300
Quapaw
Quapaw
The
Quapaw
(Kwapa,
Akansa,
Arkansas)
lived
at
or
near
the
mouth
of
the
Arkansas
River
where
it
meets
the
Mississippi
River
in
southeastern
Arkansas.
They
now
live
on

a
federal
trust
area
in
northeastern
Oklahoma.
They
speak
a
Dhegiha
Siouan
language
and
numbered
over
twelve
hundred
in
the
1980s.
Bibliography
Baird,
W.
David
(1979).
The
Quapaw
Indians:
A

History
of
the
Downstream
People.
Norman:
University
of
Oklahoma
Press.
Thompson,
V.
H.
(1955).
"A
History
of
the
Quapaw."
Chronicles
of
Oklahoma
33:360-383.
Quechan
ETHNONYMS:
Cuchano,
Cuchan,
Cushan,
Yum,
Yuma

Orientation
Identification.
The
Quechan
are
an
American
Indian
group
located
in
western
Arizona
and
eastern
California.
"Quechan,"
meaning
"those
who
descended,"
is
a
shortening
of
the
name
that
the
Quechan

believe
was
given
to
them
and
to
other
lower
Colorado
peoples
at
the
time
of
creation
on
the
sacred
mountain
Avikwame:
"Xim
Kwacin,"
meaning
"those
who
descended
by
a
different

way"
or
"those
who
de
scended
by
way
of
the
water."
Location.
Aboriginally
the
Quechan
lived
along
the
lower
Colorado
River,
north
and
south
of
its
junction
with
the
Gila

River.
This
area
lies
primarily
within the
present
states
of
Cal-
ifornia
and
Arizona.
Their
reservation
today
is
a
small
portion
of
their
aboriginal
territory.
Demography.
The
population
may
have
been

about
four
thousand
prior
to
contact
with
Spaniards
in
1540.
By
the
early
1900s
there
were
fewer
than
a
thousand.
In
1988
the
Quechan
population
was
estimated
at
two
thousand,

about
two-thirds
of
whom
lived
on
or
adjacent
to
the
reservation.
Unguistic
Affiliation.
Quechan
is
classified
in
the
Yuman
subfamily
of
the
Hokan
language
family.
Those
living
in
the
extreme

southern
portions
of
their
territory
may
have
spoken
a
distinct
dialect
of
Quechan.
History
and
Cultural
Relations
Quechan
tradition
describes
their
creation,
along
with
that
of
other
lower
Colorado
River

tribes,
by
their
culture
hero,
Kukumat.
After
Kukumat
died,
his
son
Kumastamxo
took
the
people
to
the
sacred
mountain
Avikwame,
near
the
pres-
ent
city
of
Needles,
California.
There
he

gave
them
bows
and
arrows
and
taught
them
how
to
cure
illness
and
then
sent
them
down
from
the
mountain
in
various
directions.
The
an-
cestors
of
the
Quechan
settled

along
the
Colorado
River
to
the
south
of
the
Mohave.
Little
archaeological
evidence
of
the
Quechan
past
has
survived
the
Colorado's
flooding.
The
Quechan
and
some
of
the
other
lower

Colorado
tribes
may
have
begun
as
rather
small
patrilineal
bands
that
gradually
grew
into
larger
"tribal"
groupings.
What
caused
the
forma-
tion
of
these
tribes
is
not
altogether
clear;
the

interrelated
fac-
tors
probably
included
population
increase
from
a
generally
reliable
and
abundant
riverbottom
horticulture;
competition
with
neighboring
riverine
groups
for
control
of
lucrative
trade
routes
between
the
Pacific
Coast

and
cultures
to
the
east
of
the
Colorado
(including,
for
a
time,
the
great
Hohokam
cul-
ture
between
about
A.D.
1050
and
1200);
and
increasingly
strong
social
bonds
between
small

groups
living
next
to
one
another
along
the
river's
banks.
In
1540
a
Spanish
expedition
under
Hernando
de
Alarc6n
was
the
first
group
of
Europeans
to
reach
Quechan
territory.
For

the
next
three
and
a
half
centuries
the
Que-
chans
were
in
intermittent
contact
with
various
Spanish,
Mexican,
and
American
expeditions
intent
on
developing
the
land
route
between
southern
California

and
the
interior
to
the
east
of
the
Colorado
River.
The
Quechan
controlled
the
best
crossing
point
along
the
lower
Colorado,
just
to
the
south
of
where
it
is
joined

by
the
Gila.
During
this
time,
too,
warfare
was
endemic
between
the
Quechan
and
other
tribes
living
along
the
Colorado
and
Gila
rivers.
No
permanent
White
settlements
were
attempted
at

the
crossing
until
1779,
when
Spanish
settlers
and
soldiers
arrived.
In
1781,
after
two
years
of
Spanish
depredations,
the
Quechans
attacked
them,
killing
some
and
driving
the
others
away.
The

tribe
retained
control
of
the
area
until
the
early
1850s,
when
the
U.S.
Army
defeated
them
and
established
Fort
Yuma
at
the
crossing.
Just
across
the
river
from
the
fort

a
small
White
American
town
soon
sprang
up
to
cash
in
on
the
increasing
overland
traffic
between
California
and
the
East,
and
to
the
north
and
south
along
the
Colorado

itself.
A
reservation
was
set
aside
for
the
Quechan
on
the
west
(California)
side
of
the
river
in
1884,
but
most
of
its
acreage,
including
some
of
its
best
farmland,

was
lost
to
the
tribe
by
the
fraudulent
1893
agreement
with
the
U.S.
government.
The
government
restored
twenty-five
thousand
acres
of
the
original
reservation
in
1978,
minus
most
of
the

best
farmland
taken
earlier.
For
most
of
the
twentieth
century
the
tribe
has
been
attempting
to create
a
secure
economic
base
for
the
res-
ervation,
one
to
replace
the
relative
abundance

of
the
tradi-
tional
riverbottom
farming
that
gave
out
in
the
early
1900s.
Settlements
The
Quechan
lived
in
settlements
or
rancherias
scattered
along
the
Colorado
to
the
north
of
the

