#erromintxela

[bimdraws]

For queer people worlwide

If you speak any of the languages listed below you would greatly help me out if you could teach me LGBT+ vocabulary, either through DMs or just in the replies/reblogs. I'm building a global LGBT+ dictionary but some languages are just harder to access in my side of the world.

The languages are the following (in no particular order):

Kashmiri

Caribbean Hindustani

Selk'nam

Ossetian

Bolze

Erromintxela

Petu/petuh

Huilliche

Hmong

#Huilliche #Kashmiri #Caribbean hindustani #selk'nam #selknam #hmong #erromintxela #petuh #ossetian #langblr #polyglot #language #languages #idiomas #LGBT #LGBT+ #LGBTQ #LGBTQI #LGBTI #LGBTA #LGBTQIA #LGBTQIA2S #Queer #LGBTTT #lgbtq community

[elbiotipo]

Fun language/culture fact that most people have probably never heard about:

Erromintxela is the name given to Basque Romanis, and it’s also their language. It's a Kalderash dialect + Euskara pidgin. It’s completely impossible to understand for any Basque, Castilian or Caló speaker, and that was the goal: when Kalderash people established themselves in Euskal Herria around 1425-1450, they mixed up their own language with the one they heard from non-Roma to make understanding impossible and thus maintain privacy. Erromintxela people consider themselves Basque in the first place, Erromintxela in second, and finally, Roma. In fact, they differenciate themselves from other Roma people whom they call hankagorriak, lit. meaning “the red-legged ones”.

Sadly though, there are only around 500 Erromintxela speakers left in Hegoalde (Southern/Spanish Euskal Herria) - and most of them are older than 80. It isn’t being passed onto the following generation, so middle-aged Basque Romanis can understand it but can’t speak it, and the younger generations can’t even understand it, as Castillian, Basque and Caló are their preferred languages. In Iparralde (Northern/French Euskal Herria) there are around another 500 speakers left, although there exists a generational teaching, so Erromintxela will survive longer there.

I didn't know about this! In fact, the history of Romani people in Spanish (or rather Iberian) and Latin American societies is quite unique, it's a topic I haven't researched that much!

I'll link to Wikipedia so I can learn more about this.

[beautiful-basque-country]

Saw this comment on a youtube video talking about the Romani language in Europe, on a reply to someone talking about the Erromintxela, and add to share here 😁:

The Basque have a lot of the same superstition as we [Roma] do and their dialect have a lot of Sanskrit words.. they don't trust outsiders either. And they have very high percentage of Rh neg blood factor like we do as well. I wonder if they were like that before we got there or if we influenced each other afterwards. I also like very much their math... 4+3=1

Kaixo anon!

The comment is so wrong in so many levels...

our dialect?????

a lot of sanskrit words?? would love to hear the author of the comment elaborate on that, actually

Roma people are believed to have reached the Iberian peninsula around the 14-15th century, and have always been a minority, rejected by the rest and closed (won't discuss if this closure have been historically voluntary or not). So to think that Roma people have even had the chance to change our Rh as a people - or the other way around, that Rh negative Basque people have mixed with Roma SO much as to change their Rh - is absolutely surreal.

#euskadi #euskal herria #basque country #pais vasco #pays basque #roma people #history #the things we have to read #anons

[odditycircus-2002]

Would You Believe These are The Same Person?

And to go along with these drawings, 10 facts about Corbin:

Corbin likes the taste of coffee with Haitian coffee being her favorite.

She’s fought in both World Wars

She had an older and adopted sister, who was the biological daughter to their mother, Radda. That sister’s name is Lavinia.

She’s multilingual which includes, Romani (mostly central Romani), Erromintxela, French, Haitian Creole, German, Italian, Dutch, Xosha, Spanish, Creole French, English, etc.

She enjoys the occasional fruit with her favorite being peaches.

She’s bisexual and was once married to a pirate captain.

The shade of Corbin’s eyes can change depending on mood. Redder for when enraged. Lighter Golden when happier. The colors seem to dim when she’s in a depressed mood. Bright yellow for fear.

She has symptoms of PTSD which also came with the effect of delusional parastrosis.

She’s intuitive on whether or not someone is telling the truth, although it’s harder to pick up when it’s a half lie or if a person doesn’t know if it’s a lie themselves.

She doesn’t know how to drive a car but knows how to sail.

