Hutsuls have a Festival of Hutsuls at the [[Moldova-Sulița]] village in [[Suceava]] county.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

==Notable people==
<!-- [[List of Hutsuls]] redirects here -->
* [[Marko Cheremshyna]], writer
* [[Oleksa Dovbush]], leader of [[opryshky]] movement
* [[Fiїnka]], actress and singer-songwriter
* [[Vasile Hutopilă]], painter{{dubious|Linked article identifies him as ethnically Ukrainian.|date=April 2022}}
* [[Volodymyr Ivasyuk]], composer{{dubious|Linked article makes no reference to his Hutsul ethnicity. |date=April 2022}}
* [[Stepan Klochurak]], politician and leader of the [[Hutsul Republic]]
* [[Elisabeta Lipă]], multiple world and Olympic rowing champion{{dubious|Linked article makes no reference to her Hutsul ethnicity. |date=April 2022}}
* [[Ivan Malkovych]], publisher{{dubious|Linked article makes no reference to his Hutsul ethnicity. |date=April 2022}}
* [[Dmytro Pavlychko]], Ukrainian poet and politician
* [[Solomiia Pavlychko]], Ukrainian literary critic and [[feminism|feminist]]
* [[Paraska Plytka-Horytsvit]], artist
* [[Matei Vișniec]], playwright{{cn|date=April 2022}}
* [[Mickola Vorokhta]], painter, [[Merited Artist of Ukraine]]{{dubious|Linked article identifies him only as Ukrainian.|date=April 2022}}
* [[Mariya Yaremchuk]], singer
* [[Nazariy Yaremchuk]], singer

== See also ==
* [[49th Hutsul Rifle Regiment]]
* [[Hutsul Republic]]
* [[Hutsulka]]
* [[Kolomyjka]]
* [[Ukrainian khata#Hutsuls|Grazhda]]
* [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Hutsuls}}
* [http://hutsul.museum/ hutsul.museum] National Museum of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttya Folk Art
* [http://hutzul.googlepages.com/dictionarhu%C5%A3ul Romanian-Hutsul] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326074234/http://hutzul.googlepages.com/dictionarhu%C5%A3ul |date=2009-03-26 }} and [http://hutzul.googlepages.com/hutulschiienglish Hutsul-English] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615224752/http://hutzul.googlepages.com/hutulschiienglish |date=2009-06-15 }} glossaries
* [http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/minority-hutsul.htm Huţuls of northern Moldavia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204055920/http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/minority-hutsul.htm |date=2012-02-04 }}
* [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20043/10 Introduction to Hutsul Country]
* [http://hutzul.googlepages.com/ Hutsul Portal (mostly in Romanian)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918221208/http://hutzul.googlepages.com/ |date=2009-09-18 }}
* [https://ucrania-mozambique.blogspot.com/2007/07/exibio-fotogrfica-hutsuly.html Photo exposition about Hutsul people in Ukraine]
* [https://green-ukraine.com/hutsuls-lifestyle-food-outfit/ Hutsuls: lifestyle, food and clothing]

{{Slavic ethnic groups}}
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[[Category:Hutsuls| ]]
[[Category:Bukovina]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Romania]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Maramureș]]
[[Category:Slavic ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Slavic highlanders]]