Gila
confluence
for
about
sixty
miles
and
to
the
southwest
for
about
ten
miles,
and
for
about
twenty-six
miles
eastward
along
the
Gila
itself.
But
the
number
and
precise
locations

of
these
rancherias
shifted
from
time
to
time,
perhaps
partly
in
response
to
war-
fare
with
other
groups.
In
the
nineteenth
century
there
were
six
Quechan
rancherias,
each
located
on

an
elevated
area
above
the
river
floodplain,
safe
from
the
spring
floods.
For
Quechan
301
much
of
the
agricultural
season
from
spring
to
fall,
the
people
of
the
rancheria
dispersed

to
family
farm
plots
along
the
river-
bottoms,
where
they
lived
in
dome-shaped
arrowweed
shel-
ters.
The
rancherias
were
gradually
abandoned
after
the
reser-
vation
was
created
in
1887,
and

families
moved
within
the
reservation
boundaries
to
receive
individual
ten-acre
plots
of
farmland
allotted
to
them
by
the
federal
government.
Today
households
are
scattered
primarily
along
the
main
roads
link-

ing
the
reservation
with
the
nearby
city
of
Yuma,
Arizona,
and
the
smaller
town
of
Winterhaven,
California.
Economy
Subsistence
and
Commercial
Activities.
Traditionally
the
Quechan
farmed
the
rich
riverbottom
lands,

growing
mainly
maize,
squash,
and
beans.
The
cultivated
crops
proba-
bly
accounted
for
about
50
percent
of
the
Quechan
diet.
The
remainder
came
from
gathered
wild
foods
such
as
mesquite

and
screwbean
pods
and
from
river
fish.
Hunting
was
not
very
productive.
Occasional
irregularities
in
the
river
floods
lent
some
uncertainty
to the
supply
of
cultivated
foods.
After
White
Americans
developed

the
crossing
into
a
transporta-
tion
center,
Quechans
worked
as
unskilled
wage
laborers
in
the
town
or
on
river
steamers.
By
the
1950s
there
were
virtu-
ally
no
Quechans
still

farming;
they
worked
as
wage
laborers
and/or
received
income
from
leasing
their
land
allotments
to
non-Indian
farmers.
Presently
the
tribe
leases
farm
acreage
and
operates
a
bingo
hall
and
two

modem
trailer
parks.
Industrial
Arts.
In
the
nineteenth
and
early
twentieth
centuries
Quechan
women
made
pottery
utensils,
distinctive
clay
dolls,
and
beaded
shawls;
only
the
shawls
are
still
made.
Men

made
tools,
weapons,
and
gourd
rattles
and
other
ritual
paraphernalia.
In
general
the
Quechans
were
little
concerned
with
embellishment
of
material
culture
beyond
utilitarian
needs.
Trade.
The
Colorado
River
crossing

in
Quechan
territory
was
along
one
of
the
main
precontact
trade
routes
linking
coastal
California
tribes
with
the
center
of
the
great
Hohokam
culture
in
southern
Arizona
(A.D.
1000-1200),
and

later
with
Pima,
Pagago,
and
others
after
the
Hohokam
de-
clined.
The
Quechan
likely
acted
as
middlemen
and/or
ex-
tracted
a
portion
of
the
trade
goods
in
exchange
for
safe

pas-
sage
across
the
crossing.
In
lean
years
foodstuffs
were
traded.
It
is
likely
that
control
of
this
trade
route
was
one
of
the
issues
in
persistent
intertribal
warfare
until

the
1860s.
Division
of
Labor.
Both
men
and
women
worked
the
riverbottom
fields,
the
men
doing
the
heavier
work
of
clearing
brush,
and
both
sexes
helped
with
the
harvest.
Several

related
extended
family
households
joined
forces
at
clearing
or
har-
vest
times.
Men
did
most
of
the
fishing,
women
the
gathering.
Males
waged
war,
although
there
were
typically
warrior-
women

accompanying
each
major
war
party.
The
elderly
are
still
important
economic
and
teaching
assets
in
households
where
both
parents
work.
Land
Tenure.
Traditionally,
farm
plots
were
considered
the
property
of

the
household.
The
household's
lands
were
abandoned
at
the
death
of
one
of
its
adult
members,
and
they
sought
unoccupied
land
elsewhere
in
the
vicinity.
Ownership
rules
were
not
elaborately

developed,
and
there
was
no
inheri-
tance.
This
changed
radically
after
the
reservation
was
cre-
ated
and
the
individual
members
of
the
tribe
were
each
as-
signed
a
ten-acre
allotment.

As
the
original
and
successive
owners
died,
the
plots
were
divided,
and
then
repeatedly
redi-
vided,
creating
a
major
heirship
crisis
in
some
cases.
The
res-
ervation
land
is
still

held
in
trust
and
cannot
be
sold.
Most
of
the
plots
are
presently
leased
to
non-Indian
farmers.
Kinship
Kin
Groups
and
Descent.
The
Quechan
recognize
a
se-
ries
of
exogamous

patrilineal
clans.
Clan
functions
besides
regulating
marriage
are
no
longer
clearly
known.
Each
has
one
or
more
namesakes
(totemic
animals
or
plants)
associ-
ated
with
it
(such
as
frog,
maize,

snake,
red
ant).
Some
clan
names
are
considered
foreign
to
the
Quechan,
indicating
per-
haps
some
earlier
incorporation
of
alien
groups
into
the
tribal
structure.
Presently
younger
tribal
members
are

only
vaguely
aware
of
the
clan
names
and do
not
follow
the
rule
of
ex-
ogamy.
Kinship
Terminology.
The
traditional
kinship
terms
fol-
lowed
the
bifurcate
collateral
avuncular
and
Iroquois
cousin

