31_Gypsies

Gypsies can be found in many countries, yet few people know who they really are and how they live. The Gypsies in this film live in Richmond, California, in the industralised San Francisco Bay Area. They belong to the group of Gypsies who call themselves Rom, meaning `man'. Rom Gypsies can be found traveling and living in the Americans, Europe, Russia, North Africa and scattered through areas such as Australia and Hawaii, but no one knows how many there are.

The Rom Gypsies in Richmond, California number about 300 persons or 50 to 60 families. Because they travel frequently and extensively these figures are unreliable. At certain times-for example, when they can pick crops in the summer-few families will remain in Richmond. On other days when a feast, such as the Thanksgiving slava shown on the film, is celebrated, more distant relatives may come to Richmond and stay for some time.

The aim of this film is to show how one group of Gypsies maintain the boundary between themselves and the non-Gypsies they have contact with every day. One practical mechanism for maintaining separateness is the use of a leader to act as an intermediary between the group and the outside world. The film shows how the leader's role is consistent with a set of values that defines marriage or sexual relations with outsiders as `dirty' and therefore protects the `purity' of the ethnic group. has been monopolised by a group of non-Rom Gypsies, the Boyash, who obtained long ago the only fortune-telling licences from the county council. Consequently, Rom women, who have the major responsibility for the support of their families, have had to rely on state aid for an income. The film shows a hearing of the Contra Costa county council (called Custer county by Staley Costello, the head of the Richmond families) to decide on the legality of restricted fortune-telling. Staley argues that fortune-telling should be less `restricted, so that `his' Gypsies can get licences, yet not so open to anyone that Gypsies from all over, mainly Gypsies that he cannot influence, will pour into the area.

Staley's role as head of the families in Richmond is acknowledged by their genuine respect for his status as an elder. This is a strong, closely-knit community with well defined values. These values not only hold the Gypsies together, they also keep them separate from their American neighbours. Their ability to cope with change is based on a combination of moral strictness and economic flexibility.

This film would be useful for secondary and tertiary classes on anthropology, multi-cultural studies, courses on racism, and sociology. It was made as part of the BBC series of ethnographic films, Other People's Lives. A study guide to accompany the series is available from the RAI, price £3.50. Catalogue number (16mm): 3RA116 £9.

B. Adams et al, 1975. Gypsies and Government Policy in England. Heinemann Centre for Environmental Studies, London.

J.M. Okely, 1984. The Traveller-Gypsies. Cambridge University Press.

A. Sutherland, 1975. Gypsies, the Hidden Americans. Tavistock, London.

A. Sutherland, 1978. `The Gypsies of California'. In A. Sutherland (ed.) Face Values. BBC Publications, London.

J. Yoors, 1967. The Gypsies. Allen and Unwin, London.