Gorals

The Gorals as a separate ethnographic subgroup began to form in the 14th century{{cite web |url=http://www.nowebystre.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=594:gorole-historia&catid=147:gorole-historia&Itemid=269 |title= Górale Historia |website=Nowe Bystre |publisher= |access-date=31 July 2023 |language=pl-PL |quote= Górale podhalańscy jako odrębna grupa zaczęła kształtować się w XIV wieku.}} with the arrival of the first Polish settlers from Lesser Poland,{{cite web | title = Skąd się wzięli górale na Podhalu | url = https://historia.dorzeczy.pl/sredniowiecze/57418/skad-sie-wzieli-gorale-na-podhalu.html |language=pl-PL | quote = Pierwsi śmiałkowie wędrowali ku Tatrom z Małopolski doliną Raby, przez dzisiejszą Mszanę Dolną, potem w poprzek Gorców ku wsiom Niedźwiedź i Obidowa, by połączyć się w Klikuszowej z trasą dzisiejszej zakopianki. | website = Do Rzeczy | date = 27 January 2018 | access-date = 31 July 2023 }} who would settle and farm the lands around what is today Nowy Targ and along the Dunajec valley beginning in the early twelve hundreds. Prior to that, Podhale was an uninhabited region sparsely populated by bandits who chose the inaccessible mountainous terrain to hide from justice.{{cite web | title = Skąd się wzięli górale na Podhalu | url = https://historia.dorzeczy.pl/sredniowiecze/57418/skad-sie-wzieli-gorale-na-podhalu.html |language=pl-PL | quote = Przed 1234 r. musieli być tu ludzie, skoro przywilej dla Teodora Gryfity z rąk Henryka Brodatego wymienia już jakieś nazwy. Osadnicy ci składali się zapewne z elementu przestępczego, który wybrał niedostępne tereny górskie dla ukrycia się przed sprawiedliwością. | website = Do Rzeczy | date = 27 January 2018 | access-date = 31 July 2023 }} Then between the late 13th and 15th centuries, Vlach shepherds migrated to the region, gradually moving northwest from the Balkan peninsula over the Carpathian Mountains and settling on Polish lands there.{{cite web | title = Skąd pochodzą górale? Inwazja Wołochów zmieniła historię polskich gór | url = https://naszahistoria.pl/skad-pochodza-gorale-inwazja-wolochow-zmienila-historie-polskich-gor/ar/12701192#:~:text=Najprawdopodobniej%20przybyli%20oni%20z%20teren%C3%B3w,wiele%20bardziej%20dochodowe%20ni%C5%BC%20rolnictwo. |language=pl-PL | quote = W XIII w. na ziemiach polskich zaczęli się pojawiać Wołosi, osadnicy z Bałkanów, którym udało się ujarzmić Karpaty i wprowadzić tu gospodarkę pasterską. | website = Nasza Historia | date = 23 November 2017 | access-date = 26 April 2022 }}{{cite web | title = Wieś podhalańska i jej gospodarcze przeobrażenia w historii regionu | url = https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/bitstream/handle/item/253903/guzik_wies_podhalanska_i_jej_gospodarcze_2004.pdfsequence=1&isAllowed=y |language=pl-PL | quote = Od XV w., oprócz ludności polskiej, na Podhale zaczęła napływać ludność pochodzenia rumuńskiego – Wołosi. Zajmowali się oni wypasem bydła i owiec. | website = uj.edu.pl | date = | access-date = 1 August 2023 }} The initial contact of the locals with the Vlachs was difficult. The medieval chronicler Jan Długosz described the nomadic shepherds as brutish.{{cite web | title = Skąd się wzięli górale na Podhalu | url = https://historia.dorzeczy.pl/sredniowiecze/57418/skad-sie-wzieli-gorale-na-podhalu.html |language=pl-PL | quote = Zetknięcie miejscowych z Wołochami było szorstkie. Długosz opisywał ich jako ludzi prymitywnych, brutalnych i skorych do rozboju. | website = Do Rzeczy | date = 27 January 2018 | access-date = 31 July 2023 }} However, the newcomers brought with them a distinct method of raising livestock in the mountains, which was different from the one practiced by the settlers from the lowlands of Lesser Poland and thus with the merging of the two cultures, a new local way of life began to emerge,{{cite web | title = Wieś podhalańska i jej gospodarcze przeobrażenia w historii regionu | url = https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/bitstream/handle/item/253903/guzik_wies_podhalanska_i_jej_gospodarcze_2004.pdfsequence=1&isAllowed=y |language=pl-PL | quote = Nowi przybysze sprowadzili na te tereny inne niż osadnicy z nizin sposoby gospodarowania. W ten sposób wywodząca się z Małopolski gospodarka folwarczna wzbogaciła się o tradycyjne formy chowu zwierząt w górach, rządzące się innym prawem i odmienną obyczajowością. W tym spotkaniu dwóch kultur rolniczych wiodącymi pozostały sposoby gospodarowania przyniesione z nizin, w jakimś tylko zakresie dostosowane do lokalnych warunków siedliskowych i wołoskich systemów chowu zwierząt gospodarskich w górach. | website = uj.edu.pl | date = | access-date = 1 August 2023 }} and the subsequent assimilation of the Vlachs.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Górale |encyclopedia=Encyklopedia PWN |url=https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/gorale;3907131.html |language=pl-PL | quote = Karpaty były od XV w. zasiedlane przez ludność wołoską, która na północnych stokach polonizowała się, na południu ulegała wpływom słowac.|access-date = 3 September 2023}}