patterns,
with
major
terminological
emphasis
on
age
and
gen-
der
distinctions.
Marriage
and
Family
Marriage.
Sometimes
parents
arranged
betrothals
fol-
lowed
by
periods
of
gift
giving
and
feasting.
But
there

was
ap-
parently
considerable
flexibility
in
betrothal
and
marriage
patterns.
A
man
often
courted
a
woman
by
playing
a
wooden
flute
outside
her
shelter
at
night,
and
she
might
invite

him
in
to
sleep
with
her
(without
having
intercourse).
After
four
nights
of
sleeping
together,
the
couple
was
considered
mar-
ried.
Ideally,
postmarital
residence
was
patrilocal.
The
typical
marriage
was

monogamous,
but
polygyny
was
permitted.
Mar-
riages
could
be
dissolved
by
either
partner.
Domestic
Unit.
Despite
the
patrilocal
preference,
the
am-
bilocal
extended
family
was
the
predominant
household
unit
until

the
1920s,
when
the
effects
of
land
allotment
and
wage-
based
subsistence
undermined
the
extended
family's
impor-
tance.
Nuclear
family
households
then
became
numerous.
Yet
the
extended
household
has
remained

a
popular
option
for
families
who
have
elderly
relatives
to
care
for
or
who
want
to
try
to
ease
the
burden
of
poverty
by
pooling
the
resources
of
the
larger

household
group.
And
even
nuclear
family
households
are
frequently
but
a
few
acres
away
from
those
of
close
kin.
Inheritance.
Until
recently
there
was
no
inheritance
of
de-
ceased's
property;

it
was
either
destroyed
(goods)
or
aban-
doned
(land),
lest
the
survivors
be
constantly
reminded
of
their
loss.
The
allotment
ofland
and
the
construction
of
sub-
stantial
housing
has
changed

this
pattern
somewhat,
but
there
is
still
the
feeling
that
a
deceased's
personal
property
should
be
destroyed
after
death.
Socialization.
The
elders
in
the
extended
family
household
traditionally
played
a

major
part
in
the
socialization
of
the
young.
Children
were
and
are
raised
permissively.
During
their
first
menstruation,
girls
were
lectured
by
older
women
about
the
proper
adult
female
role;

boys
went
through
an
ini-
tiation
ritual
in
which
they
were
made
to
run
long
distances
after
having
their
nasal
septa
pierced
and
were
lectured
on
the
ideal
traits
of

adult
Quechan
males.
302
Quechan
Sociopolitical
Organization
Social
Organization.
There
may
have
been
gradations
of
status
in
Quechan
families,
but
the
basis
for
them
is
not
clear.
Individual
ritualists
and

leaders
possessing
dream
power
had
high
prestige,
as
did
warriors
of
exceptional
bravery.
The
sev-
eral
rancherias
were
largely
autonomous
social
units
for
much
of
the
year.
Quechan
tribal
structure

became
apparent
during
large
war
expeditions,
harvest
festivals,
and
major
rituals
mourning
the
death
of
prominent
people.
On
the
modem
reservation
the
tribal
identity
has
replaced
most
of
the
older

rancheria
identity.
The
elderly
as
a
group
are
publicly
treated
with
respect.
Political
Organization.
Most
of
the
time
the
rancherias
operated
as
autonomous
political
entities,
each
with
a
headman
noted

for his
wisdom
and
speaking
ability.
He
served
at
the
will
of
his
rancheria
and
was
expected
to
be
gen-
erous
with
his
time
and
property.
The
key
to
leaders'
effec-

tiveness
was
the
special
power
derived
from
dreams;
this
power
was
manifest
in
their
performance.
There
were
both
civil
leaders
and
war
leaders.
Traditionally
these
leadership
positions
were
held
by

males.
Since
1938
the
tribe
has
been
governed
by
an
elected
seven-member
tribal
council.
Women
have
often
been
elected
to
the
council,
and
the
first
woman
tribal
president
was
elected

in
1987.
Social
Control.
Gossip
was
probably
a
frequently
used
mechanism
of
social
control
in
the
past;
it
continues
to
be
the
most
popular
means.
Sorcery
and
occasionally
murder
were

used
against
repeated
and
flagrant
social
deviance.
Late
in
the
1800s
a
Quechan
leader
reportedly
ordered
public
flog-
gings
for
drunkards,
but such
punishment
of
misbehavior
may
not
be
traditional.
Children

were
and
are
scolded
for
misbehavior,
but
seldom
spanked.
In
the
late
nineteenth
and
early
twentieth
centuries
government
superintendents,
with
their
appointed
agency
police
force,
upheld
federal
law
on
the

reservation.
Responsibility
for
both
civil
and
criminal
cases
now
lies
with
the
Imperial
County,
California,
sheriff's
office;
the
federal
government
remains
the
law
enforcement
author-
ity
for
major
crimes
on

the
reservation.
Conflict.
The
natural
lines
of
conflict
traditionally
were
between
rancherias,
and
after
European
contact
the
most
ser-
ious
conflicts
erupted
over
how
best
to
deal
with
Whites.
De-

spite
changes
in
specific
issues,
this
has
persisted
as
a
funda-
mental
source
of
political
factionalism.
Another
is
the
performance
of
elected
tribal
officials.
Now
factions
consist
of
clusters
of

close
relatives.
Religion
and
Expressive
Culture
Religious
Beliefs.
The
elemental
Quechan
beliefs
involve
a
spiritual
power
derived
from
special
dreams
and
a
continu-
ing
interaction
with
the
souls
of
the

dead.
The
dream
power
is
bestowed
by
the
first
men,
created
by
Kukumat
but
imbued
with
spiritual
power
and
culture
by
Kukumat's
son
Kuma-
stamxo.
Dream
power
was
essential
for

successful
leaders,
curers,
warriors,
and
the
various
ritual
specialists.
There
was
as
well
a
collective
tribal
spiritual
power
that
was
renewed
and
increased
through
war
with
enemy
tribes.
Instead
of

