SAN FEfu�ANDO VALLEY STATE COLLEGE

NOMAD GYPSIES IN LOS ANGELES : II

PATTERNS OF LIVELIHOOD

A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in

Geography

by

David James Nemeth Jr .

April, 1 9 7 0

The thesis of David James Nemeth Jr. is approved:

�ommittee Chairman

San Fernando V alley State College

April, 1970

ii

PREFACE h�D ACKNOWLEDG�ffiNT

Gypsy culture-bearers have lived in the United States

for centuries . During this time they have character­

istically been anti-social (that is, anti-non-Gypsy) and

have notoriously practiced trickery and deceit on members

of non-Gypsy society . One result of this behavior is that

non-Gypsies, when they have so desired, have not been able

to accumulate much accurate knowledge about the Gypsies and

their activities in the United States .

Most raw data concerning Gypsies and their socio­

economic habits in the United States have been collected

by a handful of public agencies (e . g . welfare, police,

etc . ) , some private corporations (e . g . telephone companies,

credit agencies, etc . ) and a very few Gypsiologists . Much

of this data has not been made available for public use

and, largely for this reason, Gypsy lore in the United

States remains quite unscientific and uncoordinated . The

result is that the concept of a total Gypsy culture, as it

exists in its somewhat variegated form in the contemporary

United States, has escaped the knmvledge of most non­

Gypsies.

It is fortunate for this research paper that a variety

of individuals in both public and private bureaucracies in

iii

the Los Angeles area have been captivated enough by local

Gypsy lore to contribute the lessons of some of their own

practical experience . Without their generous assistance

and unequivocal best wishes this study would have been

impossible .

My deepest appreciation goes to my Gypsy friends

whose warmth and hospitality have turned my research pro­

ject into a most meaningful experience . Special thanks,

also , to my associates at San Fernando Valley State College

who have always offered their optimism in return for my

enthusiasm .

iv

CONTENTS

• PREFACE AND ACKNOHLEDGHENT . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . · iii

. ABSrfMCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . viii

i ChaE_ter ' 1 . INTRODUCTION • • • . • . . . . . . • . . . . . . • . . . . • ; . . . 1

1 . 1 Brown 1 s Nomads . . . • . . • • • • . . . . . . . . • . • . 1 1 . 1 . 1 Urban Nomads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1 . 2 Problem and methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 I GYPSY CULTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . • . . . 6

2 . 1 Working definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2 . 2 Gypsy origin and migration . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 . 2 . 1 India to Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2 . 2 . 2 The Rom in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2 . 2 . 3 The Eastern European Rom; . . . . . 15

2 . 3 Some Nomad immigrants in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2 . 4 The structuring of Nomad society in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2 . 4 . 1 Nomad tribes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 2 . 4.2 Nomad nationalities . . . . . . . . . . . 29 2 . 4 . 3 Nomad extended family groups

( v'i t �) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e • • • • • • • • • 2 9 2 . 4 . 4 Nomad extended families

(famil�a) and nuclear families . . . . 33 2 . 4 . 5 Key Nomad socio-economic

institution.s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 2 . 5 Nomad culture history in the

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 2 . 5 . 1 Two eras of Nomadism in the

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3 . NOHAD GYPSIES IN LOS ANGELES . . . . • . • . • . . . 51

3 . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3 . 2 Organized Nomad Gypsy fraud . . . . . . . . . 52 3 . 3 Los Angeles and its fortune-tellers . 55

3 . 3 . 1 Nomad behavior in Los Angeles . 59 3 . 3.2 Local Nomad culture history . . . 63

v

Chapte_� 4 . CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMJ'v1ENDATIONS. • • • • • • • • 8 8

4. 1 Gypsy social structuring and cultural continuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 88

4 .2 Some significance in Nomad socio-economic systematization in Lo� Angeles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

:REFERENCES • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 8 '

�APPENDICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

vi

ILLUSTRATIONS

,FigurE:?_

1 The general trend of Gypsy migrations through Eurasia from India • . . . • • • • . • . • • . . • 10

2 "King" George Adams ( 19 0 1-19 64) • • . . . . - . . . . . . . 31

3 The "king 1 s" house; shmv-p lace of his family . 31

4 A spatial expression of Rural Nomadism • . • . • • 4 5

5 The era of Urban Nomadism . . . . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . . 49

6 Some work in Ohio for a Nomad Gypsy tinplater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

7 A wortacha in New Orleans . • • • . • . • . • • • • . • • • • • 53

8 The City of Los Angeles shovm as a part of its metropolitan area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

9 An ofifl� outside the Los Angeles City lin1its . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

10 An ofisa inside the Los Angeles City limits . 60

11 Gypsy gravesites in Calvary Cemetery, East Los ... �ngeles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

12 Gypsies in Los Angeles City . . . . • • • • • . . • • • • • . 76

13 The Aged in Los Angeles City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

14 The Negro minority in Los Angeles City • • • • • • 79

15 Low income areas in Los Angeles City • • • • • • • • 80

16 The fortune-telling market for Gypsies in the City of Los Angeles • • • • • • • • • . . • • • • • • . • 83

vii

. l

ABSTRACT

NO��D GYPSIES IN LOS ili�GELES : PATTERNS OF LIVELIHOOD

by

David James Nemeth Jr .

Master of Arts in Geography

April , 19 7 0

Hembers of a distinctive Gypsy culture are found in

many parts of the contemporary world. Although their com-

mon Gypsy origin has been traced back over a thousand years

to India, enough differences have evolved among Gypsies

during their world-wide migrations to enable some scholars

to identify Gypsy sub-culture .

Nomad Gypsies have been distinguished among all

Gypsies now living in the United States. Further distinc-

tions have been made between different kinds of Nomads .

Macvaya culture-bearers are Nomad fortune-telling special-

ists . They have been able to organize themselves and other

Gypsies into complex socio-economic unions in many American

cities.

