The highlanders, in the south of the country, especially around Zakopane, right?
My Polish pal called them "the mountain guys" - I think he was referring to that group of people.
Kind of like hillbillies, Appalachian types, Scots-Irish mountain people in our country.
He said southern Poland and points south - but he never used the Polish word.
They appeared to be people you didn’t want to mess with, albeit perhaps considered a little slow compared with city folk.