prayers
or
sacrifices,
there
were
formulas
and
purification
through
smoking
and
abstinence
that
produced
more
or
less
auto-
matic
results.
Protestant
and
Catholic
doctrine
has
become
popular,
but
there
is

still
an
active
core
of
men
who
preserve
the
traditional
beliefs
and
an
even
larger
group
who
combine
elements
of
both
traditional
and
Christian
belief.
Many
peo-
ple
had
guardian

spirits
manifest
as
special
voices
that
spoke
to
them
from
time
to
time.
These
spirits,
and
those
of
the
first
people,
lived
either
on
the
sacred
mountain
Avikwame
or
on

one
of
the
other
sacred
heights
in
the
region.
Religious
Practitioners.
Men
with
unusually
potent
dream
power
were
given
a
special
title:
k-ax6tt.
There
were
also
individual
speakers
and
singers

who
collectively
pos-
sessed
the
knowledge
of
rituals.
Ceremonies.
The
major
tribal
ceremony
was
the
kar'ik,
held
to
honor
the
memory
of
deceased
tribal
members.
It
was
conceived
as
a

reenactment
of
the
original
mourning
cere-
mony
following
creator
Kukumat's
death.
In
the
late
nine-
teenth
and
early
twentieth
centuries
it
featured
carved
wooden
images
of
the
deceased
along
with

displays
of
new
clothing
laid
out
as
offerings
to
the
spirits
of
the
dead.
A
major
portion
of
the
ritual
scenario
involved
a
battle
reenact-
ment;
its
climax
was
a

large
fire
that
consumed
the
ritual
shel-
ter
and
the
offerings.
Other
'religious"
ceremonies
were
more
like
large-scale
feasts.
Even
abbreviated
kar'6k
rituals
are
now
rarely
held.
Medicine.
Quechans
traditionally

believed
disease
could
be
caused
by
inadvertently
ingesting
a
poisonous
substance
or
by
soul
loss.
Hostile
sorcerers
could
cause
either
malady,
as
could
the
violation
of
a
mouming,
warfare,
or

menstrual
taboo.
Dream
power
was
the source
of
a
curer's
abilities.
Techniques
included
blowing
smoke
upon
and
massaging
the
patient,
and
sucking
out
the
intrusive
substance.
Death
and
Afterlife.
The
souls

of
the
dead
pass
through
four
layers,
each
more
distant
from
the
living
world.
The
fourth
is
the
land
of
the
dead,
far
to
the
south,
a
land
of
plenty

and
happiness,
with
the
best
times
enjoyed
by
those
killed
in
battle.
The
body
is
cremated
along
with
personal
ef-
fects,
and
others
wishing
to
commemorate
deceased
relatives
at
the

time
may
bum
offerings
of
clothing
as
well.
Spirits
of
some
of
the
dead
also
return
to
receive
the
offerings
to
them
burned
during
the
kar'tk
ritual.
The
traditional
funeral

ritual
still
predominates.
Bibliography
Bee,
Robert
L.
(1981).
Crosscurrents
along
the
Colorado:
The
Impact
of
Government
Policy
on
the
Quechan
Indians.
Tucson:
University
of
Arizona
Press.
Bee,
Robert
L.
(1983).

"Quechan."
In
Handbook
of
North
American
Indians.
Vol.
10,
Southwest,
edited
by
Alfonso
Ortiz
86-98.
Washington,
D.C.:
Smithsonian
Institution.
Forbes,
Jack
D.
(1965).
Warriors
of
the
Colorado:
The
Yumas
of

the
Quechan
Nation
and
Their
Neighbors.
Norman:
Univer-
sity
of
Oklahoma
Press.
Forde,
C.
Daryll
(1931).
"Ethnography
of
the
Yuma
Indi-
ans."
University
of
California
Publications
in
American
Archae-
ology

and
Ethnology
28:85-278.
ROBERT
L.
BEE
Rom
303
Rom
Quileute
The
Quileute
(Quillayute),
including
the
Hoh,
live
on
the
west
coast
of
the
Olympic
Peninsula
in
northwestern
Wash-
ington
to

the
south
of
Cape
Flattery.
Today
they
live
mainly
on
the
Quileute
and
Hoh
Indian
reservations
in
Washington.
The
Quileute
make
a
strong
effort
to
preserve
the
culture,
re-
quiring,

for
example,
that
tribal
membership
be
given
only
to
those
with
50
percent
Quileute
ancestry
and
birth
on
the
res-
ervation.
They
spoke
Quileute,
a
language
of
the
Chimakuan
family

and
numbered
about
four
hundred
in
the
mid-
1980s.
Bibliography
Pettit,
George
Albert
(1950).
"The
Quileute
of
La
Push,
1775-1945."
University
of
California
Anthropological
Records
14:1-120.
Powell,
Jay,
and
Vickie

Jenson
(1976).
Quileute:
An
Introduc-
tion
to
the
Indians
of
La
Push.
Seattle:
University
of
Washing-
ton
Press.
Quinault
The
Quinault
(Quinaelt,
Quinaielt),
including
the
Queets
(Quaitso),
live
on
the

west
coast
of
the
Olympic
Peninsula
in
northwestern
Washington
to
the
south
of
the
Quileute
and
Hoh.
They
spoke
Coast
Salish
languages
and
numbered
about
sixteen
hundred
in
1984.
They

now
live
with
the
Che-
halis,
Chinook,
and
Cowlitz
on
the
Quinault
Indian
Reserva-
tion
in
Washington.
Bibliography
Barsh,
Russell
Lawrence
(1982).
"The
Economics
of
a
Tradi-
tional
Coastal
Indian