The appearance of these unions has coincided \vith the

increasing impracticability of many traditional Nomad

patterns of livelihood in the progressively urbanized and

viii

mechanized United States. It is possible that Nomad

chiefdoms have evolved in American cities from decentralized

nomadic bands that once roamed in rural America . Explicit

territorial behavior is a phenomenon that can be associated

with the growth of the urban Nomad chiefdom . The study

indicates that the City of Los Angeles has been the terri­

tory of a Nomad chiefdom .

In Los Angeles a local economic union \vas operational

for over thirty years , until 19 64 . Its eventual des­

truction was a calculated effort by policemen seeking to

enforce an anti-fortune-telling ordinance in the City .

This ordinance attempts to protect from Gypsy fraud the

superstitious aged , minority and lmv income persons that

make up the fortune-teller' s market . Notwithstanding

police pressures, Nomad fortune-tellers continue to operate

in the City indicating that fortune-telling, as an oc­

cupational trait-complex , is an integral part of the

Macvaya Nomad culture system.

ix

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1 . 1 Brown's Nomads

Nomad Gypsy culture in the United States was first

identified by Irving Brown . * In several books and articles

published during the 19 2 0's and 19 30 ' s Brown formulated the

essence of Nomad culture and attempted to distinguish it

from the modes of life practiced by other kinds of Gypsies

in the United States . Brown ( 19 2 9 : 145 ) described the wan-

dering Nomads as an especially picturesque people . Their

culture, he reported, was particularly reminiscent of that

East Indian culture practiced by the ancestors of all

Gypsies . He concluded that Nomad Gypsy culture was secure

in the United States where social conditions apparently

favored its continuity .

1 . 1 . 1 Urban Nomads

Brown did not predict the ultimate impact that rapid

socio- economic evolution in the United States would have on

*Irving Henry Brown ( 1888-1940) , American Gypsi.ologist, was Professor of Romance Languages at Columbia University from 19 2 5 until 19 3 7. His books about Gypsies include Ni�hts a�s on the GyQsy T�ail ( 19 2 2 ) , �y_Li�£ America ( 19 2 4 ) , Deep Song ( 1929 ) , and Romap..:y__A.oad ( 19 32 ) .

1

the Nomads . Their culture emerged from \vorld \\Tar II with

z

· changes , having experienced the stresses of both a manu­

facturing revolution and the Great Depression since its

arrival to the United States . The most profound change was

the re-orientation of the Nomad culture area from the

American countryside to the American city . Nomad Gypsies

·had learned to become city dwellers facing urban problems .

Their culture became enriched in the process of solving

these problems . The term "Urban Nomad" has recently been

introduced to Gypsiological literature by Rena Gropper

( 19 67 : 105 1) in order to designate the continuity of Nomad

culture in its more contemporary setting .

1.2 Problem and methodology

This paper is concerned with the description and

analysis of Nomad Gypsy socio-economic activities within a

contemporary American city , Los Angeles. One popular pro­

cedure in an investigation of this sort is , after having

introduced a topic culture , to identify the common habitats

of its culture-bearers , define a specific culture area for

investigative purposes , and discuss the history and ecology

o f the culture area . William Dagodag (19 67 ) has follmved

this approach .

Sometimes elements in the culture landscape, more

tangible evidence of a distinctive land tenure , command a

great deal of exposition . European geographers , in par­

ticular , have given much attention to the analyses of

individual settlement features. Similarly , Philip Garofalo

( 19 69) has systematically discussed one type of rural house

type .

Urban Nomads lack an imposingly distinctive culture

landscape . This is to say that the visible attributes of

Nomad culture in Los Angeles are meager enough to dissuade

the researcher from relying heavily on his visual percep­

tion in the field . Interviewing emerges as a more valuable

research technique . Thus , in spite of the dearth of a

Nomad Gypsy cultural landscape , the existence of Nomad

socio-economic activities in Los Angeles is open to dis­

cussion . In this case the researcher applies the stress

of his spatial perspective on Nomad functional forms in

addition to Nomad landscape forms . Nomad ecology becomes

a major focus of attention.

Brown (19 2 9; et cetera) , Gropper (19 6 7 ) and other

Gypsiologists have already indicated that the Gypsies have

been , and are , solving their continual problems of group

survival in the United States by organizing , and par­

ticipating in , socio-economic interactions with other mem­

bers of the community . Gypsiologists have often described

characteristic Gypsy socio-economic behavior throughout the

..)

4

world . It is possible to become familiar with these common

on-going processes of interaction that are associated with

the Gypsy everywhere and to discover him locally through

his traditional behavior.

This investigation will progress through secondary

source materials , largely library collections, to primary

source materials, particularly interviews . The goal of

the preliminary stages of the research plan is to find out

what the activities of Nomad Gypsies in Los Angeles migh�

be like . What socio-economic behavior might one expect to

characterize contemporary Nomad Gypsies in Los Angeles?

One way to answer this question is to discover how Nomads

have functioned during the course of their past migrations .

Behavior such as fortune-telling , for instance, is typical­

ly Gypsy and has been observed in Nomad culture-bearers

tnroughout the United States .

The next stage of the research plan is to discover

what the activities of Nomad Gypsies in Los Ange les �

like. This is possible particularly through field work

'among the Nomads.

The distribution of Gypsies is mapped from data pro­

vided by local newspaper reports and police records . This

distribution is discussed in terms of the site and situa­

tion of Los Angeles, the people who reside in that City ,

and the economic relationships in which they are involved .

A brief local history of Nomad residency in the City is

compiled. Finally, conclusions are formulated .

CHAPTER II

GYPSY CULTURE

2.1 A �orking�efinition

Members of different cultures are often distinguished

from one another by their characteristic physiological and

psycho-social traits. A working definition of a Gypsy has

been suggested by Rena Cotten (19 5 5 : 119 ) :

A Gypsy is a member of a culture group which (1) regards nomadism as the ac­cepted mode of life; (2 ) follows one or more of the following occupations : fortune-telling , music and other enter ... tainments , animal-handling , metal work , begging and hawking , poaching and doctoring (medical and/or magical) ; and ( 3 ) usually speaks the Romani language .

This definition applies particularly to European

Gypsies in the twentieth century. It can also serve to

distinguish the majority of Gypsy culture-bearers from

non-Gypsies, both now and in the recent past .