File:Aleksander Kotsis Pogrzeb górala 1860.jpg

File:Wladyslaw Skoczylas - Pochod zbojnikow.jpg]]

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Gorals settled the upper Kysuca and Orava rivers and part of northern Spiš in Slovakia,{{cite book|author1=Denes Loczy|author2=Miloš Stankoviansky|author3=Adam Kotarba|title=Recent Landform Evolution: The Carpatho-Balkan-Dinaric Region|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GClF-4rtvoIC&pg=PA149|date=3 January 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-007-2447-1|pages=149ff}}{{cite web | title = Słowacja: Będzie narodowość goralska? | url = https://beskidzka24.pl/slowacja-bedzie-narodowosc-goralska/ |language=pl-PL | quote = [...]pomiędzy XVI a XVIII wiekiem wiele osób z terenu Polski osiedlało się w tych słowackich regionach, przynosząc ze sobą swój język i gwarę. | website = beskidzka24.pl | date = 14 January 2021| access-date = 4 September 2023 }} which at the time were part of the Kingdom of Hungary.{{cite book|author1=Karoly Kocsis|author2=Eszter Kocsisne Hodosi|title=Ethnic Geography of the Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zZ_NVM9mNEC&pg=PA45|date=1 April 2001|publisher=Simon Publications LLC|isbn=978-1-931313-75-9|pages=45–46}}{{Cite web |last=Redakcja |date=2017-11-23 |title=Skąd pochodzą górale? Inwazja Wołochów zmieniła historię polskich gór |url=https://naszahistoria.pl/skad-pochodza-gorale-inwazja-wolochow-zmienila-historie-polskich-gor/ar/12701192 |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=Nasza Historia |language=pl-PL}}{{Cite web |title=Górole Historia |url=http://www.nowebystre.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=594:gorole-historia&catid=147:gorole-historia&Itemid=269 |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=www.nowebystre.pl}}{{Cite web |title=Górale Podhalańscy - Etnozagroda |url=https://www.etnozagroda.pl/gorale-podhalanscy |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=www.etnozagroda.pl}} Due to various rights and privileges, including the Vlach law,{{cite web | title = Skąd pochodzą górale? Inwazja Wołochów zmieniła historię polskich gór | url = https://naszahistoria.pl/skad-pochodza-gorale-inwazja-wolochow-zmienila-historie-polskich-gor/ar/12701192#:~:text=Najprawdopodobniej%20przybyli%20oni%20z%20teren%C3%B3w,wiele%20bardziej%20dochodowe%20ni%C5%BC%20rolnictwo. |language=pl-PL | quote = Formalnie osadnictwo na prawie wołoskim polegało na przejmowaniu pasterskich form prawnych i gospodarczych. Mieszkańcy nowo zakładanych wsi płacili czynsz w naturze, oddając panu między innymi po jednej owcy z każdej hodowanej dwudziestki. | website = Nasza Historia | date = 23 November 2017 | access-date = 19 August 2023}} Gorals enjoyed freedom from serfdom and held a substantial amount of autonomy. Also, distinct within the Goral culture were {{ill|zbojniks|pl|Zbójnicy}}, members of local robber bands in the western Carpathians.{{cite book |last= Baranowski |first= Bohdan |author-link= |date= 1986 |title= Ludzie gościńca w XVII-XVIII w. |url= |location= Łódź|publisher=Wydawn |page= 191 |isbn=}} In folk tradition, they were recognized as heroes who helped the exploited Gorals by stealing from the rich and giving back to the poor. The most famous of these was Juraj Jánošík from the village of Terchová in the Žilina region on the Slovak side of the Carpathian mountains. As a youngster, he fought with the Kuruc insurgents against the Habsburg monarchy and later formed his own band of zbojniks.[http://www.terchova-info.sk/novinka_detail.php?id=012 Odpočíva Jánošík na dne Liptovskej Mary? Aktuality Terchová | terchova-info.sk] The phenomenon became widespread in the mid-16th century and disappeared in the 19th century with the death of {{ill|Wojtek Mateja|pl}} who was considered as the last zbójnik.{{cite web | title = Mity i rzeczywistość zbójnictwa na pograniczu polsko-słowackim w historii, literaturze i kulturze | url = http://www.ppwsz.edu.pl/_files/07_02_13_Mity_i_rzeczywistosc.pdf | quote = | website = ppwsz.edu.pl | date = | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203034255/http://www.ppwsz.edu.pl/_files/07_02_13_Mity_i_rzeczywistosc.pdf | access-date = 5 August 2023 | archive-date = 2008-12-03 }}

