Lemky i Bojki

[Viktoria-D]

Perhaps the most different, while still 100% Slavic, people that are considered to be Ukrainian today, are the Lemky and Bojky (Lemkos and Boykos). They traditionally live throughout parts of Galicia extending outward from Ukraine into parts of Poland and Slovakia called Lemkivszczyna and Bojkivszczyna respectively, much farther north than the Rus'ky (Rusyns of Karpatska Rus). After the Second World War, the Polish 'Akcija Wisla' forcibly moved many of them to the north of Poland.
In the United States and Canada, they typically are part of the Ukrainian-American community, or, less frequently, the Polish-, Russian-, or Slovak-American communities.
They are predominately Byzantine/Ukrainian Catholic or Uniate, but occaisionally Orthodox. The largest numbers of them live in the American Northeast and Midwest and rural Canada, as I stated, very much a part, and maybe one of the largest parts, of the Ukrainian-American community.
So, here is my question:
What role should the Lemky and Bojky play in Ukraine today?
--Are they Ukrainians or something else entirely?
--Their dialects are the oldest Ukrainian dialects. How does that affect their status in Ukraine?
--What do they mean for the relationship between Ukraine and our two major Western neighbors (Poland and Slovakia)?

I'm really interested in finding out where the members of the Ukrainian-American, Ukrainian-Canadian, and, perhaps most importantly, the Ukrainian-Ukrainian populations stand on this issue.
-Viktoria Dnistrowska

[Nonson]

Vicki,

Me too

05.07.01

[k_loboznyuk]

Cheers Viktoria,

Of course Lemky and Bojky are Ukrainians, so long as they consider themselves Ukrainians. They speak the same language (with some minor modifications). They look the same (come on --- could anyone tell the difference between a guy from Lviv and a Ukrainian from Rzeszow?). So yeah, they're Ukrainians.

On the other hand, somebody needs to go and straighten out some of the easterners. The old kozak families are all fine but have any of you been to Poltava, Donetsk or Dnipropetrovsk recently? You might think you were over the border in Belgorod! Somebody needs to knock the Russian out of them over there!

Cheers,
Kristian Loboznyuk

[Lina]

Well, it might be hard knocking Russian out. Seems like the Eastern part of Ukraine has been influenced by Russian culture for a much longer period of time. Plus there is always going to be an influence due to the closeness of Russia. It's just natural. I think we just need time...and a lot of it

I'm curious...about Lemky and Bojky! Where do these names come from? and why they do not call themselves just Ukrainins? (I guess I'm confused) It seems like they are just the groups living in the sertain part of Ukraine that have their own dialect...As far as I know every rgion has it's own dialect???

[BenCA]

who are Lemky and Bojky?

I don't think there is Ukrainian-American community, its Ukrainian/Russian-American community. Every where I visited in USA, Ukrainians and Russians stay together, they do not separate from each other in little own communities. I think largest part of them live in American West, states like California and Washington have the most Ukrainians/Russians, in my opinion.

[Viktoria-D]

Hey all,

A few thoughts here....

First, with regard to Ukrainian communities in America: The vast majority of these are definitely Ukrainian and not mixed. When they are mixed, Ukrainians tend to stay closer to Poles in America than they do to Russians.
At Ellis Island, where I used to work, there is a large map that shows where the different ethnic groups in America and Canada live according to the census. Russians are concentrated in California, Arizona, Florida, Alaska, and New York. Russian Jews are concentrated all over the east coast, but especially in New York and New Jersey.
Ukrainians are concentrated in different parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Arizona. In Canada, Russians are found mostly in Quebec and Nova Scotia. Russian Jews are found almost entirely in Quebec. Ukrainians are found in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta. Interestingly, Poles are found in concentrations in exactly the same states as Ukrainians, with the exception of Arizona, but they are also in North Carolina.

Lemky and Bojky don't live in Ukraine. The Lemko people live in Southern Poland and the Bojko people live on the Polish/Slovakian border. They do not associate themselves with Zakarpatska Rus. They are separate. Yet they are obviously Ukrainian in nature, certainly not Polish or Slovak. The Polish tried to destroy them while the Slovaks tried to appease them. Today, many of them are not sure whether they are Ukrainian, Rusyn, or Their own separate sub-group of Eastern Slavs. They're in quite a rough spot. Their real claim to culture is that their dialects are the oldest Ukrainian-like dialects out there.

Hope this helps.
Viktoria

[BenCA]

from what i seen in california, Minnesota, and Florida, Russians and Ukrainians keep it together. after all, we do have similliar background

California is just a big home for both russians and ukrainians, thats where i live.
also, I don't see Washington included in that list. I have been in Washington and I have friends there, and there are a lot of Russians and Ukrainians live there.