The Camminanti are a nomadic ethnic group living in Sicily. [1] They are closely associated with the Romani people, given their similar circumstances and lifestyles, and although they are not ethnic Romani, [2] they are legally considered to be so by the European Union. [3] [4] [5]
The European Union has repeatedly called for the human rights of Camminanti to be respected, as well as Italian Romani. [6]
The Camminanti live mainly in Sicily (especially Val di Noto), [7] however, there are smaller populations in Campania, Lombardy, and Lazio. [8] They are a very small group, numbering about 2000. [1]
While it is agreed they came to Sicily during the 14th century, [2] the exact origins of the Camminanti are unclear. One theory asserts that they are the descendants of Slavic and Nordic travellers, but this has been met with little consensus. [8] Similar, but unproven, theories hypothesize that the people originated as the survivors of the 1693 Sicily earthquake or that they were initially slaves but transformed into an ethnic group after slavery was abolished. There is still little evidence in support of these claims. [9] [7]
The Camminanti have their own language, called Baccagghiu, related to the Sicilian language and influenced by 16th century-era Greek travellers in Palermo. [7] [9]
In Italy they are well known for their practice of making balloons, which serves as one of their main sources of income. [2]
Gradually more and more Camminanti are switching to a more sedentary way of life; however most of them are still nomadic. [7]
The Romani people, also known as the Roma, are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Roma originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of Rajasthan. Their first wave of westward migration is believed to have occurred sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries. Their name is from the Sanskrit word डोम which translates into a member of the Dom caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Romani population moved west into the Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Roma are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are widely dispersed, their most concentrated populations are believed to be in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
Palermo is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Romani Holocaust was the planned effort by Nazi Germany and its World War II allies and collaborators to commit ethnic cleansing and eventually genocide against European Roma and Sinti peoples during the Holocaust era.
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Scottish Romani are the Romani people of Scotland. This includes Romanichal and Lowland Roma.
Opera Nomadi is Italy's largest Romani organisation. It was founded in 1963 to combat discrimination and prejudice against the Romani people. Hostility towards the Romanies in Italy has been growing in recent years and in 2008 the organisation criticised the indifference of Italian to the deaths of two Roma children on a beach - the organisation said the reaction by those on the beach "showed a terrible lack of sensitivity and respect."
Romani people in France, generally known in spoken French as gitans, tsiganes or manouches, are an ethnic group that originated in Northern India. The exact number of Romani people in France is unknown; estimates vary from 500,000 to 1,200,000.
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