In 1651, the Gorals and local peasantry of Podhale rebelled against the Polish nobles (szlachta) in what became the Kostka-Napierski uprising, led by the adventurer and officer from the Polish army captain Aleksander Kostka Napierski. A film was produced about the uprising ({{lang|pl|italics=yes|Podhale w ogniu}}) in 1956, and distributed in many languages across the Eastern Bloc.{{Cite web|title=Nieznane polskie powstania|url=https://www.rp.pl/historia/art2126121-nieznane-polskie-powstania|access-date=2022-01-30|website=Rzeczpospolita|language=pl}}{{Cite web |last=Drożdż |first=Mateusz |date=2020-07-21 |title=Aleksander Kostka-Napierski. Chłopski bohater czy zdrajca? |url=https://hrabiatytus.pl/2020/07/21/aleksander-kostka-napierski-i-jego-powstanie-chlopski-bohater-czy-zdrajca/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=Hrabia Tytus – Twój przewodnik po historii |language=pl}}{{Cite web |date=2021-07-18 |title=Zdrajca, buntownik czy bohater? Wielkie ambicje i straszny koniec Aleksandra Kostki-Napierskiego |url=https://dorzeczy.pl/historia/191829/aleksander-kostka-napierski-zdrajca-buntownik-czy-bohater.html |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=Do Rzeczy |language=pl}} Another peasant rebellion in Podhale occurred in 1669, when Gorals and local peasants rebelled against high taxes and oppressive rule imposed on them by the local nobility. The first Polish national opera, titled Krakowiacy i Górale (Cracovians and Gorals) composed by Wojciech Bogusławski premiered in 1794.{{cite book |last=Wolff |first=Larry |date=9 January 2012 |title=The Idea of Galicia; History and Fantasy in Habsburg Political Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgjQYHn7BTkC |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=57 |isbn=978-0-8047-7429-1}} In the 19th century, between 1803 and 1819, the Gorals migrated to Bukovina.{{cite web|author=Halina Karaś|title=2.6. Gwary polskie za granicą|url=http://www.dialektologia.uw.edu.pl/index.php?l1=podstawy-dialektologii&l2=gwary-polskie}}

