(Roma information (Roma information booklet)

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Roma
Roma people
(Roma information booklet)
booklet)
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The Roma families have very different situations and living conditions.
Some of them have already assimilated, work regularly and build new
houses.
However, public educational institutions often complain because the
more Roma children are at schools, the more problematic children are.
Most Gypsy children can be characterised as noisy, impatient and
uneasy. Their values are also very different. They express love in a
very special way. These problems start at kindergarten and this is
where education must be started.
The disadvantages arising from the Gypsy children’s social
circumstances can primarily be observed in the field of speech
development. The identity of children belonging to the minority must
be preserved more efficiently.
We can overcome all these problems if we get to know and accept the
culture and traditions of the Gypsies. For this, teachers must obtain
experience and get acquainted with the history of their migration so
that they can teach it to the children. They must influence the children
through their own culture and traditions. At kindergartens, children can
raise positive emotions for and interest in Gypsy culture by listening to
Gypsy tales, poems and songs. We aim to present their culture, make
them accept their culture and we accept their culture at kindergarten
age, too.
You can find a lot of interesting information in this booklet. If you
become interested in this topic, we hope that you will read about it in
more detail.
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The Roma in Europe
There are few surviving sources about the period between the Roma’s
departure from their native land and their arrival in Europe. According
to the most accepted view, they come from India. They must have
come to Europe as early as in the early 1300s, which is proven by a
document from 1303. This document mentions that five villages were
attached to the convent in Marmaris, and Gypsies lived in two out of
the five villages. According to certain sources, the Roma were flown as
the slaves of the Tartars around the Carpathians. In the first half of the
14th century, the Gypsy slaves, together with the Tartars taken as
prisoners in Bessarabia, became slaves of the Romanians. In Romania
the Gypsies lived as slaves until the middle of the 19th century.
In 1945 Count Margrave Alexander described his pilgrimage and
mentioned a town called Medon, which consisted of 100 - 200
thatched-roofed huts with inhabitants similar to the Gypsies in his
native land.
The Roma living on the Balkan Peninsula must have wanted to escape
to more peaceful lands from the Turkish conquests. In the Gypsy
village called Gyppe near Medon, only 30 houses remained of the 300
houses when the place was occupied by the Turkish.
The Roma in Hungary
The Gypsies used to migrate in tribal communities consisting of the
association of Gypsy families, so they only knew public property. They
regulated their lives with strict internal rules. They could not become
member of guilds. The first written document about their appearance
in Hungary is King Zsigmond’s letter of protection, which was followed
by the decrees of Queen Izabella, Ferenc Rákóczi I and II. These
documents show that their crafts were useful in the underdeveloped
regions. This is where their first conflicts with the Hungarians must
arise from. They were not bound but could serve the nation as
gunsmiths.
Most of them took up Hungarian as their native language. In the 1760s
new groups arrived from Transylvania. They spoke a different dialect of
the language. Another migration wave from Transylvania appeared in
the second half of the 19th century; this time people rather migrated
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towards the West. They were known as “Oláh” Gypsis or “Vlashikorom”.
At the turn of the century Gypsies whose mother tongue had mixed
with the Romanian language arrived from the Bánát. They call
themselves “Beásh” or “Vlaxo-rom”.
In Hungary the “Oláh” Gypsies reserve the language, culture, folk
music, traditions and customs the most strongly. They arrived under
the leadership of the vajda (deputy of the King), in strong tribal- genus
communities. They can trace their tribes back several centuries. They
established their financial well-being with horse trade and metal work.
The carpet and fishing (“máshár” and “collar”) tribes were the last to
arrive. Their language bears strong Romanian effects.
Two plans were developed for the settlement of the Gypsies. The first
plan was also supported by Archduke and aimed to settle the Roma
into one single place, in large masses and make them work. According
to the other plan, Gypsies should be settled down at the edge of the
villages. During this period prejudices could be observed clearly. In
1916 the Gypsies’ horses were declared as loot, and they were taken
into the army according to a decree. It was difficult to specify who is a
Gypsy. The act did not solve the problems of the period including the
labour and social difficulties. It expressly stated not to consider the
Gypsies as citizens of full value. The livelihood of the Roma was made
even more difficult when a decree issued in 1931 stiffened the issuance
of migrant craft’s licences, which made their employment even more
difficult. In 1938 a decree was passed by the Ministry of the Interior
stating that any Gypsy person shall be deemed as a suspicious person.
Persecutions started.
