The Tatar identity

Łapicz (1986Łapicz 1986 / komentarz/comment/r /
Łapicz, Czesław 1986. Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich (Paleografia. Grafia. Język). Toruń: UMK.
) writes:

(...) the Lithuanian Tatars are sometimes called by terms which applies to a denomination, namely: Muslims, Muslimi (also the Lipka Tatars), Mahometans (always with a qualifying element - Lithuanian, Polish, from Bialystok...). The first two terms are adequate and unambiguous, if we consider the fact that for several centuries, religion was the only factor distinguishing the Tatars from Christians who live in Lithuania and in Poland. What is more, it is the only factor which actively integrates the Tatar community
(Łapicz 1986: 24Łapicz 1986 / komentarz/comment/r /
Łapicz, Czesław 1986. Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich (Paleografia. Grafia. Język). Toruń: UMK.
).

These words are still true, although the Polish Tatars identity research (e.g. Warminska 1999Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
) and the interviews with the representatives of the Tatar community show that the national aspect is equally important for the identity of Polish Tatars - the Tatars feel Polish. Poland is their country, of their own choice (Warminska 199: 199Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
) and as they emphasize - as Poles they have their own history and tradition.
Kamocki (1993Kamocki 1993 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kamocki, Janusz 1993. "Tatarzy polscy jako grupa etnograficzna", Rocznik Tatarów Polskich. Tom I. Gdańsk: Związek Tatarów Polskich, s. 43-47.
) believes that the concept of “nation” has evolved: before in Poland, a nation was defined by status, rather than e.g. a language - the farming Tatars formed a different group than the Tatar burghers (Kamocki 1993: 43Kamocki 1993 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kamocki, Janusz 1993. "Tatarzy polscy jako grupa etnograficzna", Rocznik Tatarów Polskich. Tom I. Gdańsk: Związek Tatarów Polskich, s. 43-47.
). Above all, we also have to remember that the Tatars had been brought to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania back in the tribal period to protect the borders from other Tatar tribes. The feeling of inter-tribal unity and the development of national identity related to it, were formed later, and the Tatars grew into the Polish national community (Kamocki 1993: 45-46Kamocki 1993 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kamocki, Janusz 1993. "Tatarzy polscy jako grupa etnograficzna", Rocznik Tatarów Polskich. Tom I. Gdańsk: Związek Tatarów Polskich, s. 43-47.
). Now the Tatars perceive nation, above all, in the territorial-citizen context (Warmińska 1999: 200Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
), and because of their strong connections with Poland for centuries, they see themselves as Poles. For part of the Tatars different origins are the indicators of being the representatives of other nation. For the majority, still one of the main indicators of a nation is a language, and because Tatar died out few centuries ago, the Polish Tatars are not a different nation (Warmińska 1999: 186-187Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
). On the other hand, Łapicz claims that despite losing the language the Tatars preserved the sense of national distinction (Łapicz 1986: 59-60Łapicz 1986 / komentarz/comment/r /
Łapicz, Czesław 1986. Kitab Tatarów litewsko-polskich (Paleografia. Grafia. Język). Toruń: UMK.
). It is true, though, that some Polish Tatars pay attention to the existence of the Tatar nation in the context of the Tatars dispersed all over the world - and the issue of national identity among the Tatars may not be so unambiguous. Quoting Michal Abramowicz, however, there is a need to emphasize that “the Polish Tatars, since they deserved with their own blood the epithet “Polish”, they have always felt Poles” [01.10.2012].
A domain, in which Tatars differ from the majority of Polish society and, at the same time, the one of the main elements of the Tatar identity is religion. Islam is for the majority of the Tatars, the indicator of being Tatar. It is often the only visible thing which distinguishes them from the rest of Poles. When asked if they see themselves as a minority in Poland, and if so, which one - the representatives generally reply: a religious minority (Warmińska 1999: 185Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
). For many Tatars the word ‘Tatar’ is practically a synonym for the word Muslim - every Tatar is a Muslim (Warmińska 1999: 146Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
). Part of the Tatar community beliefs, that everybody who converts to Islam can become a Tatar (Warmińska 1999: 152Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
). In Tatar awareness, those two notions are so closely related that very often it is unknown whether the usage of the word ‘Tatar’ brings the reference to ethnicity or religion. (Warmińska 1999: 151Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
). Moreover, this word differentiates them from other Muslims - the Tatars are Polish people of the Muslim confession, the Polish Muslims (Warmińska 1999: 147Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
). Being Polish is also to some extent the synonym for ‘Western lifestyle’ - the Tatars are Muslims, which are additionally enriched by co-creating Polish culture, and because of that they are different from other Muslims  (Warmińska 1999: 191Warmińska 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Warmińska, Katarzyna 1999. Tatarzy polscy. Tożsamość religijna i etniczna. Kraków: Universitas.
).