2.2 9ypsy origin and migra�i�p

Nomad Gypsies have been designated as members of a

Gypsy sub-culture (Brown , 1929 : 1 5 5 ) which reportedly

evolved largely as a result of a singular migratory exper-

ience . Higration is a phenomenon that dominates the cul-

ture history of all Gypsies . It is very important in order

6

to understand Gypsy behavior patterns and their variations

throughout the world to first become aware of Gypsy migra-

tions.

Every effort to investigate the heritage of the con-

temporary Nomad Gypsies in the United States has revealed

something of the extraordinary dimensions of Gypsy culture

history. Probably no modern country in the world can claim

to have eluded Gypsy migrants since their dispersion from

their Asian homeland. Gypsies have no written history of

their migrations. Contemporary Gypsies in America are,

however, cognizant of a European heritage and are roman-

tically inclined , like the majority of non-Gypsies, to

trace Gypsy descent to some remote "Egyptian" dynasty. The

truth about Gypsy origins ordinarily astounds Gypsies and

non-Gypsies alike .

2 . 2 . 1 India to Greece

The word "Gypsy" is misleading because it connotes

.Gypsy origins in Egypt . Actually , what English speaking

persons call "Gypsies'' are known by different names wher-

ever this human group has been recognized as a distinctive

culture. The Spanish , for instance, call their Gypsies

7

1 1 Gitanos"; the Germans, "Zigeuner" , etc. Gypsiologists

J are now in full agreement that Gypsies were in India before 1 \

they entered Egypt. The word "Gypsy" will , however, be

adequate to identify this total culture group inclusive of

its many variations throughout the world .

The French Gypsiologist Jean-Paul Clebert ( 19 6 3 : 2 2 )

has suggested that the Aryan invasion into India ( 15 00

B . C . ) might have displace� a race of pre-Aryan persons with

very dark skin and crisp hair who , previous to that time ,

had led a semi-nomadic life based on hunting and harvest­

ing. Forced to occupy less desirable habitats , certain

of these persons , members of pre-Gypsy tribes , may have

become nomads . As nomads they.would have learned a variety

of occupations cursed by the Laws of Manu (codified 500

B . C . ) yet suitable to an itinerant's existence . Under the

Indian caste system this way of life probably led to a

systematization of assertive mating among the members of

these tribes . Eventually their breeding population became

restricted.

The preceding remarks are speculative; documentation

of pre-Gypsy culture life in India is sparse and usually

suspect . For this reason Gypsiologists have come to rely

on the genetic classification of Romani , the language of

the Gypsies , for insights into the early spatial history

of the Gypsy peoples. The scientific classification of

Romani , based on its descent , was the primary contribution

of A . F. Pott. His general conclusions , as reported by

8

Sampson ( 19 2 3 ) , further established the claim that all the

diverse Rom� dialects , in spite of the foreign influences

to which they had been subjected during the Gypsy migra-

tions , were of the same origin--India . Turner ( 19 2 6 ) and

Woolner (19 2 8) concurred that the ancestors of contemporary

Gypsies throughout the world began to migrate from the

southeast to the northwest of India during the third

century A.D . , and that by the time they reached Persia

(circa 1000 A.D . ) the Gypsies had become a single race

speaking a single language .

These emigrants , a nomadic people of low caste , may

have answered to the Sanskrit word "doma" . * They were

probably an oppressed people , forced into a migration that

eventually took them far beyond the frontiers of India

( see Figure 1 ) . They emerged from India with their dark

pigmentation , their Eastern language , their uncom�on oc-

cupations , and other of their distinctive physiological

and psycho-social characteristics .

*Sampson ( 19 2 3 : 158 ) reported that doma indicates a man of low caste who gains his livelihood by singing and dancing . Both Sampson and Brown ( 19 2 8 ) have attempted to relate the contemporary Dom , a culture of India , to the world Gypsy population by comparing similarities in their languages and behavior patterns .

Figure 1.

T}!@ general tF�:m£ .o.f Gypsy_ £U.tgrations thro}lgh Eurasi...§:. from India. - 11Very roughly, the year A.D. 1000 seems to place in time the beginning of an exodus which continues to this very day11.* S ome 11official11 dates announcing the arrival of the Gypsies include:

A.D. 855 Byzantine Greece? 1100 Mt. Athos, Byza�tine Greeces

1260 or 1399 Bohemia

1438

1492

1500

1322 Cretec8; Corfus; Wallachias

13l�6 Corfu

13l�8 Serbia

1378 The Peloponnese; Zegreb

by 1400s

1414

11throughout the Balken provinces"

Basle

to

by

or

to

1417 Transylvania; Hamburg8; Leipzigs;

S;.vitzerlands; Frankfurts; Moldavias; The Elbe

1418

ll�l9 1420 1422

1427 1440

1438s

1447

1505

1515

Bavarias; Saxony

F cs s· ranee ; �stern

Flanderss; Bolognas; Romes

Bologna; Rome

Paris Wales

11mass infiltration of Europe11 Barcelona

Scotland

Russia; Poland; Sweden

*This passage and most of the following datings, upon which the map is based, can be found included in Clebert (1963) and are here unmarked or marked 11c11• Sampson 1 s (1923) datings are marked 11s11•

Figure 1

l.L

After a brief sojourn in Persia these doma , or

Gypsies , divided into at least two groups. All groups

developed distinctive characteristics of speech according

to their disparate destinations. On this basis Sampson

( 19 2 3 ) distinguished Palestinian , Syrian , Egyptian, Helebi

and Karachi Gypsies from European .and Armenian Gypsies .

Subsequently , Pobozniak ( 19 64 : 13 ) spoke of Asian Gypsies

and Gropper ( 19 6 7 : 10 5 1 ) alluded to "western'' Gypsies.

The spatial differentiation of members of the Gypsy

culture began to take on significance soon after their de­

parture from their Indian homeland. Gypsy culture soon

could be found from the south coast of the Black Sea , and

into Armenia , to the north coast of the Persian Gulf. The

11western11 Gypsies moved into, and in a few cases beyond ,

the regions of Greece . In doing so they began to cope with

the first of many strange and hostile environments.

