The Polish Community in Albuquerque

Overview and Brief History:
The country of Poland is located in Eastern Europe. It's northern border is the Baltic Sea, and it is surrounded by Germany to the west, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Belarus, Ukraine, and Southwestern Russia to the east. Poland is commonly compared in size to the state of New Mexico. 2000 census data shows that there are 11,211 people living in Albuquerque who claim Polish ancestry. The Polish community in Albuquerque was at one time a thriving community with an organization, the Polish-American Club International, which held annual festivals, musical events, and participated in Summerfest. Since both Summerfest and the Polish-American Club are no longer, Albuquerque's Polish community has struggled to maintain its cohesion as a group, as well as its cultural heritage.

The history of Poland is a politically complex one. Because of its location, the land of the Polanie ("people of the plains") has been embattled for much of its known history. According to legend, Polish people can trace their ancestry to Piast, one of three brothers who set out in different directions from the forests of Eastern Europe. Each of the brothers settled, founding the families that went on to become the Slavic nations.

Historically, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, several small Slavic tribes settled the region between the Vistula and Oder rivers between 800-960 AD. The Polanie tribe settled the plains of the Warta River basin that now make up the heart of Poland. The Polanie were strong and well organized politically. Throughout the tenth century they conquered neighboring tribes, coming to dominate the region. This area eventually came to be known as Wielkopolska, or Great Poland.

In 966, Duke Miezko I of the Piast Dynasty, which was named for the legendary founder of the Polanie tribe, and which reigned for almost 500 years, converted the country to Christianity. Because of territorial struggles with Germany, religious alliances were made with Rome instead. This started the relationship between Poland and Roman Catholicism that remains strong today.

Immigration to the United States and Albuquerque:
Polish presence in what is now North America predates Christopher Columbus by several years. John of Kolno, a Pole sailing for the King of Denmark, reached the coast of Labrador in 1476. The first group of Polish immigrants to the United States came to Jamestown in 1608, hired as skilled laborers by the London Company. They produced potash burners, pitch, tar and resin for ships, and also developed the timber industry. When they were excluded from voting they went on strike. They were such valuable workers that they were given the right to vote in July of 1619, becoming the first group in the new country to fight for civil rights.

While in 1864 Panna Maria, Texas, was settled by Polish immigrants led by Father Leopold Moczygemba, the largest wave of Poles came to America between the years 1888 and 1921. More than two million Poles came at that time. Overpopulation in Poland increased the need for workable land, while at the same time new technology in Europe and America had caused a surge in production, which in turn lowered crop prices. As the traditional agricultural economy began to fail, people were forced into other occupations. This trend, along with constant political unrest, and religious persecution brought these immigrants to America. In their new home, they were referred to as za chlebem, or "for bread", immigrants. Many were illiterate, and came as unskilled laborers. This is in contrast to earlier, smaller waves of Polish immigrants who had been intellectuals, political dissidents, and poorer nobility. The presence of this new group came to be seen as disadvantageous, even harmful, to the growing country, and eventually quotas were instated, for Poland as well as a number of other countries.

Many Poles settled in German and Czech farming communities in the Northeast and Midwest, or created their own. However, the majority of Poles landed in the cities, especially in New York and Chicago, which is still home to the largest Polish population outside of Poland. Large Polish communities also grew in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. Polish immigrants found jobs in the coal, iron, glass, and steel industries. As they had in the time of their earliest arrival to the United States, Poles became involved in workers' rights, and many played key roles in unionization.

Poland suffered immensely during WWII. Six million Poles lost their lives, and another 2.5 million were deported to Germany as forced labor. Half of those killed were Jews. The Jewish population in Poland was reduced from over three million before the war to about 100,000 after. The war, and the ensuing strengthening of Soviet control sent another wave of immigrants to America. Intellectuals and dissidents, many of this group had been imprisoned in camps during the war. This group of immigrants assimilated into "white collar" American life, and kept a distance from the earlier immigrants.

The newest wave of immigrants from Poland came in the 1980's, after the Solidarity movement, and the imposition of martial law. The majority of these immigrants are highly skilled workers, including a number of college professors.

Many of the Poles in Albuquerque are part of this wave of recent immigrants, and have come for employment - at UNM, Sandia Labs, and even to be Concertmaster of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra - as well as for education. Others have moved from older Polish settlements in the Northeast for employment and education; also for retirement and for the climate.