Fishery."
Human
Organization
41:170-
176.
Olson,
Ronald
L.
(1936).
"The
Quinault
Indians."
University
of
Washington
Publications
in
Anthropology
6:1-190.
ETHNONYMS:
Gypsy,
or
subgroup
appellations:
Kalderash,
Machwaya
Orientation
Identification.
The
Rom

speaking
a
Vlach
(Viax)
Gypsy
dialect
have
representatives
over
most
of
the
world
including
the
United
States,
Canada,
Mexico,
and
much
of
Central
and
South
America.
Rom
means
"human
being,"

"man,"
and
"husband,"
thus
paralleling
the
use
of
the
word
'man"
in
English.
"Rom"
and
"Gypsy"
are
used
interchangeably
be-
cause
for
the
Rom
the
English
term
carries
none
of

the
nega-
tive
connotations
it
has
for
many
non-Gypsies.
Location.
The
Rom
are
found
in
every
state,
and
although
some
continue
to
be
seminomadic,
traveling
throughout
the
country
and
into

Canada,
Mexico,
the
Caribbean,
and
occa-
sionally
to
Europe,
most
families
strive
to
control
a
territory
focused
on
a
pool
of
fortune-telling
clientele.
Most
Rom
are
urban
dwellers,
found
primarily

in
the
larger
metropolitan
centers;
fewer
live
in
small
towns
and
on
busy
main
roads
throughout
rural
America.
Demography.
My
enumeration
of
the
Rom
population
in
several
states
and
large

cities,
and
interviews
with
the
Rom
about
their
knowledge
of
where
different
families
live,
re-
sulted
in
a
figure
of
less
than
twenty
thousand.
The
New
York
metropolitan
area
has

the
largest
concentration,
with
perhaps
as
many
as
four
hundred
to
five
hundred
families.
Los
Ange-
les,
Chicago,
and
other
cities
have
lesser
concentrations
cor-
responding
primarily
to
their
population

size.
linguistic
Affiliation.
The
Rom
speak
a
dialect
of
a
lan-
guage
belonging
to
the
Indic
branch
of
the
Indo-European
language
family.
They
refer
to
it
adverbially
as
speaking
ro-

manes,
"in
the
Gypsy
way";
in
English
the
language
is
called
"Gypsy."
Linguists
refer
to
it
and
other
related
but
not
always
mutually
intelligible
dialects
as
"Romani."
The
dialect
spoken

by
the
Rom
falls
into
a
category
of
Vlach,
or
Romanian-
influenced
Gypsy
dialects.
History
and
Cultural
Relations
On
the
basis
of
linguistic
evidence,
the
ancestors
of
the
Rom
and

other
Gypsy
groups
are
thought
to
have
left
India
some-
time
before
A.D.
1000.
Loan
words
in
the
Gypsy
language
indi-
cate
they
passed
through
Persian-
and
Greek-speaking
areas.
The

first
records
that
can
reasonably
be
thought
to
apply
to
Gypsies
come
from
early-fourteenth-century
Greece.
After
the
arrival
of
Gypsies
in
Europe,
some
groups
spread
west
and
north,
whereas
the

ancestors
of
the
Rom
appear
to
have
stayed
in
the
Balkans,
especially
in
the
Serbian
and
Romanian-speaking
areas,
until
the
middle
of
the
nineteenth
century,
at
which
time
they
began

another
series
of
migra-
tions,
culminating
in
the
distribution
of
Rom
families
all
over
the
world.
This
major
split,
often
referred
to as
the
first
and
second
waves
of
migrations,
is

also
reflected
in
the
Vlach-
non-Vlach
dialect
division.
Before
coming
to
North
America,
most
of
the
families
had
traveled
widely;
group
designations
reflect
the
countries
with
which
they
were
associated,

such
as
Rusuya,
Grekuya,
Arxentinuya,
Meksikaya,
and
so
on.
The
304
Rom
tribal
name
of
Machwaya
derives
from
the
Serbian
area
from
which
they
emigrated.
My
research
places
the
first

arrival
of
Rom
in
the
United
States
in
1881,
but
the
real
influx
did
not
begin
until
about
1895.
It
was
during
this
period,
from
1895
until
immigration
was
slowed

down
by
World
War
I
and
halted
by
the
literacy
requirement
of
1918,
that
the
ancestors
of
most
of
the
Rom
families
currently
in
the
United
States
and
Canada
arrived

here.
The
more
recent
Lovara
Rom,
who
first
arrived
from
Eu.
rope
in
1973,
are
not
discussed
here,
as
they
have
not
been
here
long
enough
yet
to
be
considered

"American
Rom."
Settlements
Owing
to
economic
competition
over
fortune-telling
terri-
tory,
Rom
in
the
United
States
and
Canada
have
evolved
a
scattered
distribution
roughly
correlated
with
the
density
of
the

non-Gypsy
population,
especially
that
portion
of
it
per-
ceived
by
the
Rom
to
comprise
the
best
clientele.
Larger
cities
are
divided
into
areas
of
influence
in
which
certain
families
hold

sway,
sometimes
for
decades
or
until
displaced
by
an-
other
family.
Some
smaller
towns
are
said
to
be
"owned"
by
a
single
family,
and
extended
families
often
lay
claim
to

a
por-
tion
of
a
state
with
rural
areas
and
a
number
of
small
towns.
This
is
especially
true
in
the
southern
states.
'Ownership"
may
consist
of
informal
arrangements
with

local
law
enforce-
ment
officials,
possession
of
a
fortune-telling
license,
influ-
ence
with
welfare
authorities,
or
a
patronage
relationship
with
some
influential
local
person.
Economy
Subsistence
and
Commercial
Activities.
The

economic
organization
of
the
Rom,
like
that
of
most
Gypsies,
has
been
characterized
by
what
in
recent
years
has
come
to
be
called
a
"peripatetic
adaptation,"
or
sometimes
"commercial
nomad-

ism."
Although
much
less
nomadic
and
more
urbanized
today,
the
adaptation
of
the
Rom
remains
an
ethnically
or-
ganized,
opportunistic
exploitation
of
the
human
resource
base
by
means
of
a