Asian Gypsies did not face the same problems as the

"western" Gypsies (Pobozniak, 19 64 : 1 3 ) . They shared many

cultural traits with the natives in their new habitats and

subsequently were not looked upon by them as foreign and

unwelcome elements. The Asian Gypsies were not obligated

to defend their traditions and allowed the local languages

to influence them strongly. Hearnvhile the Gypsies in

European communities lived on peripheries treated by

12

administrative authorities in a hostile way as a social

burden . The Gypsies in Europe were forced to adopt the

life standard of the natives . They were prohibited to live

in their traditional way and to use their own language.

Under such conditions "western"·Gypsies felt like outsiders

and they reacted by holding tightly to their traditions and

their language .

Asian Gypsies that never migrated westward into

Greece avoided the persecution that was eventually ex­

perienced by the "western'' Gypsies . This persecution

reached a terrible climax in the twentieth century when

Adolph Hitler developed his "final solution" to the "race

problem" in the world. Possibly 400 , 000 Gypsies in oc­

cupied Europe perished as a result of Hitler's calculated

genocides (Clebert , 19 6 3 : xv i) .

2 . 2 . 2 The Rom in Europe_

Nany ''western" Gypsies today call themselves the Rom .

Their ancestors may have acquired this name for themselves

in Asia Minor , or in Greece , where they accumulated in

number from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries . The

·lexicon of the Romani spoken by the Rom was greatly en­

riched by their long sojourn in Greece , sometimes referred

to as their European homeland .

lj

A major emigration of the Rom from Greece into Europe

occurred in the fifteenth century . Reportedly , dark

people dealing in the affairs of the supernatural , at first

cautiously , then later in force , came migrating through

Western Europe. This emigration may have beeri conditioned

by Gypsy overpopulation in Greece. Such overpopulation

probably resulted from the advancement of the armies of

Tamerlane (circa 14 00) . Later , the Gypsies' fear of

Turkish depradations might have triggered their sudden in­

vasion of Europe.

Many of the Rom that left Greece eventually wandered

into Rumania where they became relatively immobilized.

Some of these were enslaved. Others were heavily taxed

and their movements were closely supervised. Pobozniak

( 19 64 : 18 ) has called Rumania the second European homeland

of the Rom , after Greece .

Those Rom that entered Central and Western Europe

arrived in large bands guided by their chiefsi They often

assumed the clever guise of Christian penitents from Egypt ,

avmved to wander for the sins that their·· ancestors sup-

'posedly committed against God. This deceit was often ac­

companied by real and forged documents supporting the

claims of the Rom and beseeching for them the right to

mete out their own justice among their own kind .

Rom occupational preferences were not as easy to ex-

plain away as their nomadic behavior . Stealing , begging ,

and the practicing of occult arts were only a few of the

economic pursuits that soon made them unwelcome in Europe .

Eventually the accessible areas of suitable habitat for the

Rom in Europe were fixed by official edict . Driven from

pillar to post and incarcerated , Rom culture-bearers were

faced with the possibility of extinction . Pobozniak

( 19 64 : 17 ) has described how , throughout Europe , the Rom

attempted to manipulate their living habits in an effort

to appease the natives . * In their attempts to maintain a

specialized mode of life under adverse circumstances the

Rom made several socio-economic adjustments that came to

have spatial significance.

The Rom in Western Europe were hardest pressed to

change their traditional nomadic life style. To protect

themselves from mass extermination they divided their larger:(

groups into small bands that were easier to feed and less � conspicuous . They also came to avoid cities and encamp

in villages .

*Only rarely have Gypsiologists found record of the Rom exerting force of arms against non-Gypsies . T . P . Vukamovic (1969 : 7 7 ) has described the part taken by Gypsies in a peasant rebellion in Serbia in 1807 .

The activities of the Rom in Eastern Europe were also

circumscribed by the non-Gypsies , yet much of the Rom

culture there was ultimately left unmodified . These

Eastern European Rom attempted to placate the hostility of

their non ... Gypsy neighbors by stressing their own capacity

to perform more constructive occupations . They were also

careful to avoid undertaking any kinds of craft that might

prove to be competitive with their non-Gypsy neighbors .

Gradually many of the Rom in Europe became isolated

from one another. Rom culture everywhere grew to vary as

its culture-bearers attempted to learn how best to adapt

themselves to the dictates of their local circumstances.

2. 2. 3 The Eastern European Rom

1.)

The Nomad culture in the United States that was de­

scribed by Brmvn (19 2 9, et cetera) was deeply rooted in the

Eastern European Rom culture of the fifteenth century.

Apparently Brmvn' s Nomads were Rom culture-bearers that

eventually emerged in the contemporary United States with

a history of five centuries of culture contact with non­

Gypsies in Europe that left their own culture relatively

.intact.

Some other Rom in Europe evolved into a group that

Gypsiologists often distinguish from the Nomad . Yoors

16

(19 6 7 ) , Lee (19 6 7 ) and others call this group Sinte .

Cotten (19 5 5 : 2 5) has called them Sedentaries . Sedentary

Gypsies , or Sinte , are not particularly numerous in the

United States . Some features that may distinguish

Sedentary culture from Nomad culture include its sedentary

nature , its matrilineal system of descent , and the occur-

renee of prostitution among its female members ( Cotten ,

19 5 5 : 2 5 ) . Supposedly , Sedentary Gypsy women only rarely

tell fortunes . �:,

It appears that whatever cultural differences present-

ly exist among the European Rom are expressions of culture

contact . Nomad culture may reflect a prolonged resistance

to such assimilation . It is possible that the occupational

versatility that protected the Eastern Rom from more severe

persecutions also served to guarantee their cultural con-

tinuity throughout their European experience . Occupational

·versatility enabled the Rom in Eastern Europe to control

much of their interaction with non-Gypsies . They were

·rarely driven to economic dependency on specific non-

*Cotten's description of Sedentary culture may over­generalize . In an interview \vith Walter Starkie ( 2/9/7 0 ) , Visiting Professor of Folklore at University of California , Los Angeles , and President of the Gypsy Lore Society , Professor Starkie spoke of many Sinte fortune-tellers he had personally encountered . Lee (19 6 7 : 9 3 ) described the Sinte in the Southeastern United States as "mainly nomadic" .

