LEARN ABOUT ROMA GYPSY TRAVELLER CHRISTMAS

Music
Dance
Food
Customs

NATIVITY HIP HOP PERFORMED BY ROMA STUDENTS AT BOWLING PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL, BRADFORD

5 verses drafted with Roma students for the nativity school performance in December 2019–>

VERSE #1

Angel Gabriel at the window of Mary

Mary, Mary, Mary, dear Virgin Mary

From the Holy Spirit u gonna have a baby

Many in doubt but there isn’t any maybe

VERSE #2

Augustus, the Roman emperor

Counted all his people he called it the register

Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem they get to

Hey Mister Innkeeper, Give a room for us two

VERSE #3

Sorry, mister sorry but all the rooms are full

Can put you in the stable. Is that good for you?

God I’m going crazy, wife having a baby

Cows, sheep and donkey, somebody please help me

VERSE #4

A beautiful bright light in the Bethlehem night sky

Angel Gabriel comes with a message from the most high

Three shepherds on the hill watching the sheep

Bright light in the night sky stopping their heartbeat

VERSE #5

Cow, sheep and donkey, let’s do honky tonky

Nothing to be scared of, it’s good news, really funky

Jesus the son of God, sleeping in the manger

Bringing love, forgiveness, singing all the angels

I. If you wanted to rock with Gypsy tunes this Christmas →

II. Christmas greeting in Romani Gypsy Traveller language:

‘Bahtalo Krechuno’

Merry Christmas in ‘Vlach Romani Gypsy’ (‘krechuno’ is a loan word from Romanian language). Romanian and Rromani may sound similar BUT they are very different. Romanian comes is derived from Latin whereas Rromani is a Sanskrit based language coming from Northern India.

Or ‘Bahtali karachonya’

In Rumungro dialect which is the dialect of musician Gypsies

III. What Gypsies do at Christmas?

— Roma visit each other, several families will gather normally at the head of the family support network. This is the time to settle disputes that have been unsettled for a long time.

— Share the celebration with all family members including family members who have already passed away. Roma commemorate them during Christmas too by sharing normally funny stories about them, singing their songs or even cooking their food.

— Any bottle of alcohol you crack open, first always remember of the family members who have already passed away by pouring out a bit of alcohole on the table or on the ground. If you don’t do that then lots of alcohol will spill accidentally, or the bottle may even break or it can even pollute the gettogether with misfortune

— Roma families greet each other with songs, dance, drinks and food

— The singing and dancing goes on non-stop and everyone takes part

— Children and adults compete with each other through singing and dancing and then the adults reward the younger generations for their efforts to demonstrate their talent

— Traditional meals can be ‘sarma’ or also called ‘pherde shax (pron. as ‘pairdah shoh’) , stuffed cabbage, mirror carp soup is popular in Eastern Europe and ‘kolako’ as dessert (‘kolacha’ in plural) which is walnut/cocoa/jam rolls can be found in all Roma christmas tables

— ‘bokoli’ is the Gypsy bread which may also be called ‘marikli’

— With the 5 centuries slavery Roma have a long legacy of famine and therefore having an abundance of food is a way to communicate to other community members that the family has survived starvation and it is also aiming to signal that the family will not starve in the future either

IV. This is how you make ‘sarma’ (stuffed cabbage) for Christmas (watch from 9:22) →

V. Things to know about Roma Gypsy Traveller christmas celebrations —

Christmas is the most important celebration for christian Roma

Roma follow two mainstream religions, either Christianity or Islam. Wherever they reside, Roma will belong to the mainstream religion. The Christian diaspora celebrates Christmas as the most important feast in the year globally.

…and it’s because Roma have been continuously persecuted for over a 1000 years therefore Roma lost trust with humanity and put their trust in God fully.

Roma have been persecuted since Mahmud of Ghazni expelled them from Northern India and enslaved them in 1018 A.D. Roma have gone through the longest and the cruellest form of slavery in modern day history. The 5 centuries of slavery, the persecution of Roma since their liberation roughly 150 years ago, the Holocaust and their segregation during communism as well as the systemic discrimination Roma undergo since the change in the political system in Eastern Europe have all raised the significance of God, the creator in the life of Roma. Any people Roma have come into contact with since their first enslavement in 1018 A.D,. would either enslave them, exploit them, abuse them and bully any member of the community they come across over the last millennium. Therefore Roma lost trust with humanity and put their trust in God fully. With God, Roma individuals will nurture the closest relationship, even closer than with that of their family members. You may lie to family members which otherwise is perceived as extremely sinful behaviour by Roma however you may never lie to god as then you will need to face severe punishment in your earthly life as well as afterwards. Godly will is perceived as uncontrollable by any human power.

The legacy of Roma slavery has not yet been politically declared or apologised for, there is no education about it either, and there is hardly any mention even on the Internet.
As a result the strictly monotheistic Roma culture associated an extreme significance to Christmas. Christmas in the eyes of Roma is the celebration of the birth of God’s only son on Earth which symbolises the celebration of the arrival of a new member in the family.
Christmas is a reassurance to Roma of their core value which is family. Family is beyond individual aspirations and Roma believe that life is about the renunciation of selfish materialistic ambitions that do not serve the purpose of the survival of the family values.