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Who Are Gadje 27/01/2012

It's a common situation that non-Gypsy authors made comments about Gypsies in their books. On the other hand, the first book which explains Gadje identity and Gadje history from the eyes of Gypsies is "The book of Gypsies". "The Book of Gypsies" written by Ali Mezarcıoğlu approach Gadje identity and Gadje history from a different standpoint.

Gadje are also descendants of natural human beings like everybody. So in reality Gadje and Gypsies are relatives. Ancestors of Gadje who overflow forestal lands, in where they live together with other natural human beings and subsist on hunting and gathering, because of population growth and natural causes were obligated to find new ways of subsistence. Then they created a new life style different from the life style of natural human beings when they started to subsist on herding and agriculture.

There are 3 branch of Gadje according to "The Book of Gypsies". First and second branches are agricultural Gadje and herder Gadje. They preferred one of these subsistence ways correlatively environmental conditions of the places in where they live. The third branch is warrior Gadje. There is an alienage between Gypsies and agricultural-herder Gadje. However, warrior Gadje are the ones who have most terrible prejudices about Gypsies.

The ancestors of the warrior Gadje, farmers and herders, faced full scale droughts. These droughts made survival difficult. Then these farmers and herders found a new means of subsitance, plunder. Thus the farmer and herder Gadje evolved into the warrior Gadje. Thru plunder and the veneration of war, the warrior Gadje was able to survive. In the process of survival the warrior Gadje humiliated the peaceful culture of the Gypsies. And in each place the warrior Gadje was dominant, they declared the Gypsies a cursed community.

Traditional occupations of Gadje dissappeared with growing of industry but superstitions and prejudices created by primarily warrior Gadje maintained.

Kaynak: Ali Mezarcıoğlu Çingenelerin Kitabı Cinius Yayınları (Ali Mezarcıoğlu The Book Of Gypsies Cinius Publishing Company)