Gypsies in specific localities. Pobozniak ( 19 64 : 19 ) has

suggested that the Gypsy that must depend upon only one

occupation ( e . g. the Hungarian Gypsy musician) becomes

assimilated far more easily than a Gypsy with a more ver­

satile trade.

17

A cursory glance at the world Gypsy population in the

early nineteenth century reveals that a large and increas­

ingly restless percentage of it was being restrained in

Eastern Europe. The abolition of slavery in Rumania ( circa

185 5 ) coincided with a Gypsy tide that began to sweep west­

ward across the European continent . There may have been

some pent-up nomadic urge that was released by the emanci­

pation of the Gypsies in Eastern Europe . It is more likely

that the opportunities for economic and social enrichment

that existed beyond Rumanian borders were quickly recogni�d

by the emancipated Rom chiefs whose subjects , having re­

tained their traditional techniques of mobility , had only

to extend their horizons .

2 .3 Some.�omad. immigrants i� the United States

In distinguishing among the Eastern European Rom , two

of their groups are of particular interest because their

migrations eventually took them to the United States where

they came to represent a significant portion of its total

Gypsy immigrants . One of these groups, the Kalderas , today

includes a large and varied membership . The other group,

the Hacvaya, is smaller and more exclusive . Brown (1929 ,

et cetera) included both the Macvaya and the Kalderas in

his descriptions of Nomad culture-bearers.

The emigration of the Kalderas from Rumania probably

took them through Moldavia and parts of Russia before they

entered \··Jestern Europe . 1-'lany Kalderas Nomads embarked for

the Americas during the late nineteenth and the early

twentieth centuries . These emigrants were never adequately

reported by immigration officials in the United States .

Gypsiologists such as E. 0. Winstedt (1915) have provided a

meager record of their emigration to the United States.

Little is known of the HaC'vaya Nomads prior to their

entry into the United States. They were among the first of

the Nomad immigrants to arrive (Bro\m, 19 3 6 : 1.7 2 ) . Their

European origin appears to have been in a Serbian

(Yugoslavian) region called Hat.va located approximately

7(--. forty miles southwest of Belgrade . The ancestors of the

Hacvaya may have lived in R1m1ania for some time before

eventually arriving into Serbia at some date prior to the

emancipation of the Rumanian Gypsy slaves . "

If the ancestors of the Macvaya were in Rumania they

might have , at some earlier time, lived as "Gypsies of the

19

Crown" who , unlike the Gypsy slaves in the area , were rela­

tively free to roam as taxpayers. It seems logical that in

a land overrun with Gypsies practicing a variety of trades ,

including many that non-Gypsies might hesitate to undertake

(e.g. executioner) , the authorities would opt- to make tax­

payers out of many instead of enslaving them all . T . R .

Gjorgevic (19 2 9 : 9 ) has described certain "Gypsies of the

Crown" called Lajes Gypsies. Lajes males are reported to

have been poor workers . This might have prompted their

eventual migrations into 'Serbia as it was probably better

to exist as expatriates than ex-taxpayers facing servitude .

Lajes women went from house to house expounding dreams and

telling fortunes . Lajes chiefs were called the .£_':!]j_up_�·

These chiefs exercised a considerable degree of power and

_authority over the other members of their culture . The

buljubasas punished , received tribute , and were the

:official representatives of their people to the local non­

Gypsy authorities .

Many of the social , economic and political character­

istics o f the Lajes Gypsies in nineteenth century Rumania

• may also be recognized , belmv , as being similar to elements

o f contemporary Macvaya Gypsy culture in Los Angeles .

The Macvaya Nomads in the United States differ from

other Gypsies by having their own linguistic peculiarities ,

a relatively high social status , and a characteristic

.economic behavior . In Los Angeles , for instance , Hacvaya

tribesmen speak a form of Romani that indicates their

particular origins in Serbia . Ronald Lee (19 6 7 : 13 ) has

suggested that the Hacvaya were becoming assimilated while

in Serbia . Since their emigration they , quite possibly ,

have relearned much of the Rom culture , including its

language , from contact with other groups of Eastern

European Rom .

2 0

Social position among Nomad Gypsies in the United

States appears to be based on a combination of heritage ,

propriety , economic behavior , wealth and power . Those

Nomad groups that keep the Gypsy traditions and prosper ap­

pear to connnand the most respect from other Nomad groups .

Brown ( 19 2 9 : 15 6) noted the high social position of the

Macvaya among Nomads , a position that they apparently re­

.tain to this day . In an interview with Joseph Mitchell

(19 5 5 : 60) New York policeman Donald Campion referred to the

Macvaya as "big-car'' Gypsies , indicating their predilection

,for driving expensive automobiles , particularly Cadillacs

and Lincolns . G . B . Ougevolk (19 3 5 : 12 2 ) and Brown (1929 :

156 ) have both described the Macvaya as "cleaner" than

other Gypsies , no doubt in reference to their hygiene .

21

The Macvaya practice a characteristic economic

acti.vity in the United States. They organize exclusive

franchises for their occupational specialty , fortune­

telling . At different times during the past 40 years var­

ious cities have been centers for fortune-telling activi­

ties organized by and for Macvaya culture-bearers. Popular

cities among the Macvaya are usually those whose physical ,

political and economic climates are most favorable. Miami ,

Florida , and Los Angeles have most recently been Hacvaya

strongholds.

A less conclusive , yet valuable , index to a distinc-

tive Hacvaya culture system is found in their repetitive

usage of certain Anglicized family (familia) names . Common

Hacvaya family names used in cities on the Pacific Coast

include: Adams , Herino , Lee , Uwanawich , Mitchell , Harks ,

Stevens , Davedo , Williams , Guy , and others , as well as

variations on these names.

Hore covert behavior patterns practiced by the

Hacvaya are less accessible to the non-Gypsy investigator

yet they may provide still more conclusive evidence that

the Hacvaya culture-bearer differs from other Gypsies.