During World War II, Nazi Germany sought to Germanize the Gorals.{{cite book|author=Martyn Housden|title=Hitler: Study of a Revolutionary?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfuFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA138|date=4 January 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-71369-1|pages=138–}} Under Nazi racial laws, the majority of Poland's population and its minorities were viewed as "undesirable" and subject to special statutes, slave labour and martial law.{{cite book|author=Diemut Majer|title="Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich: The Nazi Judicial and Administrative System in Germany and Occupied Eastern Europe with Special Regard to Occupied Poland, 1939-1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_BCNrHG9K8C&pg=PA533|year=2003|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-6493-3|pages=533ff}} However, Nazi racial theorists considered the 27,000 strong Goral population as a separate ethnic group from the Poles.{{cite book|author=Mark Levene|title=Annihilation |volume=II: The European Rimlands 1939–1953|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBgbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|date=December 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-968304-8|pages=45ff}} Termed {{lang|de|Goralenvolk}}, they were deemed part of the greater Germanic race and given milder treatment from other Poles.{{cite web | url=http://podhale24.pl/aktualnosci/artykul/17353/quotPod_Giewontemquot__nowe_filmy_dokumentalne_o_losach_Gorali_Premiera_odbedzie_sie_w_Nowym_Targu_i_Zakopanem_zdjecia.html | title=Pod Giewontem. Losy mieszkancow Podhala 1939-1956 | publisher=Podhalański Portal Informacyjny Podhale24.pl | date=September 12, 2011 | access-date=April 21, 2012}}{{cite web | url=http://www.podgiewontem.auschwitzmemento.pl/en/component/relacje/swiadek.html?view=swiadek&swid=25&Itemid=127 | title=Historia rodziny Apostołów | publisher=Stowarzyszenie Auschwitz Memento | work=Lista świadków historii | language=pl | access-date=April 21, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123201111/http://www.podgiewontem.auschwitzmemento.pl/en/component/relacje/swiadek.html?view=swiadek&swid=25&Itemid=127 | archive-date=January 23, 2015 | url-status=dead }} Between 1939 and 1945, local Gorals of Podhale joined the resistance movement, including the Tatra Confederation and the IV Batalion Nowy Targ of the 1st Regiment of Home Army Podhale Rifles and fought against Nazi occupation of Poland.{{cite web | title = IV Batalion Nowy Targ | url = http://www.partyzanciakpodhale.pl/batalion-nowy-targ | quote = | website = partyzanciakpodhale.pl | date = 2008 | access-date = 5 August 2023 }}

File:Gorals map.png

File:Fotothek df ps 0006311 Fuhrwerke ^ Pferdefuhrwerke ^ Kutschen ^ sonstige Kutsche.jpg (1967)]]

File:Grojcowianie 15-08-2016.jpg (Żywiec)]]

The Gorals inhabit a number of regions collectively referred to as the "Goral lands" (Goral: Góralscýzna, Polish: Góralszczyzna) split between Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In Poland, the community inhabits the geographical region of Podhale of the Tatra Mountains and parts of the Beskids (Cieszyn Silesia, Silesian Beskids, Żywiec Beskids).{{Cite web |title=Pogranicze krakowsko-góralskie * w świetle dawnych i najnowszych badań etnograficznych - PDF Free Download |url=https://docplayer.pl/9563950-Pogranicze-krakowsko-goralskie-w-swietle-dawnych-i-najnowszych-badan-etnograficznych.html |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=docplayer.pl}}{{Cite web |title=Góralszczyzna |url=https://z-ne.pl/t,haslo,1524,goralszczyzna.html |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=z-ne.pl}}{{Cite web |title=Goral Marathon - GÓRALSZCZYZNA POLSKA |url=http://www.goralmarathon.com/pl/informacja/historia/polska/272-goralszczyzna-polska |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=www.goralmarathon.com}} After 1945, some Gorals from Bukovina and the Podhale regions found new homes in Lower Silesia in villages such as Krajanów, Czarny Bór, and Borówna in the Central Sudete Mountains, as well as Złotnik, Brzeźnica and Lubomyśl in Lubusz Voivodeship.

In present-day Slovakia they live in several separate groups: in northern Spiš (34 villages subdivided into two groups), Orava and Kysuce (2 villages) and smaller groups in 7 other enclave villages in northern Slovakia.