Language and Cultural Traditions:
The Polish language is part of the western portion of the Balto-Slavic family of Indo-European languages. Many of the recent immigrants and those who grew up in Polish settlements here in the US speak their language fluently. They have had varying degrees of success in passing the language on to their children. As of this writing there are no formal language classes being offered in Albuquerque, but there is a small group who meets at a seniors' center to take lessons from one native speaker in the community, and to practice conversing in the language.

There was for some time a Polish restaurant in Albuquerque called the Polish Kitchen. Although the restaurant no longer exists, there are still occasions when people of the community come together to make and eat Polish food. These events usually coincide with a holiday celebration, such as Christmas or Easter. Polish food is also served at the annual fundraiser for the St. Felix Pantry in Rio Rancho that is held the last Friday of every January. Members of the community get together well in advance to begin making the Galumkis, or stuffed cabbages. Many of the nuns who run this food distribution center are Polish-Americans.

Traditional Polish Easter foods include eggs, ham, Polish sausage, salad, horseradish in some form, whether sauce or soup, and a dessert. On Saturday, the day before Easter, these foods are brought in a basket to be blessed by a priest. The Polish priest in Albuquerque retired, so now the community relies on priests of other Catholic traditions to do the blessing. The Easter season also brings the Smigus-Dyngus holiday. The event is celebrated in Poland much differently than it is here in the United States. Immigrant communities in the US have celebrated this holiday with a dance that is accompanied by a Polish dinner.

Here in Albuquerque, there is an annual event at the German American Club. A long time Albuquerque Polish musician plays Polish folk music along with folk tunes from other European countries. There is a potluck dinner, and the food usually includes Polish Sausage, or Polska kielbasa, sauerkraut, potato dumplings called Pierogis, stuffed cabbages called Golabki (which means “little pigeons”), and Borscht, which is a cold beet soup. Usually between 100 and 400 people attend this celebration, which is seen as a "big blow out" to mark the end of Lent.

There are food traditions that are upheld in Albuquerque during the Christmas season, as well. The foremost of these is the abstinence from any meat other than fish on Christmas Eve, Wigilia. In Poland, dishes of carp, herring, or pike are served along with red borscht, wild mushroom soup, sauerkraut with wild mushrooms and peas, pierogis, and a dessert called Kutia, which is pudding-like and made of hulled wheat or barley, poppy seeds, honey, walnuts, currants, figs and dates. In Albuquerque, members of the community prepare fish dishes for the Christmas Eve dinner, along with red cabbage soup and one or more of the traditional foods. Some exchange the traditional Christmas wafers, which are like communion wafers, but larger, that often have honey sandwiched between them. After the Christmas Eve Mass, members of the community get together to eat meat dishes and drink alcoholic beverages, as is tradition in Poland, to end the Advent fast.

Artistic Traditions:
Both Polish visual arts and music are present in Albuquerque. Wycinanki, which means literally "to cut", is the Polish art of paper cut outs. The art of paper cutouts began in China several centuries ago, and in the 1600's spread throughout Europe by way of its Jewish communities. Polish peasants, who already had a tradition of painting stenciled designs inside and outside the house, and shepherds, who had a tradition of cutting designs from pieces of leather or tree bark, adapted these conventions when colored paper became available in the 19th century. Single-layered, simple designs, called Kurpie after the region in which they originated, were hung above doorways, from ceiling beams, and above windows. Wycinanki were made to be remade. They were hung both inside and outside the house and, as they were made of paper, were temporary. New ones were created, all family members participating, each Spring when the walls were whitewashed. Because of the season, many of the earliest designs had an Easter theme. As time passed both the themes of Wycinanki and the methods used to create them grew more complex. Other holidays were included, entire stories could be told; multiple layers and many colors were incorporated. These complex designs came to be known as Lowicz, again named for a region of Poland. Eventually Wycinanki could be seen on furniture and cupboards, could be used as wallpaper and table coverings, and to line shelves.

With growing urbanization, the art of Wycinanki died out during the early part of the 20th century. After WWII, the artistic tradition was revived by the Communist "People's Poland." The Communist regime invested in folk arts and as time passed and tourism increased, Wycinanki became an industry. Today, again, Wycinanki's popularity has declined. It has, however, been picked up by some of Poland's professional artists.