Common household taboos , for instance , provide numerous

examples of a distinctive culture that is shared by the

Macvaya . ·k In sum , the Macvaya may be considered to be a

particular people with their mm purposeful designs for

urban 1 i ving.

To be more specific , the principle business of the

Macvaya in the United States is fortune-telling through the

application of occult arts . Predicting the future is the

work of Macvaya women . Hacvaya women practice divination ,

incantation , magical formulae , and other histrionics in

return for a fee charged to their non -Gypsy clientele .

Some observers ( e . g . Campion , in Hitchell , 19 55 : 2 2 )

have concluded that Nomad Gypsy men , who often appear to be

"out with the boys" , are shiftless . This opinion overlooks

two obligations incumbent upon the men : First , as Cotten

(19 5 5 : 2 5 ) has pointed out , Macvaya cultural continuity

largely depends upon male cohesiveness and the isolation of

the males from direct socio-economic interaction with the

non-Gypsy in the community; Second , fortune-telling is a

highly competitive business needful of good management .

Gypsiologist Dan Boles (19 5 6 : 10 3) has described the nilln1s

responsibility to provide the \vomen in his family with a

*The strictness with which these taboos are observed may vary from family to family. Macvaya men generally do not shave on Fridays . Their women avoid passing in front of the altar , which is usually placed high on the wall to allow them more freedom of movement.

Z3

suitable place for their work. Macvaya men, therefore , are

responsible for the cohesion of their society and the

stability of its economic system . The means by which these

goals are achieved often appear strange and unwarranted to

the non-Gypsy observer .

The prospect of legitimate Nomad craftsmanship has

never been good in the United States at any time since Nomad

immigration; Gypsies have characteristically defrauded non-

Gypsies ever)l\vhere despite their ability to perform good

work . The Depression and manufacturing revolution , howeve�

were particularly damaging to the skills of itinerant Nomad

metal workers.* The hardships that these Nomads suffered

during .and after the Depression serve to emphasize the

profitability and dependability of fortune-telling and

other frauds as Gypsy occupations in America . The competi-

tions for diminishing metal working markets and over-

serviced but lucrative fortune-telling markets during and

after the Depression were accompanied by the degeneration

of all traditional Nomad crafts in the United States . As

usual , the non-Gypsy clientele suffered the most and right-

fully demanded some protection.

*Victor Weybright (1945) has described an attempt to organize respectable craftsmanship among Nomad metal workers in New York City during World War II.

Non-Gyp s ie s have att e·mpte d t o prot ect thems e lves from

Gyp s y frauds ma inly through legi s l at ion . Hany c it ie s, in-

elud ing Los Ange le s and New York, have local ordinance s

aga in s t fortune - t e ll ing.-.·� Host ant i-Gyp sy prej udice, hovJ-

ever , has l e s s s ocial mer it; for examp le, there are land-

l ord s that re fuse t o let s tore s and hous e s to Gyps ie s.

A ls o , Gyps y in formant s comp la in that pub l ic ut ilities ( e . g .

t e lephone companies) and publ ic servic e s ( e.g . \velfare

bureaus) s ome t ime s di scr iminat e aga inst the ir app l icat ions

for service.

N omad s have a t t empt ed t o adapt the ir cult ure t o

prej ud ice in the United State s . Fortune - t e l l ing , for in-

s t ance, has tradit ional ly been a s s o c iat e d with the mobility

and decept ive behavior of its art is t s . The tradit iona l

forms_of mob i l ity and decept ion that were pract iced by the

Gyp s y in Europe have proven to be of l it t le s e rvice to him

in the contemporary United St2.t e s. Int e rnat ional and

interstate f l ight s from t he authori ties have become

-;'(Ant i - fortune -te l l ing ordinance s in Los Ange le s date from the early 1 9 00 ' s. At least as e arly a s 19 0 7 the C ity C ounci l had leg i s lated against for tune -te ll ing in order to increa s e 1 1 public peace , health and s afe ty'' . That ordinance wa s amended in 19 1 5 (#3 2 6 8 8), 19 1 7 (#3 5599), 19 19 (#39093) , 1 9 32 (4171928), and 193L� (4f15009 ) . The Los Ange le s Huni­c ipal Code 1va s codifie d in 19 36, ins t itlit ionaliz ing the exi s t ing ant i- fortune-te l ling ord inance (#L�3. 30).

Z)

extremely difficult to accomplish here . So have the

crudest kinds of ruses . The contemporary Nomad has, there­

fore , introduced a formidable finesse into his traditional

economic behavior patterns in the United States . The

highly organized and urban-based economic union , discussed

be lmv , is one such innovation .

2 . 4 The struct�rin& of Nomad society i�-�h�

Unit�_Sl-�t_ate�

The problems associated with achieving an accurate

enumeration of the Gypsy population in the United States

are legion . Nothing more rigorous than 1 1guestimation11 has

ever been accomplished . Brown (1929 : 14 6 ) suggested that

from 5 0 , 00 0 to 100 , 0 00 persons in the United States were

members of the Gypsy culture group . Cotten 's (19 5 5 : 2 9 )

more recent appraisal places the figure between 100 , 000 and

300 , 000 .

Most of the Gypsies in the United States are probably

Nomad Gypsies from Eastern Europe , the majority of these

being Kalderas and Macvaya tribesmen . Formal structuring

of Nomad Gypsy society in the United States is aligned with

the cultural distinctions found among its members and has

spatial significance . Each Nomad Gypsy culture-bearer has

a personal recollection of intricate kinship ties and group

affiliations , facts that help to explain his behavior at

any time or place in the United States .

L.()

There have been several attempts made by Gypsiologists

to classify members of the Gypsy ethnic population in the

United States (Brown , 19 29; Cotten , 19 55; Lee ,- 19 67; et

�..£§). The categories of "western" , Asian , Nomad and

Sedentary Gypsies are primarily descriptive tools used by

Gypsiologists. This is to say that the Gypsies do not make

such gross distinctions among themselves; these categories

are much too inclusive to have much practical value to a

Gypsy. The contemporary Gypsy in the United States has no

written history of his people and usually does not remember

back past two or three generations ( \vhere his history be­

gins to turn into legend) . He lives a family-oriented

existence and his concept of his people grows increasingly

vague as he attempts to describe social units larger than

the extended family. To illustrate , a Nomad informant has

described how he and his friends once met a group of

Spanish Gypsies ( Gitanos) in a Coney Island bar. All the

Gypsies present had musical instruments . Both groups

,proceeded to play for each other in a vain attempt to

"prove" to the other which of them were the "real" Gypsies .