The main towns of Goral lands include:

• Nowy Targ
• Zakopane
• Żywiec

{{main article|Goral ethnolect}}

The various dialects spoken by the Gorals belong to the West Slavic family with influence from other surrounding linguistic groups, notably the Eastern Romance languages.{{cite book |last=Hannan |first=Kevin |date=1996 |title=Borders of Language and Identity in Teschen Silesia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdFiAAAAMAAJ&q=gorals+poland+romance+language |publisher=Peter Lang |page=132 |isbn=9780820433653}} In particular, the dialect spoken in Podhale, called the Podhale dialect ({{langx|pl|gwara podhalańska}}), is of Polish origin and part of the Lesser Poland dialect group, but it has been considerably influenced by Slovak in recent centuries.{{cite book|first=Nicolaas |last=van Wijk|author-link=Nicolaas van Wijk|title=Czechoslovakia: facts and impressions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5z0GAQAAIAAJ|year=1931|publisher=Orbis|page=37}} In addition to Slovak, the Goral dialects contain some vocabulary from Hungarian and other Balkan languages.{{cite web |url=https://zakopane.com/2017/11/highlanders-culture-short-guide/9 |title=Highlander's culture – short guide |website=Zakopane.com |publisher= |access-date=19 August 2023 |quote= Highlander slang is a Polish language dialect, that contains plenty of Polish archaisms and many words from Slovak, Hungarian and Balkan languages.}} Kazimierz Dobroslowski asserted that the Podhale dialect had loan-words from Romanian and Albanian, as well as similar belief system elements, music and material culture.{{cite book|author1=Alain Bertrand |author2=Alain Karsenty |author3=Antonio Carlos Santana Diegues |author4=Arild Angelsen |author5=Berry Lekanne dit Deprez |author6=Brent M. Swallow |author7=Bustanul Arifin |author8=Carl Folke |author9=Chusak Witthayaphak |author10=David Feeny |author11=El Hadj Laouali Mahamane |author12=Frode Gundersen |author13=Guangjing Ma |author14=Hsain Ilahiane |author15=International Association for the Study of Common Property |author16=Irma Baquero |author17=Janis B. Alcorn |author18=João S. Campari |author19=M. Kokwe |author20=Madan Gopal Ghosh |author21=Małgorzata Korzycka-Iwanow |author22=Minoti Chakravarty-Kaul |author23=N. S. Jodha |author24=Nalin Ranjan Jena |author25=Paul Kenkmann |author26=Philippe Guizol |author27=Piotr Chmielewski |author28=Raouf Fareed Khouzam |author29=Satyawati Soetrisno Hadi |author30=Segun Famoriyo |author31=Stig Toft Madsen |author32=Søren Lund |author33=Tatiana Levina |author34=Theodore Macdonald |author35=Tor Arve Benjaminsen |author36=Tove Degnbol |author37=Fikret Berkes |author38=He Shang |author39=Jacques Weber |author40=Víctor Manuel Toledo |display-authors=6 |title=Fifth Common Property Conference papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YvtAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=International Association for the Study of Common Property|page=163}}

The Podhale dialect is the de facto standard literary Goral ethnolect due to Podhale being the most widely known region. However, the majority of Gorals speak closely related dialects. Gorals themselves rarely differentiate between their dialects and just refer to them as Górolski.{{Cite web|title=Małopolskie grupy górali|url=https://malopolskatogo.pl/artykul/malopolskie-grupy-gorali/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Małopolska To Go|language=pl-PL}}

File:"A Goral Wedding" at Dom Ludowy Theatre.jpg, Zakopane|284x284px]]

File:Góralka-Zakopane-17.07.1938.jpg, Poland (1938)]]

File:Warsaw KRWP 12.JPG (Podhalańczycy), are a mountain infantry formation of the Polish Army formed in 1918 out of volunteers of the region of Podhale. They wear the traditional Goral cap and are one of only two infantry units wearing non-standard uniforms based on traditional Polish folk garment.]]

