The Finnish Roma (; ; ), also known as the Kaale , Finnish Romani, and Finnish Kale, are a Romani subgroup who live primarily in Finland but also in Sweden. Their main languages are Finnish, Swedish, and Kalo.
The first recorded Roma arrived in Finland in the 16th century, and they primarily descend from the Romanisael. Although Finland does not collect data on individuals' ethnicity, the Finnish Roma population in Finland was estimated at 10,000 in 2004. In addition, approximately 4,500 Finnish Roma were residing in Sweden in 2020.
There are also Romani migrants from Romania and Bulgaria living in Finland, who should not be confused with the Finnish Roma, as the two groups are not closely related. They have primarily settled in southern Finland during the 21st century, with their population estimated at between 300 and 500.
History
From the 1500s to World War II The first recorded Roma arrived in southwest Finland and Åland in the 16th century from the area that is now Sweden. The Finnish Kale primarily descend from the Romanisael who came to Finland via Sweden after being deported from Sweden in the 17th century. The ancestors of Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian Romani are English and Scottish Romani, who were deported from the kingdoms of Scotland and England.Pulma 2006, p. 32.
In the Swedish part of the kingdom, "Tattares" are said to have arrived to Sweden and Stockholm for the first time in 1512, when people referred to as "Tattares" were traveling through the country. According to the minutes of the Stockholm city council, a group of about 60 people arrived in the city, reportedly from Little Egypt. The idea that the Roma came from Egypt was common in the stories of Roma groups traveling across Europe, which is also the origin of the English word Gypsies. The initial reception was friendly, but already during the reign of Gustav Vasa in the 1520s, the king aimed to expel the Roma from the kingdom. John III continued the same policy, ordering the "Tattares" to be driven into Norway and banning them from returning under threat of the death penalty. After the abolition of monasteries due to the Reformation, there were fears that itinerants would become a burden on state welfare. As foreigners, itinerants were also suspected of being spies for hostile powers.Rekola, Tiina, The early history of Roma in Finland: From the 1500s to the mid-1800s. In Pulma, Panu (ed.): The History of the Finnish Roma, SKS 2014, pp. 18–21.
The first known record of Roma in Finland dates from 1559, when the bailiff of Kastelholm Castle ordered the cessation of "inappropriate trading by Tattares" and their arrest. The next mention is from 1580, when a Tattare named Bågdan Bålatzen was reported to be imprisoned in Turku Castle. Four years later, in 1584, a total of 11 Tattare men were imprisoned due to complaints from peasants. The women and children of the group stayed outside the gate. In 1597, a Tattare group of about 100 people is known to have stayed in the province of Olavinlinna Castle.Rekola, Tiina, The early history of Roma in Finland: From the 1500s to the mid-1800s. In Pulma, Panu (ed.): The History of the Finnish Roma, SKS 2014, pp. 18–19.
17th century In the Kingdom of Sweden, a decree titled Placat om Tartarens fördrifwande af landet ("Proclamation on the Expulsion of the Tattares from the Country")—commonly known as the Hanging Law—was issued on November 24, 1637. It ordered all Roma to leave the country within a year and a day. After this deadline, Roma men found in the country could be hanged without trial, and women and children were to be driven beyond the kingdom's borders. The law used both the term "Tattare" and “sikeiner” (cf. zigenare), the latter becoming the more common term. Execution without trial conflicted with principles of the rule of law already present in Sweden, and the law was apparently never enforced. The execution provision was officially repealed only in 1748.Pulma 2006, pp. 24–25.
In practice, in Finland, for example, Governor-General Pietari/Per Brahe hired Tattares for construction work and tried in the 1660s to settle them near the eastern border in Pielisjärvi, where Roma were moved to cultivate abandoned farms and at the same time help defend the poorly protected border. Elements of the Karelian culture, such as traditional Karelian stew, remain part of Finnish Roma culture.
Life in the remote forests of Northern Karelia during years of crop failure proved impossible for the Roma, and they abandoned their settlements after a short time despite harsh threats. According to the Finnish National Agency for Education, the farms would have likely not been abandoned if the land had been arable or if the Roma had received the same support from the state as the pioneer settlers arriving in the area.
The Roma continued their nomadic lifestyle in Finland, practicing their own trades. Men earned their living mainly through horse trading and horse care, while women engaged in activities such as fortune-telling and bloodletting.Pulma 2006, pp. 32–34. Roma also served in the Swedish army. At least 15 Roma were listed in Gerhard Schantzenstierna's dragoon squadron inspected in 1676.Rekola, Tiina, The early history of Roma in Finland: From the 1500s to the mid-1800s. In Pulma, Panu (ed.): The History of the Finnish Roma, SKS 2014, pp. 23–24.