For Polish immigrants in the United States, Wycinanki and other Polish folk arts give their practitioners continued connection to the homeland. Wycinanki's heyday was in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and this is also when many rural, or peasant immigrants came to the U.S. Many of them brought Wycinanki with them. As with many of the folk arts practiced here in Albuquerque, Wycinanki may be kept alive in Poland's immigrant communities more certainly than in its home.The Museum of Folk Art in Santa Fe has a large collection of Wycinanki.

One Wycinanki artist here in Albuquerque is Elzbieta Kaleta. She immigrated from Krakow in 1981 and combines Polish artistic tradition with themes from her new home in the American Southwest. She has also passed on the tradition through mentor/apprenticeship grants from New Mexico Arts, and through presentations to local schools.

There are many forms of Wycinanki. Along with the simple Kurpie, and the more complex Lowicz, are Kodry, the Wycinanki which tell stories, Riband, Wycinanki used as ribbons or medallions, and Gwiadzy, which are symmetrical designs radiating out from a center axis. One other form of Wycinanki uses small paper cutouts to decorate eggs at Eastertime. This style is called Nalepianki, and it is a form of the Polish art of egg decorating called Pisanki. Pisanki, or "written," eggs are made each year a few days before Easter. They are taken with the rest of the food which will be the Easter dinner to the church the day before to be blessed by the priest. Pisanki eggs are often decorated with popular Easter themes, the Lamb with Resurrection banner, or Baranek, the pussy willow, which is often used in place of palm fronds on Palm Sunday, and the Cross. Easter greetings are also often painted on the eggs. Over time, particular designs, geometric or floral, have been developed by different regions.

As with Wycinanki, there are also many forms of Pisanki. The word Pisanki, itself, refers to eggs dyed using a batik process, and it is also used as an umbrella term to describe the entire art form. Kraszanki uses natural dyes, often onion skins or beets. The eggs done using this process are usually solid colors. The Drapanki style adds designs which are scratched into the surface. And, finally, Nalepianki, which uses paper cutout, yarn, and/or straw to further decorate the eggs.

There are classes in the Ukrainian form of Pisanki given every year just before Easter at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Church. The Ukrainian and Polish forms of this art are very similar, though not identical.

Our lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Church

Polish music in Albuquerque is expressed in two distinctly different arenas. There are several musicians in Albuquerque who play Polish folk music. One musician, a second generation immigrant who came to Albuquerque in 1948 from a Polish community in Southern Illinois, began by playing the popular tunes of the time for his neighbors in Los Alamos. He formed a band, himself on accordion, and quickly added the Polish polkas, and immigrant tunes he had learned as a child. The band has also played folk tunes from Germany, Ireland, France, Austrian and Slovenia. Eventually, the Polish tunes played by the band included waltzes, obereks, and krakowiaks.

Polish folk music is traditionally played to accompany dances. There are five so-called national dances of Poland. These include the two which are performed in Albuquerque, the oberek and the krakowiak, as well as the polonaise, mazur, and kujawiak. The oberek, which originated in Central Poland, is considered to be the most lively of these dances. The name is derived from the verb obracac sie, which means "to spin". This is a couples' dance and is triple meter. This dance contains the Mazurka rhythms, which consist of a pattern of two short notes followed by two long notes. Couples form a circle and rotate both around the circle and around their own axis. They move counterclockwise, or "against the sun." The most important instrument for playing this music is the violin. The violin is often accompanied by a large drum and an accordion. In some areas of Poland, a clarinet is also added.

Whereas the oberek originated as a peasant dance, the krakowiak was created to be danced in a ballroom. These dances date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, and were played by the organ and the lute. The krakowiak became a favorite of composers beginning in the 19th century and was transformed into an "extensive virtuosic form." It's popularity extended past the boundaries of Poland to Austria and France, and at that time came to be known as a "national dance" of Poland.

The band of Albuquerque musicians, who had their own television show, "The NBC Trio Show" in the fifties, still plays every year at the Smigus-Dyngus celebration, as well as other celebrations both within and without the Polish community.