wide
variety
of
strategies.
Non-Gypsies
form
the
clientele;
no
similar
economic
relationship
is
sanc-
tioned
among
the
Rom.
This
adaptation
is
unusually
stable
in
its
overall
relationship
to
non-Gypsy
society,

although
the
specific
strategies
utilized
are
readily
accommodated
to
re-
gional
differences
and
changing
times.
This
very
flexibility
is
highly
valued
by
the
Rom.
The
principal
trades
the
Rom
have

engaged
in
over
the
years
have
alternated
between
women's
fortune-telling
and
the
men's
sales
and
service
activities.
Today
fortune-telling
is
the
primary
subsistence
activity
and
influences
population
distribution
and
social

relations.
Whenever
possible,
the
Rom
try
to
operate
as
independent
entrepreneurs,
thus
avoiding
the
proletarianization
of
their
labor.
Industrial Arts.
As
independent
traveling
traders
and
service
providers
the
Rom
engaged
little

in
primary
produc-
tive
activities
or
manufacturing.
They
were
everywhere
depen-
dent
on
the
surrounding
population
for
their
subsistence.
In
spite
of
increased
sedentism,
the
only
relationship
the
Rom
have

to
industry
is
by
means
of
semiskilled
repair
trades,
for-
merly
as
copper-
and
tinsmiths,
today
as
auto-body
workers,
electroplaters,
metal
burnishers,
and
so
on.
Trade.
Rom
have
always
been

alert
to
opportunities
to
en-
gage
in
buying,
selling,
or
trading
whatever
goods
seem
to
be
in
demand
at
any
particular
time.
Shrewd
tradesmanship
is
part
of
the
self-definition
of

a
Gypsy.
Men
generally
deal
in
larger
merchandise,
formerly
horses,
today
cars
and
trailers;
women
tell
fortunes
or
sell
smaller
items,
such
as
decorative
objects;
and
children
engage
in
occasional

productive
activi-
ties
such
as
shining
shoes
or
hawking
flowers
on
the
streets.
Division
of
Labor.
Sexual
dichotomy
among
the
Rom
ex-
tends
to
types
of
work
that
are
considered

proper
for
men
and
women.
Fortune-telling
is
women's
work
par
excellence,
al-
though
it's
the
men
who
control
and
protect
the
territory.
Men's
work
is
more
variable,
but
at
any

particular
time
and
place
there
is
a
range
of
pursuits
that
are
considered
properly
"Gypsy."
By
the
same
token
there
are
jobs,
such
as
plumbing,
that
contravene
the
group's
pollution

taboos
and
that
a
Rom
should
not
perform.
Land
Tenure.
There
is
no
traditional
form
of land
tenure
because
there
is
no
traditional
attachment
to
land.
Fortune-
telling
locations
and
the

rights
to
the
local
clientele
are
often
bought
and
sold
as
businesses,
however.
Today,
real
estate
also
may
be
purchased
either
as
an
investment
or
as
a
base
for
service

operations.
Kinship
Kin
Groups
and
Descent.
The
Rom
population
in
North
America
is
organized
almost
entirely
on
basis
of
kinship.
Stu-
dents
of
American
Rom
disagree
in
their
interpretations
of

kinship.
Gropper
and
Sutherland
describe
descent
as
cog-
natic
or
bilateral;
Gropper,
however,
recognizes
the
patri-
lineal
emphasis
in
rules
of
residence.
In
my
view,
descent
ide-
ology
is
patrilineal,

as
expressed
frequently
by
the
statement:
"We
always
go
by
the
father."
In
practice,
rare
exceptions
occur.
The
patrilineally
extended
family
is
generally
the
larg-
est
functioning
unit
in
the

society.
Patrilineally
related
males
work
together,
pool
their
money
for
bride-price,
defend
com-
mon
fortune-telling
territories
against
outside
threats,
and
exhibit
solidarity
at
public
gatherings.
Women's
lineages
are
considered
not

to
matter,
as
expressed
by
the
statement
refer-
ring
to
marriage:
"The
girls
are
thrown
away."
Above
the
fam-
ily
are
the
lineage
and
the
clan,
which
generally
give
the

group
its
name;
sometimes
the
names
of
lineage
founders
are
used
in
addition
to
the
clan
name.
Thus
an
individual
may
identify
himself
as
being
a
Rom
of
the
Kalderash

tribe,
Mineshti
clan,
Demitro
lineage,
the
son
of
Zurka,
known
by
the
name
of
Wasso.
Both
the
clan
and
the
lineage
are
referred
to
by
the
term
vitsa,
which
originates

in
the
Romanian
word
meaning
a
"stem.'
Kinship
Terminology.
Eskimo-type
kinship
terms
are
used.
Most
of
the
terminology
derives
from
Indic
roots,
al-
though
some
has
been
borrowed
from
Romanian

and
possibly
from
other
European
languages.
It
differs
from
common
Eu-
ropean
kinship
terms
primarily
by
equating
grandchildren
with
nieces
and
nephews
and
in
emphasizing
terms
defining
relationships
among
affines,

the
parties
to
marriage
con-
tracts.
Marriage
and
Family
Marriage.
Within
living
memory,
most
marriages
have
been
arranged
by
the
families
of
the
boy
and
the
girl,
the
initi-
Rom

