Nomadic peoples of Europe

[Rev. Allen M. Drago ~ Traveler]

Nomadic peoples of Europe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Europe the settled lifestyle has long been the norm, but some small nomadic communities exist or have existed recently.

Roma people

By far the most important and best known of these communities are the Roma people, often known in English as "Gypsies". This is a community of Indian origin, which entered Europe in early modern times.

However there are also some smaller communities which have sometimes been labelled Gypsies for convenience or by accident. The Roma used to refer to some of these groups as didicoy.

Yeniche

In Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria there exist so-called white Gypsies who are known under the names of Jenische (German), [Yéniche][1] (French), and Yenish or Yeniche (English). Their language seems to be grammatically identical with other (Swiss) German dialects; the origin of the lexicon, however, incorporates German, Romani, Yiddish and other words.

Indigenous Norwegian Travellers

In Norway there is a small group of people who call themselves Reisende; i.e. indigenous Norwegian Travellers. Confusingly, this term is also used by the so-called Tater people (the biggest population of Romani people in Norway and Sweden). Unlike the Tater people, however, the indigenous Norwegian Travellers are non-Roma by culture and origins, and they do not speak any form of Romani language.

Irish Travellers and Scottish Travellers

There is a group of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom called Irish Gypsies or Irish Travellers. In Scotland, Scottish Travellers are known as ceardannan (Scottish Gaelic the craftsmen, or 'Black Tinkers'), or poetically as the "Summer Walkers", also known in English as tinkers, such as Gitanos (Spain), Zingari (Italy), or Cigány (Hungary) for Roma). As this term became a pejorative among the settled community, the terms Irish Travellers or (in Scotland) simply Travellers emerged as a more neutral name. They are not Roma, but their nomadic culture has been influenced by Roma. The language of the Irish Travellers, Shelta, is mainly based on an Irish Gaelic lexicon and an English grammar, with influence from Romani. Similarly, Scottish Gypsy Travellers speak Cant, a mixture of Scots, Gaelic and Romani. The North Highland Travellers also spoke an almost defunct form of Gaelic backslang known as Beurla Regaird. The Highland Travellers are believed to have arrived in Scotland in the late Middle Ages and, although it is not known from where or how, it is known that although in recent centuries they have mixed with Romani and other travellers, that cultural and genetic studies indicate substantial similarity with the Sami and Inuit and Northern Siberian populations. [1] [2]

Quinqui

The quinqui or mercheros of Spain are a minority group, formerly nomadic, who share a lot of the way of life of Spanish Roma. There are a few theories about their origin: they may be peasants who lost their land in the 16th century, descendants of Muslims who took to nomadism to avoid persecution, or marginalised people who have mixed with Roma. Most likely they are a mixture of all of the above. In spite of sharing persecution and mores with the Roma, the quinqui have often set themselves apart from them.

Travelling Showpeople/Show Travellers

Finally, there are the Occupational Travellers - Travelling Showpeople/Show Travellers (known in France as Forains Industriel), Circus and Bargees. These groups formed around particular crafts and professions that required frequent mobility. Groups such as Travelling Showpeople usually follow a set pattern of nomadism year after year. Membership of these groups have, over the years been drawn from other communities (including, in the case of Fairgrounds and circuses, Roma people). As a result Occupational Travellers are not defined as an ethnic group, even though they display certain common features; they tend to be insular favouring intermarriage resulting in long lineages and a strong sense of cultural homogeneity (The Showman's Guild of Great Britain and Ireland requires that applicants for membership have a parent from the Show Traveller community).[3] Further examples include the use of Parlyaree/Polari among Fairground Travellers in the UK and the development of unique jargons, customs and traditions [4] Linguistically, many Occupational Travellers in the fairground and circus worlds have cultural affinities with Roma groups, such as significant traces of the Romani language and matriarchial forms of social organisation.

References

1. ^ The Summer Walkers
2. ^ Origins of the Summer Walkers.
3. ^ National Fairground Archive.
4. ^ [Dallas, Duncan, (1971) The Travelling People, 9780333002971]