Finnish Kale
Encyclopedia
The Finnish Kale or the Finnish romanis (Suomen romanit) are a group of the Romani people that live primarily in Finland
and Sweden
.
Their main languages are Finnish
and Finnish Romani. They are mostly Christian
.
and England
in the 16th century. In 1637 all Romani groups were declared outlaws who could be hanged without trial. This practice was discontinued in 1748. When Finland declared independence in 1917, all Kales received full citizenship and rights. During the Winter War
and Continuation War
about a thousand Kales served in the Finnish military.
" in the community. Roma artist Kiba Lumberg has said the following about the culture she grew up in: "Blood feud and the violence that exists in Roma culture, can't be discussed in Finland. We can't accept that some groups hide behind culture to excuse stepping on human rights and freedom of speech." and "The problem is, that when a Gypsy dares to speak in public about the negative things happening in their own tribe, they face death threats. If a white person opens their mouth, they're accused of racism." "
In Finland, unlike in many other countries, crime statistics give the ethnic background of the perpetrator. The Finnish Ministry of Justice indicated that in 2005, persons of Romani background perpetrated 18% of solved street robbery crimes in Finland (by way of comparison Somalis were responsible for 12%, while ethnic Finns were close to 51%). According to a 2003 report by the Finnish Department of Corrections, there were an estimated 120 to 140 Romanis in the Finnish prison system. The report discussed ways to combat institutional racism and discrimination within the prisons system, as well as ways for improving rehabilitation of Romani inmates through, for example, education programmes and better cooperation with the Romani community at large.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Their main languages are Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
and Finnish Romani. They are mostly Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
.
History
Finnish Kale came to Finland 500 years via Sweden by Romani groups who travelled from the kingdoms of ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the 16th century. In 1637 all Romani groups were declared outlaws who could be hanged without trial. This practice was discontinued in 1748. When Finland declared independence in 1917, all Kales received full citizenship and rights. During the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
and Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
about a thousand Kales served in the Finnish military.
Socioeconomic status
The Kale's traditional craftsman occupation has lost importance in modern times leading to a significant rise in unemployment. A paper published by the Ministry of Labour states that "According to labour administration’s client register material, 70% of the Roma jobseekers had a primary school or lower secondary school education." According to the same paper: "Education is compulsory in Finland and this obligation applies equally to the Roma as to other citizens, but dropping out of basic education is still common among young Roma, while in the mainstream population it is extremely uncommon."Perceived violence and criminality
In 2007 police officer and boxer Riku Lumberg (of Romani heritage) wrote an open letter to his own people, seeking an end to the "barbaric tradition of blood feudBlood Feud
"Blood Feud" is the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 11, 1991. In the episode, Mr. Burns falls ill and desperately needs a blood transfusion. Homer discovers Bart has Burns' rare blood type and urges...
" in the community. Roma artist Kiba Lumberg has said the following about the culture she grew up in: "Blood feud and the violence that exists in Roma culture, can't be discussed in Finland. We can't accept that some groups hide behind culture to excuse stepping on human rights and freedom of speech." and "The problem is, that when a Gypsy dares to speak in public about the negative things happening in their own tribe, they face death threats. If a white person opens their mouth, they're accused of racism." "
In Finland, unlike in many other countries, crime statistics give the ethnic background of the perpetrator. The Finnish Ministry of Justice indicated that in 2005, persons of Romani background perpetrated 18% of solved street robbery crimes in Finland (by way of comparison Somalis were responsible for 12%, while ethnic Finns were close to 51%). According to a 2003 report by the Finnish Department of Corrections, there were an estimated 120 to 140 Romanis in the Finnish prison system. The report discussed ways to combat institutional racism and discrimination within the prisons system, as well as ways for improving rehabilitation of Romani inmates through, for example, education programmes and better cooperation with the Romani community at large.
Notable people of Kale descent
- Remu Aaltonen, drummer
- Sebastian Ahlgren, singer, Tango KingTangomarkkinatThe Tangomarkkinat is the world's oldest tango festival. It is held early every July in Seinäjoki, Finland. As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live music provided by the best Finnish entertainers...
- Markus Allan, singer
- Veijo BaltzarVeijo BaltzarVeijo Oskari Baltzar is a Finnish Romani author. Since his first novel Polttava tie in 1968 he has been Finland’s leading Romani author. Polttava tie was the first novel in Finland in which a member of the community approached the hidden world of Romani culture...
, author - Rainer Friman, singer
- Saska Helmikallio, singer, Tango King
- Kiba LumbergKiba LumbergKiba Lumberg, real name Kirsti Leila Annikki Lumberg , is a Finnish artist and author of Finnish Kale descent. She is known as a critic of the traditional Roma culture....
, artist and critic of violence in Roma culture - Amadeus LundbergAmadeus LundbergJuha Grigori Amadeus Lundberg , better known as Amadeus is a Finnish singer. He became famous after winning the Tangomarkkinat tango contest in 2009....
, singer, Tango King - Anneli Sari, singer
- Taisto Tammi, singer