305
ative
being
with
the
boy's
parents.
Formerly
the
young
people
were
rarely
consulted
in
the
matter,
today
their
wishes
may
be
taken
into
consideration,
especially
if
they
are
strongly

op-
posed
to
the
proposed
match.
Elopement,
which
may
have
been
an
earlier
form
of
marriage,
is
occasionally
resorted
to
as
an
alternative
form.
Marriage
is
viewed
as
a
contract

between
the
two
families
with
bride-price
as
the
cement
to
solidify
the
agreement.
At
the
wedding,
formerly
an
elaborate
three-day
series
of
ceremonies
now
collapsed
to
one,
the
bride
is

trans-
ferred
to
the
groom's
family,
and
money
is
collected
from
the
guests
to
defray
the
costs
borne
by
them.
Over
the
genera-
tions,
patterns
of
bride
exchange
have
developed

between
certain
patrilineages
amounting
to
a
loose
form
of
alliance.
The
members
of
such
lineage
pairs
often
say
that
the
frequent
intermarriages
practically
make
them
into
one
vitsa.
Mar-
riages

between
cousins
once
removed
are
common,
but
may
also
occur
between
first
cousins,
especially
cross
cousins.
After
marriage
the
couple
traditionally
resides
patrilocally
until
other
brothers
in
the
family
get

married,
at
which
time
the
first
one
may
move
out
to
begin
an
independent
nuclear
household.
The
relationship
to
the
husband's
paternal
household
remains
strong,
however,
meals
may
still
be

taken
there
and
often
the
households
are
in
close
proximity
by
choice.
Divorce
requires
the
return
of
a
portion
of
the
bride-
price,
the
amount
depending
on
the
length
of

time
the
couple
stayed
together.
Domestic
Unit.
The
primary
social
unit
among
the
Rom
is
the
patrilineally
extended
family.
Formerly
this
constituted
a
camping
unit,
but
today
it
is
difficult

for
such
a
large
number
of
people
to
obtain
single
or
adjacent
housing.
As
much
as
possible,
however,
the
extended
family
attempts
to
function
as
a
domestic
unit-for
example,
by

visiting
daily,
sharing
meals,
and
otherwise
considering
one
another's
homes
as
ex-
tensions
of
one's
own
household.
Inheritance.
Typically
at
the
time
of
death
there
used
to
be
very
little

to
inherit
and
a
great
reluctance
to
possess
items
belonging
to
the
deceased;
most
personal
belongings
would
have
been
burned,
broken,
or
discarded
to
avoid
possible
vis-
its
by
the

spirit
of
the
deceased.
Today,
increasing
ownership
of
real
estate
and
bank
accounts
is
bringing
more
mainstream
inheritance
rules
to
bear
on
disposal
of
property.
Socialization.
Children
are
raised
in

an
extended
family
setting
with
all
older
females
sharing
in
child-caring
activities.
Children
are
indulged,
protected,
and
treasured.
They
grow
up
feeling
secure
in,
but
dependent
on,
the
protection
they

receive
from
the
extended
family.
But
they
often
seem
at
a
loss
in
new
situations
without
the
support
of
the
relatives.
Even
adults
consider
long
separation
from
the
family
to

be
the
worst
kind
of
deprivation
that
could
occur.
Sociopolitical
Organization
Social
Organization.
The
Rom
function
on
a
band
level
with
family
elders
and
influential
'big
men"
as
the only
type

of
leadership.
Rom
society
is
organized
primarily
on
the
basis
of
kinship,
with
sex,
age,
ability,
wealth,
and
family
membership
used
to
rank
individuals.
It
is
patrifocal
in
that
all

important
decisions
are
ultimately
made
by
the
adult
males,
although
the
advice
of
women
may
be
considered.
Age
is
generally
accorded
high
respect,
but
ability
may
some-
times
count
for

more.
Women
defer
to
their
men.
Wealth
is
seen
as
proof
of
ability
and
luck
and
is
highly
esteemed.
Prestige
is
based
on
a
combination
of
wealth,
ability,
and
good

conduct.
Political
Organization.
Lacking
formal
leadership,
Rom
political
organization
consists
of
loose
federations,
or
shifting
alliances
between
lineages,
which
generally
are
united
by
mar-
riage
ties.
Charismatic
individuals,
those
who

have
become
wealthy
or
who
have
influential
friends
among
non-Gypsies,
may
for
a
while
possess
certain
power
to
influence
others;
however,
their
power
is
generally
nontransferable.
At
the
death
of

a
'big
man,"
his
sons
do
not
necessarily
inherit
his
status.
Each
has
to
earn
his
own
status.
Social
Control.
Social
control
is
ultimately
in
the
hands
of
one's
peers

and
elders
who
happen
to
be
in
a
position
to
com-
mand
respect
at
the
particular
time.
Most
of
the
time,
social
control
consists
of
discussion
and
evaluation,
gossip,
ridicule,

and
similar
informal
pressure
tactics.
In
more
serious
cases
a
divano,
a
gathering
of
friends,
relatives,
and
available
local
elders,
may
be
called
first
to
discuss
and
attempt
to
solve

the
problem
in
order
to
avoid
the
expense
and
trouble
of
resort-
ing
to
a
Gypsy
court.
If
this
fails,
the
Kris,
an
ad
hoc
court
of
arbitration,
is
convened,

generally
by
the
party
that
feels
it
has
been
wronged.
The
judges
are
chosen
from
among
avail-
able
respected
elders,
who
are
felt
to
be
objective
and
are
ex-
pected

not
to
favor
one
side
over
another.
Sanctions
may
consist
of
monetary
fines
or,
more
rarely,
formal
ostracism.
Charges
of
contravention
of
pollution
taboos,
more
fre-
quently
used
in
the

past,
are
among
the
strongest
forms
of
so-
cial
control.
A
person
or
family
labeled
unclean,
marime,
is
ef-
fectively
banned
from
further
contact
with
other
Rom
until
cleared
by

the
Kris.
Non-Gypsy
law
enforcement
is
also
called
upon
as
an
adjunct
to
internal
forms
of
conflict
resolution,
al-
beit
mostly
for
the
harassment
of
enemies.
Conflict.
Conflicts-which
may
begin

with
individual
dis-
agreements
over
division
of
earnings,
disputes
over
bride-
price
or
daughters-in-law,
or
competition
over
fortune-telling
territory-are
often
expressed
on
another
level
as
disagree-
ments
between
families
or

lineages.
Patrilineally
related
individuals
are
expected
to
band
together
to
defend
the
fam-
ily
against
outsiders.
Women
whose
natal
lineages
are
in
con-
flict
with
those
of
their
husbands
are

sometimes
put
in
an
awkward
position
of
having
to
choose
between
them.
Religion
and
Expressive
Culture
Religious
Beliefs.
In
addition
to
traditions
that
may
have
earlier
roots,
the
religion
of

the
Rom
incorporates
elements
from
Eastern
European
folk
religions,
Eastern
Orthodoxy,
and
Roman
Catholicism.
Today,
although
most
consider
themselves
Catholic,
large
numbers
have
turned
toward
evangelical
Protestant
sects
such
as