#Oddball writes #Corbin Delahaye #Jeepers Creepers #The Creeper #Creeper #OC x canon #Oddball art #hand drawn art #pencil #monster OC #cw: blood #horror movie #horror film

[factoidfactory]

Random Fact #914

The language commonly known as “Spanish” is actually called Castilian. Spain has many other distinct languages, including 

Basque

Extremaduran

Asturian

Catalan

Aranese/Occitan

Aragonese

Galician

Caló

Cantabrian

Fala

Erromintxela

Eonavian

#spanish #basque #spain #catalan #castilian #language facts #Did You Know #extremadura #aragones #galician #languages #latin language #romance languages #little known fact #asturian #cantabrian #eonavian #just so's you know #i'm just saying #erromintxela #calo #occitan #random and true #random facts #random factoids #random but true #random factoid

[guillemelgat]

I’ve been studying way too many languages at the same time the past few days, and for some reason this morning I was reading an article about Erromintxela, and....like please don’t ever read about para-languages of two of your target languages, it’ll really throw you in for a loop, like I saw the word latxu and just thought, yeah, sure, latxua da, that’s a perfectly normal Basque sentence, nothing strange about that, they’d understand me fine

#my brain is broken #that is all #it would help if i didn't only know bits and pieces of all my langs #that's the main problem #i also wrote chi psôniw instead of ôda psôniw the other day #like...i am confused #that being said i'd love to learn more about caló and erromintxela someday #just maybe when my brain isn't like this #romani #basque #random stuff #i will post more actual stuff in a bit #also #for those who are wondering latxu is cognate with romani lasho #so the sentence would technically mean it is good #i.e. ona da in basque #or si lasho in romani (?) #parlem de tonteries #basque:general #romani:general

[felgueirosa]

Re: the conversation on the colonialism and racism of cottagecore, it's very clear that Europeans think indigenous people don't exist where they live or that they're indigenous because they're Irish or whatever the fuck, so as a Vaqueira, I think it’s time Europeans start understanding whose land they’re on and that there are indigenous people everywhere, so i've made a short, incomplete list of indigenous and nomadic peoples of Europe. Feel free to look up more about them, especially if you're living on their land:

Abazins (Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia)

Adyghe/Circassian people (Russia, Turkey)

Aromanians/Vlachs (Greece, Romania, Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria)

Ashkali Romani (Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia)

Avars (Russia)

Balkars (Russia)

Bashkirs (Russia)

Basque people (Spain, France)

Bats people (Georgia)

Bergitka Romani (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary)

Boyash Romani (Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia)

Boykos (Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland)

Calé Romani (Spain, Portugal, France)

Cascarot Romani (France, Spain)

Chechens (Chechnya, Russia)

Crimean Tatars (Crimea)

Dargins (Russia)

Erlides Romani (Greece)

Erromintxela (Spain, France)

Finnish Kale Romani (Finland, Sweden)

Gagauz people (Moldova, Ukraine)

Gorani people (Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia)

Gurbet Romani (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo)

Hutsuls (Ukraine, Romania)

Ingush (Russia)

Irish Travellers (Ireland, UK)

Izhorians (Russia, Estonia)

Kalderash Romani (Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia)

Karelians (Finland, Russia)

Komi people (Russia)

Laks (Russia)

Laz people (Turkey, Georgia)

Lemkos (Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland)

Lezgins (Russia, Azerbaijan)

Lipka Tatars (Poland, Lithuania, Belarus)

Livonians (Latvia, Estonia)

Lom people (Armenia, Georgia)

Lovari Romani (Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czechia, Germany)

Manouche Romani (France)

Maragatos (Spain)

Mari people (Russia)

Mingrelians (Georgia)

Mordvins (Russia)

Norwegian Travellers/Fanter (Norway)

Ossetians (Russia, South Ossetia, Georgia)

Pasiegos (Spain)

Polska Roma (Poland)

Mercheros (Spain)

Romanichal (UK)

Romanisæl (Norway, Sweden)

Ruska Roma (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus)

Sámi people (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia)

Sarakatsani (Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia)

Scottish Travellers/Indigenous Highland Travellers (UK)

Servitka Roma (Ukraine, Russia)

Setos (Estonia, Russia)

Sinti (Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Czechia, Netherlands, Belgium, Serbia, Croatia)

Tat people (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia)

Udi people (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Georgia)

Udmurts (Russia)

Ursari Romani (Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia, Italy)

Vaqueiros de Alzada (Spain)

Veps (Russia)

Volga Tatars (Russia)

Welsh Kale Romani (UK)

Yeniche people (Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg)

Also to mention:

The millions of Jews whose homes, property, and land was stolen and never returned when they were murdered in the Shoah.