Later three Gypsy groups were distinguished. The first group included
people who had already adapted to the society, the second group
consisted of those who were adapting and the third group covered
those who lived as Gypsies. The obligation to educate children was
extended to Gypsy children, too. In the schools not even the teachers
knew what the Gypsies were like because they had them only from
hearsay Gypsy classes were formed for their catch-up. Gypsy children
were very often qualified as mentally disabled and sent to special
needs schools. A party resolution was passed concerning the
elimination of Gypsy ghettos. The so-called “C” houses were built that
time. A party resolution passed in 1979 classified the Gypsies as an
ethnic group. The traditional Gypsy crafts revived in a new form. Horse
dealers became antique dealers, and carpet dealers became pullover
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dealers. Musicians worked in catering positions. Gypsy organisations
managed from above were formed.
The Gypsies’ Cultural Association was founded. Several Gypsy
institutions and organisations were set up. They organised camps for
children, promoted their further studies, financed ethnographic
research, and promoted the Gypsy fine arts.
The employment of Gypsies has drastically decreased recently. Large
corporations and worker’s hostels were closed down. Huge crowds of
Gypsies started to migrate into the capital city with their families. The
number of squatters increased drastically. The schools in Budapest had
to struggle with the problem that more and more teenagers often still
went to senior school. At the change of regime, the Gypsies were left
alone again. By that time, unemployment had become very high. The
number of homeless increased. The poor got even poorer and the rich
became even richer. In July 1993 the Parliament adapted the act
concerning the rights of ethnic minorities. Minority municipalities were
formed in 1994. It was stated that Gypsies were the only ethnic
minority in Hungary.
61% of the Gypsies live in villages, 40% in small villages having less
than a thousand inhabitants.
The two main reasons for the high unemployment rate among the
Gypsies are the lack of qualifications and the place of residence
because most Gypsies live in areas stricken by the highest rates of
unemployment. We can also add that the Gypsies had usually found
jobs in the industrial sectors that were the first to collapse. They are
prevented from continuing their studies because their parents have no
solid financial background and discrimination is often present, too. But
the model children bring from home is also important because parents
often have no high qualifications and do not appreciate studying hard.
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In Hungary the Roma belong to three large groups in terms of
language. One of the groups is the “Gypsy musicians”, the Romungro.
They are Hungarian Gypsies speaking in Hungarian. People in the
second group speak both Hungarian and Gypsy. They are the “Oláh”
Gypsies, who call themselves “Rom”. The Romanian Gypsies or “Beás”
in the third group speak Hungarian and Romanian.
About the Roma language and linguistic relatedness
The European Gypsy dialect has a lot of versions including Russian
Gypsy, Latvian Gypsy, Polish Gypsy, German Gypsy, and Czech,
Slovakian, Hungarian and Vend Gypsy languages. Most of them speak
Lovari in Hungary.
Gypsy language is defined as the original Indo-European language.
This language is not used by all Gypsy groups as their mother tongue.
The most important Indo-European language families are Greek,
Macedon, Latin, Slavic languages, as well as Ind and Iranian
languages. Very often there are conspicuous similarities between the
different languages. The similarity of the vocabulary is owing to the
linguistic relatedness. The history of the Gypsy language is shown by
the loan-words that got into their language during their migration.
These words also show the influences on the Gypsy language.
The Hungarian language has also borrowed words from the Gypsy
language such as ‘kaja’ (slang word for food), ‘pia’ (slang word for
drink). Also, there are some other words in the Hungarian language
that are of Gypsy origin but have lost their connection to the Gypsy
environment, for instance the Hungarian words ‘csaj’ and ‘csávó’ that
originally only meant Gypsy girl and boy. Most of our words of Gypsy
origin is not used in the literary language but specific to the patter. We
have got about a hundred words of Gypsy origin.
Today two-thirds of the Hungarian Gypsies do not speak any dialect of
the Gypsy language. Their mother tongue is the Hungarian language.
The acquisition of the language largely depends on the fact in what
social environment the child is brought up.
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The Roma culture
During their migration, the Gypsies built certain elements of other
nations’ culture on the basis of the Ind, creating a unique Gypsy
culture that is different from that of any other nation.
For many centuries, the Roma culture has been transmitted by orality
in the lack of literacy. The mythic elements of imagination and reality
can be found next to each other. Their content can usually be
described with the duality of wonderful beliefs and events occurred.
Folk poetry The Roma literature can be divided into folk poetry and
formulaic poetry. Both are the collection of lyric and epic pieces of art.
The most important epic pieces of art of the Roma folk poetry are
tales, while their lyric works include reciting poems, enchanter rhymes,
lullabies, mourning poems and thief songs.
Fairy tales Tales help the Roma people tell human problems. Tales
are born right on the site and cannot be repeated. Tales are created by
the whole community together. Telling tales and stories cannot be
attached to collective work occasions in the case of the Roma people.
