Hutsuls

Hutsuls (Ukrainian: гуцули, hutsuly; Polish: Hucuł, plural Huculi, Hucułowie; Romanian: huțul, plural huțuli) are an ethno-cultural group of Ukrainians, who for centuries have inhabited the Carpathian mountains, mainly in Ukraine and in the northern extremity of Romania (in the areas of Bukovina and Maramureş). Hutsuls regard themselves as being part of the broader Rusyn ethnic minority and/or as Ukrainian highlanders.

Etymology

There are different versions for the origins of the name Hutsul. An explanation is that it comes from the Romanian word for "outlaw" (cf. Rom. hoţ—"thief", hoţul—"the thief"). Other explanations place their origins in the Slavic kochul—"wanderer", "migrant"—in reference to their semi-nomadic lifestyle, to the name of the Turkic tribe of the Uzy, and even to the name of the Moravian Grand Duke Hetsyla. However these are obsolete and non-academic assertions. No valid theories have been proposed yet. The name is mostly an exonym, used by neighbouring groups and not Hutsuls themselves, although some have embraced it.