Folk music and folklore also influenced the "classical" music of Poland, the beginnings of which arose within a religious context. The most well-known of the classical Polish composers are Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and, more recently, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki. There is an outlet in Albuquerque for the performance of this kind of Polish music, as well. The concertmaster and a featured soloist for both the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the Albuquerque Chamber Orchestra is an accomplished violinist from Poland. During this year's season the NMSO will perform Henryk Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2 in d minor, Op. 22, with the Polish violinist as guest conductor.

Annual Events and Celebrations:
Two holidays and the Polish traditions that have grown up around them are still very important to the Polish community of Albuquerque. These are Easter and Christmas. On Easter Saturday, the food that is going to eaten for the Easter meal on Sunday is taken in a basket to the priest to be blessed. Eggs, which are the symbol of new life, are always a big part of the Easter meal. The eggs are decorated in any of the pisanki traditions. The Easter basket will also include ham, Polska Kielbasa, the Polish sausage which is heavily flavored with garlic, pastries and anything else that will be a part of the meal, including the seasonings.

Smigus-Dyngus, the Monday after Easter, is also a holiday in Poland. This is a day of celebration, after the solemnity of lent. In the Polish tradition this is a day when boys try to drench girls with as much water as possible. The boys use squirt guns and even buckets. It is said that girls who are squirted with more water are more likely to get married. Older men spray their wives with cologne mixed with water rather than with water only. The following day girls have the opportunity to reciprocate by spraying the boys. This ritual most likely has its roots in Pagan spring rites of purification and fertility It is also related to the birth of Christianity in Poland, as this day marks the anniversary of the baptism of Mieszko I and his court in 966. Polish immigrants in the United States have traditionally celebrated Smigus-Dyngus with a dance. In Albuquerque a celebration is held annually at the German-American Club. Traditional Polish foods are prepared, and a band plays Polish music.

Christmas Eve, or Wigilia, is a celebration in Poland that is considered by some to be even more important than Christmas Day. The word Wigilia comes from the Latin word vigilare, which means "to watch". This refers to the tradition of sending a child of the family outside in the evening to watch for the first star, which signals the beginning of the Wigilia meal.

December 24th was significant in Pre-Christian Poland also. This is the day that follows the longest night and shortest day, and was considered to be the last day of the year. On this day in Poland, a young girl in the family would bring water was into the house from the nearest stream. It was believed that on this day the water had the ability to heal and bless the household, and all members of the family bathed in it. Males of the family brought boughs of fir and spruce from the forest to decorate the house. The table upon which the Wigilia meal was to be served was covered with hay and a white tablecloth. The blessed Christmas wafer, or Oplatek, was placed in the center. Before the meal was consumed the family prayed together and then shared the Oplatek, exchanging good wishes. The Wigilia dinner is traditionally served with no meat other than fish. The sweet dish Kutia is the first dish to be eaten, and red borscht, cabbage, sauerkraut, beans, noodles, dumplings, potatoes, dried fruit, apples and nuts follow, along with the fish. After dinner the family gathers to sing carols and exchange gifts, before the Midnight Mass. Midnight mass is called Pasterka, or "Shepherd Mass", to remember the shepherds who were the first to greet the infant Christ.

In Albuquerque, some members of the community have integrated the Hispanic tradition of Luminarias into the Wigilia celebration. Members get together after the Pasterka to break the advent "fast" with meat dishes and alcoholic beverages.

During the time when the Polish-American Club was still a functioning organization, it sponsored a New Year's Eve party and an annual picnic, among other events. There was also a time when monthly Polish concerts were presented, but they were not well enough attended to be continued.

Conclusions:
On September 19th, 2002, the City of Albuquerque's Human Rights Office adopted a resolution that recognized the contributions of the city's Polish citizens, as well as the contributions of notable Polish immigrants to the United States. Casimir Pulaski was a Polish Brigadier General who fought for US Independence, and Stanislaw Ulam was a mathematician and scientist who helped in the development of the hydrogen bomb in Los Alamos, as well as being one of the first to recognize the potential for use of computers in scientific research. This recognition is appreciated by Albuquerque's Polish community. The community also feels the city's removal of Summerfest very deeply. There are new immigrants to the area who are enthusiastic, and want to try to generate new social events with greater community involvement, but many older members of the community feel that the loss of Summerfest was the final blow to an already struggling community.