Their musical tastes were different. The Nomads sang in

Romani , the Gitanos sang in C�Jo . * The Nomads exhibited

their Eastern European heritage . The Gitanos carried an

aura of Spain and Moors . In sum , both groups were Gypsy

yet neither would admit to the other's claim . Only their

mutual love of music was established .

Nomads , particularly the Kalderas , do recognize some

form of tribal distinction . In addition to tribes there

are also Nomad nationalities , groups of patrilineally re-

lated extended families (vitsa) , single extended families /

(familia) and nuclear families .

2 . 4 . 1 Nomad tribes

. Cotten ( 19 5 5 : 22) has described the Nomad Gypsy tribe

L./

as the largest grouping of Nomad Gypsy individuals in which

each member would concede that another is the same as him-

self. M� H. Fried (19 6 6 ) has contested the usefulness of

the term "tribe" as a classification of human social units.

Similarly , Cotten ( 19 5 5 : 22) has referred to Nomad tribes

as 11 tenuous" social units , further indicating that tribes

are not functional units in Nomad society and that members

*Calo , the language of the Gitanos , lacks many of the European loan words that characterize Romani , [indicating that Gitano ancestors may have migrated across the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea rather than through Europe via Greece .J Jou�+i�,�.l

28

of the same tribe might function separately in social ,

economic , religious and political matters . Also , it has

been the experience of this investigator to find that the

Nomads use the term "tribe" as a synonym for vitsa . This

is particularly true among the Hacvaya . Tribe , as used by

Gypsiologists , usually expresses a social unit made exclu-

sive by some key cultural attribute recognized as common in

its membership . Whether the tribal distinction means the

same thing to the Nomads as it does to their students is a

problem that cannot be resolved here .

Kalderas and Hacvaya tribeswomen , according to

Gypsiologists , can and do tell fortunes . Hacvaya tribes-

women have already been introduced as fortune-telling

specialists . Cultural distinctions between the Kalderas

and Macvaya may be steadily decreasing in the United States

( Ougevolk , 19 35 : 123) ; for decades the members of both

groups have been establishing blood ties on a very selec-

tive basis. According to Gropper ( 19 6 7 : 10 5 1) , the Hacvaya

,forms ties with the aristocratic branches of the Kalderas.

The Kalderas is a much larger and more diverse tribe than

the Hacvaya and its membership covers a larger range of the

Nomad social spectrum .

Jan Yoors ( 19 6 7 ) has described two other Non�d tribes

in Europe , the Lowara and the Churara . Cotten ( 19 55 : 26 )

indicates that these tribes have relatively fe1.v members in

the United States .

2.4.2 Nomad nationalities

The nationality of a Gypsy identifies the country in

which his ancestors were found before their migration to

the United States (Lee, 19 67 : 12 ) . v Nembers of the Hacvaya

tribe are Serbians but not all Serbian Gypsies are members

of the Nacvaya tribe , or Nomads for that matter. National

distinctions among the Nomads in the United -states are be-

coming particularly confused (Lee , 19 6 7 : 40 ) . There can be

L':J

little doubt that an American Nomad Gypsy is in the making .

The old European designations may soon cease to be ap-

plicableo In the meantime Nomad Gypsies continue to iden-

tify with the homelands of their ancestors .

(' 2.4.3 Nomad extended family groups (vi!_sa)

The major functional units in Nomad Gypsy culture are

the individual extended families (familia) and the extended

family groups (vitsa) . Gropper (196 7 : 10 5 1 ) has estimated

that the size of the vitsa varies from under 20 to over 2 00

adults. A vitsa_ may take its name from a prominent

:patriarch or matriarch common to a group of Nomad families .

Each vi� . .§� has its leader , who is also the leader of one

of the families in the �-·

.:>V

Nomad economic unions and GyQsy ���� · - The basic

elements for efficient social organization that are found

in the vitsa have provided the Nomads with a framework for

highly organized political activities in the United States .

Nomads are able to form poHerful economic unions in some

American cities . These unions wield impressive political

influence . The organizers of these unions are usually

elected as chiefs . The chiefs collect taxes among union

members and disburse funds in the name of the economic

union .

The chief of the economic union often styles himself

as the 11king11 of the Gypsies when he is addressing himself

to non-Gypsies . This "king" is often a mature and intel-

ligent Gypsy who commands the respect of all members of the

economic union . -tr..'\ A;. Union members can; hmvever , exert moral

p:r:essure on any "king" that abuses his position of poHer .

The expenses of the "king" are paid by the union members.

His house is kept as the showplace of his vitsa (Cotten ,

19 5 0 : 15 6 [see Figures 2 and 3] ). Several Nomad leaders in the urban United States have

elevated their vitsa to prestigious positions in Nomad

society by using them as nuclei for the formation of eco-

nomic unions . There are numerous benefits in belonging to

a large vitsa in an urban center \vhere security and

Figure 2

11King11 George Adams {19 01-19 6L�). - This Hacvaya

tribesman was chief of the Nomad economic union in Los

Angeles from the early 19l�O 1 s until his death. The photo-

graph was taken in 1958 (courtesy of the San Francisco

Figure 3

not certain whether the Egyptian motif is simply another

calculated deception aimed at the already bewildered non-

Gypsy or if it is an honest cultural artifact. Because

Gypsies do not trace their blood lines back beyond three or

four generations there is little reason for them not to

want to act out a fantasy that places the conception of ('

their peoples amid the splendor of some majestic 11Egyptian11

dynasty. This house is located near l�stern and 7th

Streets in Los Angeles. Once externally immaculate, the

interior is reported to have been decorated "with royal

purple - carpets, rugs, furniture and wallpaper -· and

golden bedspreads'' (Los _Ange_l,�_L"L:Lme�, October 9 , 19 64) .