19th century The attitude of the Lutheran Church toward Roma was strictly negative: they were denied all church sacraments and healthcare, which had long been the responsibility of the Church.; Rekola, Tiina, The early history of Roma in Finland: From the 1500s to the mid-1800s. In Pulma, Panu (ed.): The History of the Finnish Roma, SKS 2014, pp. 23–24. The Vagrancy Act of 1852 reinforced earlier practices and classified Roma as vagrants: Roma without protection were to be arrested immediately, brought before the governor, and sent to a labour house for an indefinite period. Men unfit for general work were to be sent to Crown fortresses, and women to Spinning Houses. Due to a lack of available labor institution space, the law could not be widely implemented. Between 1842 and 1861, an imperial decree was also in effect ordering that sons of Roma women placed in spinning houses be forcibly sent to Cantonist battalions in Tallinn and Pskov.Pulma 2006, pp. 49, 74. The Vagrancy Act contained until 1883 a clause known as the "Gypsy paragraph," which effectively subjected Roma to harsher treatment than other vagrants.Pulma 2006, pp. 75–80.
From the turn of the 20th century through World War II In early 20th-century rural Finland, nomadic Roma had established routes with farms where they regularly stayed overnight. In return, they helped with work on the farms. Men participated in field and forest work, while women helped with laundry, cleaning, cooking, and childcare. In addition, Roma traded horses, told fortunes, and sold handicrafts. Hosts were mostly modest rural people – smallholders, tenant farmers, and cottagers. Roma were also sometimes welcomed in rural parsonages. Wealthier landowners were generally more reluctant to host them. From the late 19th century, many Finnish municipalities began issuing regulations imposing heavy fines on households that accommodated Roma.Pulma (ed.) 2012, pp. 114–116.
Roma sometimes slept outdoors in homemade tents while traveling. Their belongings often traveled with them by horse and cart. Roma generally stayed within or near their home parishes. The rural population came to know the Roma in their area and often treated them quite kindly. As they traveled, Roma relayed news to the majority population and thus served as important messengers of local events. Though Romani children often did not attend school because their families lacked permanent housing.
In 1895, the Finnish government established a committee to investigate the “Gypsy question.” Chaired by Reverend Alexander Gustaf Walle, the committee became known as the Walle Committee. Its resulting report, presented to the imperial Senate of Finland in 1900, focused on recommending how the Roma could be rapidly and effectively assimilated into the majority population. The committee felt that the Roma were unfit for agricultural work due to their physical and mental traits and instead suggested vocational training in handicrafts. However, its proposals were not implemented in practice.
From the early 1900s to the 1950s, much of the interest in Romani affairs in Finland was handled by the religious missionary organization Gypsy mission, founded in 1906 by Oskari Jalkio, who also served as its long-time chairman, originally, Oskari Jalkio intended to go do missionary work in East Asia, but when a young Roma boy, close to freezing, came to ask him for a coat, he realized that there was enough need for help in Finland, and founded the Gypsy Mission. Like the Walle Committee, he believed the only way to improve the Roma's status in Finland was to assimilate them into the majority. From the outset, the mission's ideology emphasized the “problematic” position of Romani children. According to Jalkio, Romani mothers taught their daughters to steal, tell fortunes, and beg, while fathers taught their sons to drink and trade horses. The organization's main goal for decades was to remove Romani children from their "unfit" parents and raise them to become "respectable" members of society. Researcher Martti Grönfors, who studies Finnish Roma, stated that the mission largely ignored Roma culture and needs and described the organization's attitude as “benevolently patronizing.”
During the wars of 1939–1945, at least 300 Romani men served in the military, with at least 60 killed. Many of these veterans later reported experiencing a level of equality on the front lines that was otherwise rare in Finland both before and after the wars.Pulma (ed.) 2012, pp. 162–163.
During the Continuation War, a project was initiated in Finland by the Ministry of the Interior's Central Board for the Care of Evacuees under the leadership of Urho Kekkonen. The goal was to force Roma into employment. In 1943, Parliament passed a special labor camp law, which effectively meant the establishment of forced labor camps for Roma. The law was justified by the perceived increase in Roma vagrancy and associated criminal threats. At least one such camp was established in Lappajärvi, where men were assigned to cut and strip logs and float timber in streams.Pulma (ed.) 2012, pp. 158–163. Romani men labeled "work-shy" by authorities were placed in a vagrants’ camp in Kihniö during the Continuation War, while a separate camp for Romani women was established in Vieremä.
After World War II
Major changes By the late 1930s, over a thousand Finnish Roma lived in the Karelian territory that would soon be been annexed by Russia in the aftermath of the Winter War. Like the 430,000 other Karelian residents, the Roma from the region had to be evacuated to other parts of Finland due to the war.Pulma (ed.) 2012, p. 154. Evacuated Roma from the Karelian Isthmus mostly spread throughout Southern Finland, while many of those who left from the area around Sortavala and northern Ladoga Karelia settled in municipalities in Savo and North Karelia.Pulma (ed.) 2012, pp. 156–157.