The hundreds of indigenous peoples of Asian Russia which is frequently seen as part of Europe because of its colonization by Russia.

There are many peoples that are known by few. There may be very little to no information about them in English or any language besides the official language of the country they are in. They may not have a written tradition and all written accounts of them are in old print books. They may be known only by people who live near to the region where they are. I know this is certainly true for Vaqueiros and the nomadic peoples of Spain.

Indigenous and nomadic peoples of Europe may be called ‘hill peoples’, ‘nomads’, or ‘cursed peoples’. They have lived in your country for hundreds or thousands of years, but were or are still not considered proper citizens. They live in their own territory by their traditional lifestyle, or in the city as part of your society, or in diaspora across the world. They unequally face land theft and environmental racism. They are hardly represented, if at all, and face challenges like insufficient infrastructure, education, healthcare, or access to water. It's time to learn who your neighbors are. We want to be known. We are in small numbers because of the land theft and cultural destruction by the European countries you live in.

If this description rings a bell for you, or if your group isn’t up here, feel free to add an indigenous or nomadic people in Europe you know!

DO NOT fuck around on this post or i will tear your head clean off

#there are peoples i didnt include on this list for a reason #see: the irish statement #cottagecore #indigenous #nomadic #also i decided to divide up the romani subgroups bc i divided the tatar groups #also i feel like some western europeans have the impression #that romani people do not live/are few/dont have a distinct culture in their country #hmmm! #i tried to find links that didnt use the G word #but it was very hard

[plumedepoete]