For most Gorals today, the decisive factor in their self-identification with nationality is not ethnic but territorial.{{cn|date=February 2022}} For example, those living in areas under a long tradition of belonging to the Polish state identify themselves as Polish,{{cn|date=February 2022}} while those living in Slovakia have identified themselves as Slovaks,{{cn|date=February 2022}} with notable exceptions to this rule on both sides of the border. While the origin of the Goral ethnolect is Polish,For a better idea of the issue see either Kevin Hannan's work Borders of Language and Identity in Teschen Silesia or works by the Slovak linguist Júlia Dudášová-Kriššáková, Goralské nárečia, {{ISBN|80-224-0354-7}} the language of Gorals in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic is gradually shifting and increasingly becoming more similar to the literary standard in their respective countries.

Silesian Gorals of the Czech Republic identify themselves on the nationality level as Poles and are members of the Polish minority in the Czech Republic, which is proved by their communal activity: the annual Gorolski Święto festival held in Jablunkov is a showcase of a local Polish Goral traditions and is organized by the PZKO (Polish Cultural and Educational Union). This Goral festival preserves the traditions of the Polish nationality group in Trans-Olza.{{cite web |url=http://www.gorolskiswieto.cz/english.html |website=gorolskiswieto.cz |title=History of Gorolski Święto for foreign visitors |access-date=20 September 2019 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624035048/http://gorolskiswieto.cz/english.html |url-status=dead }} It is the largest cultural and folklore festival in Trans-Olza gathering thousands of spectators each day of festivities. However, the Poles do not form a majority in any of the municipalities of the area, and some local Gorals identify themselves on the nationality level as Czechs. In this respect, the village of Hrčava (the second easternmost village in the Czech Republic), with the vast majority of citizens declaring Czech nationality, can be noted. In this village, the Poles form only a 2% minority.{{cite web|url=http://www.czso.cz/sldb/sldb2001.nsf/obce/598232?OpenDocument|publisher=Czech Statistical Office|title=2001 census|access-date=April 10, 2017|archive-date=February 6, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120206220024/http://www.czso.cz/sldb/sldb2001.nsf/obce/598232?OpenDocument|url-status=dead}} Local Silesian Gorals formed a majority in the past and they speak the regional Cieszyn Silesian dialect in everyday communication. In Slovakia, Gorals sought formal recognition as a distinct minority,{{Cite web|last=imbbmi|date=2020-09-29|title=IMB: Goralská menšina má byť uznaná|url=https://www.institutmatejabela.sk/post/goralska-mensina-ma-byt-uznana/|access-date=2021-12-30|language=sk}} something the Slovakian government approved in January 2025; the status means the group will gain representation in the government's Council for National Minorities, and get more access to cultural support funding.{{Cite web |title=Goral community recognized as Slovakia’s 15th national minority - News - Rádio RSI English - STVR |url=https://enrsi.stvr.sk/articles/news/391119/goral-community-recognized-as-slovakias-15th-national-minority |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=stvr.sk |language=en}}

Historically, the issue of their ethnic identity has been controversial and resulted in claims and counterclaims by both Poland and Czechoslovakia. Gorals, like many other peasant communities in Central Europe, determined their own ethnic identities within the nation-state system during the 19th and early 20th century.Hannan, Kevin (1996). Borders of Language and Identity in Teschen Silesia. New York: Peter Lang. {{ISBN|0-8204-3365-9}} Although nationalist propaganda was generated by both Poles and Slovaks, this process of the Gorals' identification with a nationality was still not complete when the border was finalized in 1924. A notable example was Ferdynand Machay, a priest born in Jabłonka, Orava, Piotr Borowy from Rabča, Orava and Wojciech Halczyn from Lendak, Spiš, who went to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and, during a personal audience, lobbied U.S. president Woodrow Wilson to sign these lands over to Poland.

The Gorals have a similar belief system elements, music and material culture as that of the Vlachs and related groups (e.g. Moravian Vlachs), from whom it has been argued they originate.{{cite book|author=Marek Kubica|title=Górale, Wołosi, zbójnicy: historia górali od Pilska|url=|year=2012|publisher=Żywiec|page=}} Anthropologist Carleton Coon grouped Gorals with the Hutsuls, who dwelled in what was then the southeastern corner of Poland and is now southwestern Ukraine.{{cite book|author=Carleton S. Coon|title=The Races of Europe|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283656|year=1939|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283656/page/n707 571]}} In the 19th century, Polish scholars viewed the Gorals as linguistically close to the Poles, but having close ties with Slovak folk culture.{{cite book|author1=Marcel Cornis-Pope|author2=John Neubauer|title=History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Types and stereotypes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YINYl4iv4ecC&pg=PA445|year=2010|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-90-272-3458-2|pages=445–}} It was noted that Gorals' social and economic life resembled that of Vlach shepherd culture.

