 |
|
HOME OF THE ROMA.
In Romania,officialy 1.7 % of the population is Gypsie. Probably the real Roma population is an estimated 10 times bigger though. In the old Saxon area between Sibiu, Brasov and Sighisoara this percentage nowadays is even higher. Since the Saxons started to leave this area (since the eighties), many Gypsies (and other people) moved to this area from other parts of Romania. They settled in the houses and villages of the Saxons. Even before most Saxons migrated to Germany there lived already steady Gypsy minorities in this area. Now, in many villages Gypsies are the majority, while in no village Saxons make up the biggest part of the population.
There’s an ongoing discussion about the name ‘Gypsy’, some argue that it’s better to refer to this population as ‘Roma’. ‘Gypsy’ is considered by some as being discriminative. Here we choose to refer to these people as ‘Gypsy’, because the Gypsies and non-Gypsies in our village (and in the surrounding villages) refer to this population as ‘Tigani’ (Gypsies), rather than ‘Rromi’ (Roma). Next to that, most people are more familiar with the term ‘Gypsy’.
The classical idea about Gypsies is that they migrated from the north of India in the twelfth century, for unclear reasons. Some argue they were driven away by other hostile tribes, others argue they belonged to low casts of entertainers who were invited by the Persian court.
The first Gypsies appeared in Romania in the fifteenth century. The origins of these people were unclear. It seemed these ‘Indians’ picked up many habits from the lands they travelled through, and mixed with local populations. This is sustained by linguistic evidence. The Gypsies are no homogeneous population, it’s difficult to point out shared characteristics.
Nowadays, there are about 40 different groups of Gypsies in Romania, based on family bonds, profession, shared language or way of life (sedentary or nomadic), such as; ursarii (bear tamers), fierarii (ironworkers), lautarii (musicians) etcetera. About 60% of the Gypsies speak tiganeste, ‘Gypsy-language’, but most of them speak Romanian or Hungarian as well. Less than 5% of the Romanian Gypsies lead a nomadic lifestyle.
Soon after the first appearance of Gypsies in Romanian lands, they were declared ‘outlaws’ (like in other parts of Europe) and captured and held as slaves. Slavery was only banished in the late nineteenth century. As a result, there was and is a great mistrust between Gypsies and non-Gypsies.
Traditional Gypsy-way-of-life suffered a great deal during communism; they were forced (just as any other Romanian) in the communist system and had to give up their traditional occupations. Many started to work in factories and state farms. In a way it was good they were not considered a national minority by the communists, they didn’t have to suffer a policy of assimilation like other minorities who were forced to resettle in different parts of Romania not to make up a majority in certain areas.
Since 1989, after communism, people had to adjust to the free market system. Many Gypsies lost their jobs in the factories and farms, because of mistrust between Gypsies and non-Gypsies and because of the different conceptions some Gypsies have about work and education. Some groups returned to their traditional occupations such as handcrafters, horse (or car) sellers or musicians. Others found jobs, just as any other Romanian.
There are still many Gypsies who live in poverty. Many of them live in the outskirts of towns and villages, often in ghetto-like circumstances. Often they marry young, have more children than other Romanians are less educated and have more difficulties in finding a job because of different reasons.
In Valchid, like in other villages in this area, the majority of people are Gypsies. Most of these people don’t know which group they originally belonged to, and don’t seem too interested in it.These are referred to as being non-traditional Gypsies. They consider themselves Romanian, Romanian Gypsies. They differ from other populations in this area because usually they are darker and speak tiganeste next to Romanian and/or Hungarian. In some (neighbouring) villages Gypsies live a more traditional lifestyle, wearing colourful dresses and clothes, keeping to their traditions, occupations and language.These are referred to as traditional Gypsies, or Corturari.
|
|
 |
