Goryuns, also Horiuns or Horyuny ( uk, горюни), a little-documented ethnic group of

East Slavs The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert H ...

, live around

Putyvl Putyvl′Frank SysynBetween Poland and the Ukraine: The Dilemma of Adam Kysil, 1600-1653 - P. 25. (, ) or Putivl′ ( rus, Пути́вль, p=pʊˈtʲivlʲ) is a city in north-east Ukraine, in Sumy Oblast. The city served as the administrative c ...

, now in the Sumy Oblast of north-eastern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, in the past in

Kursk Governorate Kursk Governorate ( rus, Ку́рская губе́рния, r=Kúrskaya gubérniya) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, located in European Russia. It existed from 1796 to 1928; its seat was in the city of ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. The dialect of the Russian language spoken by Goryuns has some features of Belarusian and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

. Goryuns are considered a tiny sub-ethnos of

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

. Regardless, they consider themselves as distinct from other

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, as well as distinct from

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

living in the same region. Chronicles first mention Goryun villages in the sixteenth century, shortly after the annexation of the region to

Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 * Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...

. From this, the Belarusian scientist Fiodar Klimchuk concludes that the Goryuns might have lived in the region before the year 1500. Different hypotheses address the origins of the Goriuns. James Stuart Olson describes them as an Ukrainianized subgroup of the

Polekhs Polekhs (russian: Полехи) are a sub ethnic group of Russians settled along the Desna River and Seym River The Seim (also transcribed as Seym and Sejm, in ; ) is a west-flowing river in Russia and Ukraine. Its length is (250 km within Ukr ...

. According to Fiodar Klimchuk, the Goryuns may be descendants of local Severians or they might be of mixed Severian-

Radimich The Radimichs (also Radimichi) ( be, Радзiмiчы, russian: Радимичи, uk, Радимичі and pl, Radymicze) were an East Slavic tribe of the last several centuries of the 1st millennium, which inhabited upper east parts of the ...

stock, or their Severian ancestors might have moved to north-west and then returned. Some researchers believe that they are autochthonous to the region and are related to the local early Slavic population; according to others they descend from migrants from what is now

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

- mixed with the local population. Goryuns have a reputation for their unique style of polyphonic Singing. In 2017, in the village of Nova Sloboda, a museum of Horyun culture was opened, the exposition of which recreates the estate of the Horyuns of the late nineteenth - early twentieth centuries.

References

Russian sub-ethnic groups Sumy Oblast Ethnic groups in Ukraine Russians in Ukraine {{Europe-ethno-group-stub

See also

References