Plenty of men commuted to work to Budapest from Baranya, Szabolcs
Counties and the Nyírség (the so-called black train). Gypsies often
entertained each other with tales during the long train journeys. The
tradition of story-telling has had a long tradition in this region. Very
often story-telling competitions were organised. Another important
task of story-telling is that the main target group is children. Roma
mothers not only entertained their children but transmitted the
customs in the form of fairy tales so that children can get acquainted
with the ordinary customs earlier.
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Music
The Gypsies used to be migrant musicians in their native land. They
did not stop playing music after arriving in Europe. Gypsies played
music for Queen Beatrix in Hungary in 1489. Gypsies played music
during the breaks of horse races in the court of King Lajos II in 1525.
Gypsies were hired as musicians in the Turkish army, too. Panna
Czinka and her father, two Gypsies played for Ferenc Rákóczi II
Transylvanian. The base melody of the Rákóczi March can be derived
from them, too. A rising army usually had 24 musicians. A half of them
played the strings and the other half the winds. György Lévai Gypsy
smith asked the local administrative leader to allow him to play music
in 1804. Görgey’s quarter-deck rollicked after the battles in 1848.
Gypsy bands were among the soldiers of the Revolution and War of
Independence, too. They promoted national resistance until the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867.
One of the key figures of Gypsy musicians is Pista Dankó. He was a
globe-trotting musician and composer. In his birth town, Szeged a
society was formed to foster his memory and in 1999 his statue was
also erected.
The elements of “verbunkos” appeared in the pieces of European
classical music, and the Gypsy orchestras managed to visit most
European countries. The aristocracy of the Gypsies emerged. Only few
of the original Gypsy songs survived. (Gypsy laments; Duj duj duj,
desuduj)
Outstanding Hungarian Gypsy musicians: Imre Magyari, Sándor
Járóka, László Berki, Lajos Boros. Gypsy artists playing classical music
are: Aladár Rácz Kossuth Award dulcimer artist; György Cziffra pianist;
László Kóté violinist, and Ede Banda cello artist.
The majority society started to get acquainted with the original Gypsy
folk music in the 1980s. The most famous pieces of art are the
following: Jag Kalyi – Black Fire; Drom – On the road; Rota Rományi Cartwheel; Temipe - Youth; Szuno Amaro – Our Dream.
Dances
Dance has always been an important part of Gypsy culture. They have
taken over numerous dances from their environment, and their
environment has taken over from them, too. Dance is a central
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element of their self-expression. In the 1970s and 1980s more and
more folklore ensembles were formed in Hungary.
Quick dance: Gypsies dance it both in pairs and in solo. Men usually
dance in solo, while women only on special occasions.
Paired dance: The dancers are usually a man and a woman. During the
dance they keep watching each other and talk to each other with their
gestures. According to the ceremony, the man dances as is he was to
attach the women and the woman pretends to bear it. They never
touch each other. The woman takes little steps and varies steps of
paired rhythm.
Stick songs and dances: Stick songs are the accompanying music of
stick dances. It has two forms: the first is danced by two men, while
the other is danced by a man and a woman. The dancers usually play
that two men struggle for a girl or a woman.
The Gypsies often accompany their dance melodies with an oral bass
phrase. They give percussion effects with spoons, claps, water cans
and so on. The lyrics of the dance songs are usually cheerful and
nippy. The singer “speaks out” of the song and encourages the dances.
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The religion of the Gypsies is usually Catholic. They were forced to take
up this religion because belonging to the Christian Church meant some
kind of protection to them in any historical age.
The Gypsies rarely go to church They consider the Christmas midnight
mass, holy communion and christening important. Gypsy weddings and
funerals were held in family circle, without a priest, in the presence of
the ‘vajda’ or the oldest Gypsy. The only prayer they preach is Our
Father in Heaven. They have their own prayers and entreaties. They
keep the fast on Good Friday. Although they do not live a deeply
religious life, their folk songs are very often about God.
They believe in the close and unbreakable connection between the
dead and the living people. In their death-related customs woven with
superstitions, it is important that the memory of the dead be fostered.
The ‘Oláh’ Gypsies talk about the deceased as if they were still alive.
When Gypsies get in trouble, they often pray to their deceased for
help. According to their traditions, the dead continue their lives on the
other world in the same way as on earth: they eat, drink, smoke and
do the same things as in their lives. According to their belief, the only
difference between their earthly lives and afterlife is that women do
not give birth to children in afterlife. Everybody remains the same as
they were when they got there. For instance, the lame remains lame.
Any person who was operated on in earthly life is not considered as a
man of full value in afterlife. This is why they are reluctant to autopsy.
Gypsy dishes are typical. They rarely cook soups. Gypsies love meat
very much. If Gypsies can afford it, they fry meat or prepare a stew
every day. Meat cabbage is their national dish.
