Written by Jamie Markham, first year History Student and Student Representative for SEDIC
Definition of traveller: a member of a community traditionally having an itinerant way of life.
In other words - Travelling from place to place.
The travelling community often face a lot of hate for their way of living. It is important that we remind ourselves that just because we don’t do something ourselves, it doesn’t mean that it is not normal.
Travelling the world, as a living or as a recreational hobby is not often frowned upon. It is glorified in the media when somebody travels. It should not be looked at differently towards the travelling community.
Please avoid using slurs associated with travellers as these are indeed forms of discrimination. Please feel free to do your own research on these words and why they are hateful.
Every June since 2008, people from across the UK have celebrated Roma and Traveller history month. This is to tackle prejudice and hate towards these communities.
Travelling communities see the world as their home. After-all, the beginning of time did not start with designated areas of living. This is something that has happened as a result of political and cultural matters. The traveller community has a long history with its own traditions. Some traditions include the up-keeping of horses, (nomadism), practical skills, language, culture, arts and music. The traveller counselling page mentions “strong values built around families, care and extended families”. We can see here also that friends and people in their closely knit group are seen as a large family that live together and take care of each other. The majority of Travellers are Roman Catholic, and they tend to be devout in religious observance. The community retain beliefs about cures to be found in various natural phenomena.
Irish Travellers (Irish: na lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic ethno-cultural group originating in Ireland. Whereas, the Romani, colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. Most of the Romani people live in Europe, and diaspora populations also live in the Americas.
Travellers are often described as ‘the walking people’, so formal education is not a priority in the travelling community. Some children do go to school, but others help their parents with work or other cultural activities. Many travellers breed dogs such as greyhounds for money or trade horses. Other methods of work include recycling scrap metals and selling items.
‘Grabbing’ is another part of travelling culture when a guy picks the girl that they want to kiss. This is how they choose who they want to be with. Grabbing can look violent, and it seems the girls simply accept it as something that is part of their culture.
It is important that we do not continue to stereotype the travelling community. Better understanding and knowledge of their culture can help us not to do this and I hope that this has been informative.
References
The Traveller movement, https://travellermovement.org.uk