The History Of Australian Romanies

27th February 2012

The History Of Australian Romanies →

PHOTO CREDIT: UNKOWN PHOTOGRAPHER, BRISBANE LIBRARY PHOTO

My name is Yvonne Slee and I ‘m a member of the Romani community in Coffs Harbour. I came to Australia from Europe and migrated here in 2005. I’ve been spending time as a writer, activist and educator since coming to Australia.

This picture of a Romani woman and her family was taken in 1907, just after their arrival in Brisbane from Europe on a boat that had sailed from Greece.

It’s a great example of a photo that can be used for the ABC Open project Now and Then to show the history of an Australian community.

Romanies have a 1000 year old history dating back to the time of our exodus from India, where the Islamic invaders, led by Mahmoud of Ghazni forcibly removed our forefathers from our homeland. You can read more on Romani history at this Sinti Romani Community website.

Romanies spent hundreds of years in Europe enduring wars, a lack of understanding of our culture, prejudice and hardship. They searched for a better future for themselves and their children. Romanies were on the ships of the first fleet that arrived in Australia in 1788, and have been immigrating here ever since.

After World War II, many more Romanies looked to Australia for a new home, coming in on the 10 pound boat trips; bringing with them skills such as boiler making, woodcraft, copper working and horse training.

In the 1950s, 60s and 70s; Romanies were seen camping along the east coast of Australia at places like Nudgee Beach near Brisbane and all the way down the NSW coast through to Orange and up to Mildura.

They used big American cars to tow their long silver caravans, which they lived in while doing seasonal work on farms, orchards, horse stables or travelling with the fun fairs, putting up the big tops and setting up the rides.

Those travelling days are long gone now. Most of the Romanies residing in Australia live and work in cities and towns right across this vast continent. Quite a few have studied at universities and become professors and school teachers.

My husband and I are both Romani and live in Coffs Harbour with our three children. We arrived in Australia in 2005 from Europe. I enjoy our traditions, many of them coming from our Indian roots. My favourite tradition is Romani cooking which shares many of the spicy ingredients of Indian cooking.

I also enjoy our Romani dances and songs and learning the Romani language. The word Romani comes from Sanskrit, as do many words in our language. We have hundreds of old Hindu words that are used in Romani language.

There are 12 million Romanies living in Europe, 2 million in the Americas and around 25,000 Romanies living in Australia and I’m proud to be one of them.

I am an Australian citizen now and believe that Australia will continue to benefit from having a multicultural society where the interesting and varied differences between all the cultures will create a greater tolerance and understanding of our world and the people who live in it.

(source: Slee, Yvonne. “The History of Australian Romanies, Now and Then.” ABC OPEN. 27 Feb. 2012. Web. http://open.abc.net.au/posts/the-history-of-australian-romanies-51tl4lm)

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