       Apprendre à se connaître c'est aussi apprendre à se respecter      En réponse à de nombreuses questions sur les habitants de la galaxie " les Gens du Voyage " comme tout et n'importe quoi a été dit, Il fallait que j'apporte ces précisions importantes pour que vous puissiez comprendre qui sont les Gens du Voyage, les Gitans, Manouches etc...     >     Encore une chose qui a son importance... l'aspirine n'est pas fournie pour résister au mal de tronche que la lecture va vous donner.     Les gens du voyage, des nomades par choix :     Français depuis souvent de très nombreuses générations, les gens du voyage revendiquent haut et fort l'appartenance à cette notion plus que jamais d'actualité : l'identité nationale.     Christian BERNADAC dans l'Holocauste oublié : (https://www.amazon.fr/LHolocauste-oubli%C3%A9-massacre-Christian-Bernadac/dp/B0014L9RBC ) nous apprend le martyre et la disparition des tziganes dans les camps de la mort.     L'Allemagne va ériger un monument en mémoire des centaines de milliers de Tsiganes (Sinti, Manouches et Roms) déportés et tués par les nazis en Europe.     La construction est lancée à Berlin, 66 ans après la signature par Himmler, chef des S.S, d'une circulaire désignant ce peuple comme "un ennemi biologique de race étrangère et de sang étranger" et ordonnant leur déportation. .     Mais ne représentant pas un électorat « ils » n’intéressent pas nos hommes et femmes politiques.     Ils déclarent être des Français comme les autres, à un détail près : ils habitent dans une maison qui roule, par choix d'une vie non sédentaire.     A part cela, les gens du voyage revendiquent une totale "normalité" économique, juridique et sociale.     Ils travaillent et gagnent souvent bien leur vie, ce qui explique leurs caravanes luxueuses et leurs voitures de marque, coûteuses.     Ils paient des impôts et scolarisent leurs enfants. Ils sont totalement intégrés dans la société et respectent leurs droits et obligations. (NO COMMENT......)     Les principaux  métiers qu'ils exercent : - Récupérateur en métaux - Brocanteur  - Circassiens ( cirque )  - Fêtiers, (fêtes foraines )  - Forains et vendeurs ambulants.     Pour l' exemple : j'ai été forain, récupérateur de métaux, brocanteur, alors que mes origines ne sont pas Gitanes.     «Gens du voyage» est le terme juridique et administratif qui désigne une catégorie de personnes dans le droit français. Cette catégorie administrative recouvre une grande diversité de personnes avec des situations économiques et des origines très diverses, dont des Français qui n’ont rien à voir avec les Tsiganes, des gitans, etc.     La confusion entre les «Gens du Voyage» et les Tziganes vient en partie de cette spécificité française qui interdit à l’administration de qualifier une partie de la population sur des critères ethniques.     Au début du XXe siècle, le gouvernement français veut surveiller les Tziganes qui sont alors victimes des pires préjugés.     L’appellation «nomades» est alors officiellement utilisée et la loi du 16 juillet 1912 leur impose un carnet anthropométrique obligatoire qui contient des informations telles que l'envergure, la longueur et la largeur de la tête, la longueur de l'oreille droite, la longueur des doigts médius et auriculaires gauches, celle de la coudée gauche, celle du pied gauche, la couleur des yeux ou encore la forme du nez.     Je possède ce document administratif, je fais partie des Gens du voyage et je suis un Nomade.     Nomades par tradition :     VOYAGEURS  NON-TSIGANES :     Tinker, nomades d'Irlande, surnommés ainsi depuis le XIIe siècle.     Quinqui, voyageurs d'Espagne apparus au XVIe siècle     Yeniches, émigrés en France en Suisse et autre pays d ' Europe au XIXe siècle     VOYAGEURS TSIGANES     Le mot ‘Tsigane’ vient du grec Atsinganos; c'était le nom d'une secte qui a disparu au XIème siècle.     Ses fidèles refusaient le contact physique avec tous les autres, qu’ils considéraient impurs. Les paysans byzantins les avaient donc appelés Atsinganos ("non touchés", mais ceci dans le sens inverse de la notion d'intouchable en Inde). Quand les Roms arrivèrent à leur tour, venant d’Asie et gardant une certaine distance, ils furent considérées comme tels.     LES MANOUCHES      Ils ont vécu longtemps en Allemagne et dans le Piémont Italien     LES GITANS Qu'ils soient Gitans Catalans et Gitans Andalous, Ils ont connu une influence espagnole importante et ont marqué très fortement de leur personnalité la musique et la danse du flamenco. Ils résident plus au sud et vivent avec difficultés une sédentarisation forcée qui est bien souvent un échec.     LES ROM      Les Roms sont un peuple européen d'origine indienne, dont les ancêtres sont venus de la moyenne vallée du Gange, en Inde du Nord, il y a environ 1000 ans. Parvenus en Europe par l'Asie Mineure et le Bosphore, ils se sont installés d'abord dans les Balkans, puis dans les Carpates, ils vivent surtout en Europe Centrale.     Les Roms au sens large se subdivisent principalement en Roms dits "orientaux" (85% du total), en Sintés (souvent appelés Manouches en France – 4%) et en Kalés (ou Gitans – 10%), en Gypsies (ou Romanichals en Grande-Bretagne – 0,5%) – sans compter divers groupes de moindre importance numérique mais tout aussi Roms que les autres Roms. Au niveau européen, ils sont aujourd’hui sédentaires à 96%.     Les YENICHES     Les Yéniches sont un groupe ethnique européen. Certains se disent d'origine celtique mais la thèse est très contestée, tout comme celle qui en fait les descendants de commerçants juifs itinérants.     Ils sont nombreux sur le Département de la Loire. Leur origine est encore mal connue, Au moment de la guerre de trente ans, ils auraient, à la suite d'événements historiques, quitté le Palatinat et adoptés le mode de vie des Tsiganes ( période palatine 1618-1623). De nombreux mariages eurent lieu entre les Manouches et les Yéniches au cours des siècles. C'est en 1714 qu'on trouve le premier document avec le nom de "Yéniche".      Roms c’est le nom que les mouvements revendicatifs d’intellectuels tsiganes voudraient imposer comme terme générique. Mais les Tsiganes de France, Manouches et Gitans le refusent.     Sous-groupes     Kalderashes : généralement ils sont chaudronniers, étameurs (et non pas : et ta sœur ?), récupérateurs de voitures. J'ai voyagé en leur compagnie.     Lovara : généralement éleveurs de chevaux ( maquignons )     Tchourara     Valshtike Manouches     Sinte français ( artistes de cirque et de spectacles     Galshkene Manouche     Sinte allemands     Piemontesi et Sinte italien     Prajshtike Manouche     Sinte prussien     Catalan    Andalous En FRANCE,     D'après le Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris, le 17 août 1427, 100 à 120 hommes, femmes et enfants, demande l'hospitalité et à séjourner à La Chapelle Saint-Denis.     L'évêque de Paris réagit en se rendant sur place avec un frère mineur qui prêche et convainc le groupe de repartir. Le groupe repart en direction de Pontoise début septembre 60     Dès 1666, Louis XIV décrète que tous les Bohémiens de sexe masculin doivent être arrêtés et envoyés aux galères sans procès. Par ordonnance du 11 juillet 1682, il confirme et ordonne que tous les Bohémiens mâles soient, dans toutes les provinces du Royaume où ils vivent, condamnés aux galères à perpétuité, leurs femmes rasées, et leurs enfants enfermés dans des hospices.     Une peine était en outre portée contre les nobles qui donnaient dans leurs châteaux un asile aux Bohémiens ; leurs fiefs étaient frappés de confiscation.       LANGUE PARLÉE        Le ROMANI     C’est la langue des Roms ! Elle est indiscutablement indienne et proche du hindi, langue de l’Inde. Son vocabulaire et sa grammaire de base sont indiens aux trois quarts. Le reste est constitué de vocabulaire emprunté principalement au persan, au grec et ensuite aux langues européennes de contact. Écrit depuis le début du 20ème siècle dans des alphabets différents selon les pays, le romani dispose depuis 1990 d’une écriture commune laquelle permet notamment une meilleure diffusion de la littérature Rom. Dans certains pays, comme la Roumanie, il est enseigné à l’école et, en France, l’INALCO dispense une formation complète en langue et civilisation des Roms.     Le CALÓ     Le caló est une langue mixte des langues romanes et du Romani parlée en Espagne, au Portugal, au sud de la France, en Amérique latine.     Il est également appelé en castillan romaní español et son nom signifie « noir » en romani     Langue indo-européenne, il comprend de nombreux dialectes : caló español, calão portugués (portugais), caló catalán, caló vasco ou erromintxela (basque) , caló occitan (quasiment éteint, extrême sud de la France), et le calon brasileño (brésilien).     Les Roms y ont développé des sabirs tels que l’ibéroromani (caló), qui utilise le vocabulaire rom, la grammaire espagnole, présente de nombreux emprunts lexicaux à l'andalou, et parfois aussi au catalan, et est la source de nombreux mots en argot espagnol.     Par opposition à mon Beau-père je n'ai jamais parlé CALÓ mais Manouche.     En FRANCE,  par manque d’instruction,  la grande majorité des gens communiquent entre eux au moyen d'un sabir (que je qualifierais de merdique ) mêlant mots déformés, argots, termes de métiers exercés... ce qui n'est pas fait pour faciliter la bonne entente entre nous.     DIALECTES      Kalderash     Lovari     Tchourari     Manouche d'Alsace     Sinto piémontais     Sinto prussien     Caló Espagne     Pas facile de s'y retrouver, d'autant plus qu'il n'existe pas de traditions, ni d'historique écrits....il n' y a que depuis quelques années que la scolarité est proposée dans ce milieu.     Un infini merci pour votre patience et pour le formidable travail de CHANTAL. .     ©Philippe X - 03/07/2019    