{{see also|Zakopane Style architecture}}

File:Gorolsko drzewionka.jpg]]

The Zakopane Style architecture, established at the end of the 19th century, is held as a Goral tradition. The architectural style draws on local architecture and Vernacular architecture of the Carpathians, and is widespread in the Podhale region.

File:Festiwal pzko 1078.jpg during the parade at the beginning of the Jubileuszowy Festiwal PZKO 2007 in Karviná]]

File:43. TKB - Trebunie-Tutki 07.JPG]]

Zakopower is a popular folk-pop musical group from Zakopane. The Trebunie-Tutki folk musical group from Zakopane blend traditional Goral music with reggae.

For centuries clasps have been an important element of Goral traditional costumes. Originally used for fastening shirts, they fell out of use when buttons became popular, remaining only as ornaments. In the early 20th century they were already rare, used only by senior and young shepherds, who grazed their sheep on mountain pastures. In the 1920s and the 1930s, they were considered collector's items and sought after by tourists. In Zakopane, they were often worn as ornaments for the "cucha" (outerwear), sweaters, or occasionally on leather bags. Today the clasps are a popular element of highlanders from the Podhale region, but the way they are worn differs from the original one: instead of fastening shirts they are usually attached to them or sewed on.{{Cite book|title=Poland: Travel Guide|last=Uszyńska|first=Zofia|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=1960|volume= 1}}

The parzenica embroidery dates back to the mid-19th century. Initially, they were simple string loops, used for reinforcing cuts in front of cloth trousers. They had practical functions and protected the cloth from fraying. The modern look parzenica got from those tailors who began using red or navy blue string, simultaneously increasing the number of loops. Later the appliqué design was replaced with embroidery. Using woollen yarn allowed the parzenica to become more colourful and eventually it became a stand-alone trouser ornamentation, developed by talented tailors and embroiderers.{{Cite book|title=Folk art in Poland|last1=Pietraszkowa-Fryś|first1=Ewa|last2=Pokropek|first2=Marian|last3=Kunczyńska-Iracka|first3=Anna|publisher=Arkady|year=1991|isbn=9788321334783|pages=80}}

In the second half of the 19th century, it became fashionable in the Podhale region to adorn corsets with depictions of thistle and edelweiss. These motifs were the most popular in the early 20th century. When "Kraków style" came into fashion, highlanders of the Podhale region began ornamenting the corsets with shiny sequins and glass beads.{{Cite book|title=Polish Folk Art|last=Pietkiewicz|first=Kazimierz|publisher=Polonia|year=1966}}

In Cieszyn Silesia and northern Slovakia, the shepherd's axe and elements of the folk costume are termed Vlach ({{langx|pl|wałaska, wałaszczaki}}, {{langx|sk|valaška}}).{{cite book|author=Kevin Hannan|title=Borders of Language and Identity in Teschen Silesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdFiAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-3365-3|page=70}}

Goral folk costumes can be found in the National Museum of Ethnography in Warsaw,{{Cite book|title=Czas świętowania w kulturach Polski i Europy|publisher=The State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw|year=2013|isbn=978-83-88654-42-8}}{{Cite book|title=Ordinary – extraordinary: fascinating collections of The State Ethnographical Museum in Warsaw|last=Bartuszek|first=Joanna|display-authors=etal|publisher=The State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw|year=2008|isbn=978-83-88654-76-3 |editor-last=Czyżewski|editor-first=Adam}} The Tatra Museum in Zakopane, the Ethnographic Museum of Kraków, and the City Museum of Żywiec.