Pentecostalism.
Beliefs
are
derived
partly
from
indigenous
traditions
and
partly
from
the
official
and
folk
religions
of
the
countries
among
which
the
Rom
have
lived.
God,
0
Del,
and
saints

are
venerated,
and
numerous
spirits,
some
associated
with
natural
elements
such
as
wind
or
water,
are
recognized.
Some
are
anthropo-
morphized;
others
more
manalike
in
their
expression.
Luck,
Bax,
especially

is
considered
an
active
supernatural
force,
closely
bound
with
the
notion
of
fate.
Symbolic
uncleanness
is
sometimes
also
reified
as
an
incarnation
of
evil.
Pollution,
or
marime
taboos
based
on

the
symbolic
impurity
of
the
lower
306
Rom
body,
especially
of
women,
dictates
proper
behavior
between
the
sexes,
older
and
younger
people,
food
and
laundry
han-
dling,
and
the
arrangement

of
household
furnishings.
The
same
separation
of
clean
from
unclean
also
dictates
the
kinds
of
social
and
economic
relations
permissible
between
the
Rom
and
non-Gypsies.
Religious
Practitioners.
No
formal
priests,

shamans,
or
other
religious
specialists
exist
among
the
Rom.
A
few
women
are
noted
as
interpreters
of
dreams;
others
may
be
feared
as
witches
because
of
their
age
or
ability

to
cast
curses.
Ceremonies.
Major
ceremonies
with
religious
compo-
nents
include
saint's
day
feasts,
baptisms,
funerals,
feasts
of
honor,
weddings,
and
Easter,
Thanksgiving,
and
Christmas
celebrations.
All
celebrate
the
Rom

as
a
people;
by
the
giving
of
feasts,
respect
is
demonstrated
to
both
the
supernaturals
and
other
Rom.
Arts.
Arts
consist
of
music,
including
recent
musical
com-
positions
and
adaptations,

dance,
folk
songs,
legends,
and
family
history.
Oratory,
especially
at
a
Kris,
may
also
be
con-
sidered
among
the
artistic
expressions
of
the
Rom.
Folklore
serves
educational,
evaluative,
and
prescriptive

roles
of
major
importance
in
the
absence
of
writing
and
more
formal
educa-
tion.
Medicine.
There
is
some
evidence
that
the
Rom
once
pos-
sessed
a
rich
body
of
folk

medicines,
remedies,
and
cures,
most
of
which
by
now
have
fallen
into
disuse.
There
do
not
appear
to
have
been
any
internally
recognized
medical
spe-
cialists,
although
the
older
women

served
as
multipurpose
ethnopsychiatrists,
herbalists,
and
curers
for
outside
clients.
Modem
medicine
is
accepted,
and
in
cases
of
serious
illness
the
best
physicians
and
hospitals
are
sought
regardless
of
the

cost
or
distance.
Death
and
Afterlife.
Spirits
of
the
dead
are
believed
to
survive
death.
The
deceased
are
provided
with
money,
a
new
suit
of
clothes,
and
travel
necessities.
Their

spirits
roam
the
earth
for
one
year
after
death,
retracing
the
steps
traveled
dur-
ing
life.
The
year
after
death
is
punctuated
by
a
series
of
me-
morial
feasts,
with

the
last
one
after
a
year
formally
conclud-
ing
the
journey
with
a
ceremony
of
'Opening
the
Road,"
presumably
to
heaven,
raio,
and
the
liberation
of
the
spirit
from
any

further
earthly
obligations.
Anniversaries
of
death
are
also
commemorated
with
food
offerings,
generally
by
an
extra
place
setting
at
a
table.
There
is
no
corresponding
belief
in
hell.
Death
is

considered
as
polluting,
and
the
appearance
of
spirits
of
the
dead
is
generally
feared
unless
the
one
per-
ceiving
the
ghost
had
an
especially
close
and
good
relation-
ship
with

the
person
while
alive.
Nevertheless,
one's
ances-
tors
may
be
invoked
to
intercede
on
one's
behalf
at
a
time
of
great
need.
Those
Rom
who
have
recently
become
Pentecos-
tals

have
renounced
most
of
these
beliefs
and
practices
as
pagan."
Bibliography
Gropper,
Rena
C.
(1975).
Gypsies
in
the
City:
Culture
Pat-
terns
and
Survival.
Princeton:
Darwin
Press.
Miller,
Carol
J.

(1968)
"Macvaja
Gypsy
Marime."
M.A.
the-
*sis,
University
of
Washington,
Seattle.
Pickett,
David
(1970).
"The
Gypsies:
An
International
Com-
munity
of
Wandering
Thieves."
Ph.D.
diss.,
Syracuse
Univer-
sity.
Salo,
Matt

T.,
and
Sheila
Salo
(1977).
The
Kalderas
in
East-
ern
Canada.
Folk
Culture
Studies,
no.
21.
Ottawa:
National
Museums
of
Canada.
Silverman,
Carol
T.
(1979).
"Expressive
Behavior
as
Adap-
tive

Strategy
among
American
Gypsies."
Ph.D.
diss.,
Univer-
sity
of
Pennsylvania.
Sutherland,
Anne
(1975).
Gypsies:
The
Hidden
Americans.
New
York:
Free
Press.
MATT
T.
SALO