#voyage

[sammyshuno]

You just answered a question that said you'd seen ghosts. Is that something you're cool elaborating on??? I'd love to hear the story

Yeah! So, when I lived in Kentucky we lived in two really, REALLY old houses. In the first one, shit would fly off the walls randomly. My mom went to a psychic and before she could ask them about it, the psychic told her that my late grandmother was sorry about bumping into things all the time.

In the other house, one night I stayed up super late with my dad and I heard someone running up and down the stairs (that I was looking at) and I freaked out and he told me that it happens every night but he’s usually the only one awake to hear it.

A few days later my dad set up a recording device in the house and we all left for a little while and when we came back we played the recording and there was a voice saying, “GET OUT.”

A few days after that, my parents both woke up in the middle of the night to see a shadowy figure walking toward their bedroom and then back down the hallway like it was on a loop. We all get chills just thinking about that thing.

My siblings used to see cats in our house that weren’t ours all the time. Sometimes they saw people, too.

Ever since we moved I haven’t seen anything but I’m always on edge. I live in my own house now and I’m Wiccan so I have a lot of wards and charms set up and I smudge all the time. Sometimes I see shit out of the corners of my eyes but it’s usually nothing. That being said, my mom went to a psychic last fall who told her that my grandma still checks up on me from time to time. So, when in doubt, I blame my Nana.

The end!

Edit: I should also point out that my mom’s side of the family has erromintxela bloodlines and this shit happens to us like we’re drawn to it.

#basically we're descended from the original g*psies #i hate that term but it's the most common way to describe us #ask #personal #electrical-banana #nonsims #saviorhide

[erromintxelawitchcraft]

Ideas for URL change?