Most Gorals are adherents of the Roman Catholic Church and are often noted for their staunch religiosity. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludźmierz is of particular significance to the Gorals, being the oldest shrine in the Podhale region. Also, there are numerous Catholic religious cults and traditions connected to the church.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

The Polish Gorals also hold a particular reference for Pope John Paul II, who they consider as their own, even though Karol Wojtyła was born in Wadowice, Lesser Poland and was not a Goral himself. However, the Late Pope was always considered as "the son of the mountains" by the Gorals.{{cite web | title = Wieś podhalańska i jej gospodarcze przeobrażenia w historii regionu | url = https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/krakow/skladali-mu-hold-wiernosci-teraz-zamierzaja-go-bronic-gorale-nie-opuszcza-jana-pawla/wzmvn7t |language=pl-PL | quote = Górale z Podhala zawsze uważali Jana Pawła II za swojego. Choć urodził się on w Wadowicach, oddalonych kilkadziesiąt kilometrów od Podhala, to dla górali Karol Wojtyła zawsze był "synem gór". | website = Wiadomosci Onet | date = 9 March 2023 | access-date = 4 September 2023 }}

A notable portion of Gorals are Augsburg Confession Lutherans, who are clustered around the town of Wisła. This is the main centre of Protestant Gorals, and it is the only city in Poland where Catholics are a minority.{{Cite web|title=W tym polskim mieście katolicy to... mniejszość religijna. Oto historia protestantyzmu w Wiśle|url=https://natemat.pl/361411,protestancka-wisla-jedyne-miasto-w-polsce-gdzie-katolicy-to-mniejszosc|access-date=2021-12-30|website=naTemat.pl|language=pl}}

In Slovakia, significant portions of Goral settlements fall under the territorial jurisdictions of Roman Catholic Diocese of Spiš.

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), Polish boxer and WBC light heavyweight and IBF cruiserweight champion
• Klemens Bachleda (1851–1910), Polish mountain guide
• Alicja Bachleda-Curuś (born 1983), Polish actress
• Stefan Banach (1892–1945), Polish mathematician
• Tadeusz Błażusiak (born 1983), Polish sport motorcyclist
• Józef Cukier (1889–1960), Goralenvolk leader
• Andrzej Dziubek (born 1954), Polish–Norwegian musician
• Wojciech Fortuna (born 1952), Polish ski jumper and Olympic gold medalist
• {{ill|Sebastian Karpiel-Bułecka|pl}} (born 1976), Polish singer
• Justyna Kowalczyk (born 1983), Polish cross-country skier and Olympic gold medalist
• Wacław Krzeptowski (1897–1945), Goralenvolk leader
• Dawid Kubacki (born 1990), Polish ski jumper and Olympic bronze medalist
• Jerzy Kukuczka (1948–1989), Polish alpinist
• Adam Małysz ( born 1977) Polish ski jumper and Olympic silver medalist
• Władysław Orkan (1875–1930), Polish writer
• Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz (born 1942), Polish composer
• Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1865–1940), Polish writer
• Kamil Stoch (born 1987), Polish ski jumper and Olympic gold medalist
• Augustyn Suski (1907–1942), Polish poet and World War II resistance fighter
• Włodzimierz Tetmajer (1861–1923), Polish painter
• Józef Tischner (1931–2000), Polish priest and philosopher

{{div col end}}

{{notelist}}

• Gorani, a Slavic Muslim highlander people in Kosovo.
• Polish Uplanders
• Rusyns, an ethnic group who speak an East Slavic language, neighbor the Gorals in south-eastern Poland, north-eastern Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Oblast of Ukraine.

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928235257/http://www.goraleslascy.pl/news.php?id=22 Info-Portal Silesian Gorals in Polish]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150416102957/http://www.zwiazek-podhalan.com/files/fck/Image/gorale_polscy/Gorale_polscy.jpg Map showing the extent of Goral settlement]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051226043438/http://www.idn.org.pl/medykon/tatry/ Gorale – old photographs]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051123101856/http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/programs/specials/diaspora.asp Chicago Public Radio series on diaspora communities in Chicago, including one on Goral Music in Chicago]

{{Ethnic groups in Poland}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Ethnic groups in the Czech Republic

Category:Ethnic groups in Poland

Category:Ethnic groups in Slovakia

Category:Indigenous peoples of Europe

Category:Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Category:Silesian Voivodeship