The catering customs derive from India, too. They host anybody who
visits them. They offer their guests food and drink, and if their offer is
rejected they are hurt. Guests are supposed to give a welcome speech,
too. They lay the table first for the guests and then fort he hosts and
hostesses. The dishes are always served by women. On the other
hand, the drinks are handled by men. If there is no hot meal, the
Gypsies serve bacon, bread and onions to the guests. If there is no
drink at home, they send their children to buy some, even if they have
to borrow some money for it. Nothing is more important than treating
your guest. The Gypsies look forward to the holidays with great
preparations. They expect a lot of guests and cook a lot. In such cases
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money does not matter, the only important thing is that the guests can
have enough food and drink.
No festivals can be imagined without singing and dance. This singing is
spontaneous; still, there is always something traditional in it. It is
always the best singer or the host who starts a slow song and then the
others join him, extending the song a bit. A slow song is always
followed by a fast one. They even dance to it, but those going to dance
first give a brief welcome speech. The singer may also improvise a new
lyrics suiting the given occasion, sometimes weaving himself or the
celebrated person into the song.
The number of Gypsies
In Hungary the Roma comprise the largest minority. According to the
estimations, there are 700-800 Gypsies today, but others refer to 1
million persons.
During the census in 1990, 142,683 Gypsies, while during the census
in 2001, 190,046 persons claimed to be of Gypsy nationality. This
number is only a fourth of the estimated Roma population.
Before the census in 2011, a campaign was launched so that the
number of the Roma population was specified. The name of the
campaign was “WE BELONG HERE!”. The problem is that many people
do not assume their Roma origins and thus it is difficult to specify their
exact number. However, if we want appropriate programmes to be
launched in the field of Roma integration and catch-up, we should
know the exact number of the target group. But many people rather do
not assume their origin owing to the prejudices and history.
Besides the above, there are others who assume to be Gypsies
because of the positive discrimination without having Gypsy ancestors.
The Hungarian Roma belong to three large linguistic groups: the
‘Romungro’ speaking Hungarian, the ‘Oláh’ Gypsies speaking both
Hungarian and Romani, and the ‘Beás’ Gypsies speaking Hungarian
and archaic Romanian.
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Roma ethnic municipalities
Roma ethnic municipalities are a key institution for the representation
of the Roma interests, representing ethnic interests at local, county
and national levels, fostering the traditions and influencing the
decision-makers in Roma-related issues. They can be key agents of the
Roma catch-up and Roma integration. At the same time, certain
conditions must be met for such ethnic municipalities, so they cannot
operate in any settlements inhabited by Roma people.
Non-profit sector, associations
The Gypsies have a wide-spread network of over 600 dynamically
developing non-profit organisations and foundations.
Associations may apply for plenty of sources. The programmes realised
in this way largely facilitate the Roma integration. The programmes
may be boosted by the Roma integration efforts of the European Union
and the national Roma integration strategies.
The Decade of the Roma Integration Programme
The Decade of the Roma Integration Programme is realised between
2005 and 2015 with the support of the World Bank and the EU. Nine
Central-Eastern European countries participate in the programme. It
aims to co-ordinate the fight against discrimination and promote the
social integration of the Roma. The Programme was elaborated along
four key priorities focusing on the partnership between the majority
and the Roma population (education, employment, healthcare and
housing) in the form of an action plan, which is implemented by each
Member State on their own.
The New Hungary Development Plan (ÚMFT)
According to the status analysis of ÚMFT, the employment, average
qualifications, life standard, housing conditions and health condition of
the Roma is far below that of the whole society. To eliminate the
multiple disadvantages, we need well-coordinated programmes that
cover the employment, educational, healthcare and cultural fields, the
economy, the housing conditions and the social institutions.
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During the development of the operative actions, the complex
problems of the settlement and residential environment mostly
stricken by social segregation and the Roma employment situation
were also taken into consideration. The funds required for the
implementation of the tasks specified in the action plan are basically
included in the ÚMFT.
Anti-discrimination tasks
Considering the governmental actions aiming to provide equal
opportunities for the Roma, the Judicial Department has run the Roma
Anti-Discrimination Customer Service Network since October 2001.
This Network is a legal aid service that expressly covers cases where
the clients were insulted owing to their Roma origin.
The attorney provides the services for the clients free of charge.
Civil Law Protection Offices
The Law Protection Offices maintained by the Roma civil organisations
pursue their activities with the help of tender funds.
This publication has been produced with the financial support of the
European Union’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the
European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole
responsibility of Former State Fostered Children’s Association and can in
no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.
© Roma SOURCE date of creation: July 2012
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