I've been thinking about changing my URL because I've recently gotten some complaints about it, and while I am legitimately Erromintxela, I feel like I should change it anyway to avoid any further offense. Besides, I'm kinda getting bored of it. If you guys have suggestions, let me know!

#otherwise I'll probably just keep it #URL #basque #gypsy #Erromintxela #witch #witchcraft #change #community #advice #help

[beautiful-basque-country]

Question, were Cagots related to Basques? From what little I read they resided in the North of Spain and South-west of France (+ in Britanny), and some say they might be also related to the Erromintxela/Basque Romani people. Hadn't heard of them until recently :o

Kaixo anon!

Non exactly related. They weren't related to Erromintxela or Roma people either, but were mysterious people indeed. Agote (or Cagot in French) is the name given to a now disappeared, minority social group who lived in Euskal Herria, Aragon, Béarn, Gascony and Brittany.

Theirs is a tragic story of scorn, segregation, and abuse by the rest of society. You can read more about them in THIS POST we wrote a while ago.

#euskadi #euskal herria #basque country #pais vasco #pays basque #agotes #history #anons

[beautiful-basque-country]

What can you tell me about Errominxtela? Im Kalderash, but not from anywhere in Basque country and currently live in the states. From what i can tell the Basque were more welcoming to Roma than surrounding areas. Is this true to your experience, and if so why do you think that is? They are also referred to as Basque Calo. Thank you!!!

Kaixo, anon!

Erromintxela is the name given to Basque Roma. It’s also their language: a Kalderash dialect + Euskara pidgin. It’s completely impossible to understand for any Basque, Spanish or Caló speaker, and that was seemingly the goal: when Kalderash people established themselves here around 1425-1450, they mixed up their own language with the one they heard from non-Roma to make understanding impossible and thus maintain privacy. 

It uses Basque grammar and sintaxis but its own vocabulary, although it has borrowed many words from Caló - Caló is the language of Spanish Roma people -. Caló speakers can’t understand it either because their root dialect isn’t Kalderash.

Erromintxela people consider themselves Basque in the first place, Erromintxela in second, and finally, Roma. In fact, they differenciate themselves from any other Roma people, whom they call hankagorriak, or “the red-legged ones”.

Sadly though, there are only around 500 Erromintxela speakers left in South Euskal Herria - most of them, older than 80. It isn’t being passed onto the following generation, so middle-aged Basque Roma can understand it but can’t speak it, and the younger generations can’t even understand it, Spanish, Basque and Caló being their preferred languages.

In Northern Euskal Herria there are around another 500 speakers left, although there’s still a generational teaching, so Erromintxela will survive longer there.

We can’t say for sure that Basque people were more welcoming than others to Roma. What it’s known though, is that Roma people visited Euskal Herria very often, since it lies in the border of Spain - and the way to Northern Africa - and France - and the way to Europe. It’s believed that it was the Kalderash the most numerous Roma among the Euskal Herria visitors and, later, citizens.

Kalderash - Kaldereroak in Basque - were known in Euskal Herria for being extremelly skilled at repairing metal pottery and reading the hand, and there are evidences of Kalderash frequent temporary settlements in Donostia as far as in the 30s of the 20th century.

In fact, there’s a festivity celebrated in some towns of Gipuzkoa that’s inspired by Kalderash! It’s called... well, Kaldereroak, of course.

We've been celebrating this since the 19th century, and absolutely every year since the 50s. This festival takes place the first Saturday of February, and it celebrates the arrival of the Kalderash to town, an event that Basques would seemingly loved and was percieved as exotic and mesmerizing. During this day, people dress like Hungarians - yes, Kalderash were believed to come from Hungary - and sing all day following the beat of a little hammer hitting a metal pot: the sound of our old Kalderash visitors while repairing our pots. Kaldereroak come happy and singing to announce Mardi Gras is coming, what makes some researchers think it was around this time of the year when original Kalderash caravans arrived in Euskal Herria.

And since we know this “dressing up like” thing is controversial in some countries, this festivity is, we repeat, a celebration of the Kalderash people, not a way to mock them or any Roma person in any way. It’s a day of joy for everyone and a way of preserving the memory of these old beautiful nomadic caravans, settlements and people we used to share life with until not that long ago.

#euskadi #euskal herria #basque country #pais vasco #pays basque #gipuzkoa #donostia #kalderash people #kaldereroak #tradition #festivities #culture #basque people #erromintxela #roma people #history #anons