� ·· - . .

pro t e c t ion have b e en guar an t e e d by a Gyp s y 1 1 k ing1 1 • Al s o

:5L

the p ower o f the 1 1 king" is enhanced b y the incre a s ing num-

ber o f h i s s ub or d inate s in the city . For this r e a s on the ··."

l o c a l b ene f i t s o f the e c onomic union are even made ava i l -

ab l e t o Gyp s ie s o f o ther vit s a and tr ib e s - for a price .

Cotten ( 19 5 0 : 13 7 ) report e d that s uch c li ent gr oup s s a cr i -

f i c e much o f the ir mm func t iona l aut onomy for the oppor -

tun i t y t o pra c t i c e the ir c u l t ure l i fe in a c i t y that i s

d ominated by a n e s t ab li shed e c onomic union .

In s hor t , the 1 1 k ing1 1 i s a bus ine s s manage r who exp o s e s

hims e l f t o non - Gyp s y s o c ie t y a s the o f fi c ia l r e pre s ent a t ive

o f h i s p e op l e . He a t t empt s t o imbue h ims e l f with enough

o f the w i s dom and grac e s o f the non-Gypsy lega l proce s s t o

b e ab le t o provide the memb er s o f hi s e c onomic union with

accept ab le l iv ing c ond it ion s in an o ft en ho s t i le env iron-

ment. . The c ond i t ion of the e c onomic uni on , there fore , i s

very muc h inf luenced by h i s ab i lity ( 1) t o d ir e c t h i s

p e op le t o t he mos t produc t iv e , y e t l e a s t obtrus ive , e c o -

nomi c oppor tunit ie s , (2) t o o c c a s i ona l ly curb the per son a l

amb i t ions o f any Gyp s i e s in the loca le \vhere they might

inter fere with t he genera l we l fare o f the e conomi c union

and i t s member ship , and , a l le ge d ly , ( 3) t o b r ib e a ppro -

pr iate non-Gyp s ie s ( e . g . p o l i cemen ) .

2.4.4 Nomad extended families (familia) and

nuclear families

The extended family (familia) may range from twenty-

five to fifty persons ( Cotten, 1950 : 152 ) . Nomad familia

are usually designated by Americanized names such as Adams

(from Adamovich) or Guy (from Guich) , etc . Nomads from

different tribes and vitsa may , as is commonly the case ,

use identical f��lia names . Stanley , for instance , is a

familia name common among Russian , Serbian, and English

Gypsies in the United States. In order to protect them-

selves the Nomads will not use the same familia name with

any regularity when dealing v1ith non-Gypsies , thereby con-

fusing their identity from place to place.

It is possible for an extended family to evolve into

a �' or it may attach itself to an existing y_itsa_.

The different extended families in a vitsa may exhibit ---

different cultural traits because they are greatly influ-

enced by the personalities of their respective leaders e

The "big men' ' , as the powerful family patriarchs are often

,called , are , in their turn , influenced by vits§:_ chiefs

and local "kings" .

The nuclear family may either add itself to its grow-

ing extended family or, in some cases , it may form its own

34

ext ended fami ly and determine its mm s ocio-political a £-

· f i liat ions t o s upp lement the one s it has inherited .

2 . 4 . 5 Key N omad s oc io- e c onomic ins t itut ions

Although the Nomad Gypsy cultur e is not uni form among

the d ifferent t r ibe s , nat ionalit ie s , vitsa_, famil ia and

nuc lear famil i e s in the United Stat e s , a ll the individual

N omad culture -b e arers are made j ea lous o f their ethnic

unity by a variety of N omad s oc ia l ins t itut ions . The s e are

h ighly c entr ipe t a l forc e s in the i r culture l ive s . As a

r e sul t , the c ultura l attribut e s o f a Nomad inc lude

xenophob ia and t he s y s t emat ic decept i on of tho s e per s ons

to whom there are no reas ons for d ivulging the actual

mechanisms of N omad culture l i fe . Cert a in o f the s e mechan-

i sms are rec o gnized by Gyp s iolog i s t s as having b e en

fundamental t o N omad Gypsy cultura l c ont inuity . The s e in-1<

e lude an organ o f j us t ic e ca lled the kri�. Others are

manifestat ions o f N omad ab ilities to overcome inher ited

d if ference and organize themse lves int o temp orary ec onomic

and political a l l iance s c a lled kumpania_ and wortacha . f/

The kri s . - The Nomad organ o f j us t ic e i s calle d the

�· It i s a tradit iona l ins titut i on o f mora l persua s ion

among the Nomads that ideally c ommand s more res pect than

any other s oc ia l respons ib i li ty . The kri s may b e ac t ivated

whenever a N omad Gyp s y endangers another Nomad Gypsy , or

35

N omad s o c ie t y a s a who l e , through h i s irre spon s ib le a c t ion&

The c on f idence of the N omad Gyp sy in the kr i s , in addit ion

t o b ir t hr ight , l e g it imiz e s the r i ght o f a per s on t o share !

: fu l ly in N omad Gyp sy culture li fe . A s a pre s cr ib e d ri tua l i

're s emb ling a t r ia l , the kr i s prov ide s a sober atmo s pher e

for a re s t a t emen t and review o f the tradit ional lm.;rs . De -

'c is ions re ached dur ing a kr i� se rve to s t andardize the b e -

h avior o f a l l N omad Gyp s ie s . The s e de c i s ions may eventua l -

ly b e c ome c ommon know le dge t o a l l N omad Gyp s ie s in the

Uni t e d S t a te s .

The per s onne l required t o d ire c t the s e c ourt t ria l s

! id e a l ly inc lude s the mo s t powe r fu l , j us t , and a s tute mem-

.bers o f loca l N omad Gyp sy s o c iety . Only such men are ab le

t o c ommand the re s p e c t o f the par t i c ipant s . The reput a t ion

o f a Gyp sy leader is o ft en made t hrough his ab l e management '

i o f a pro c e e d ings in whi ch the p ar t ic ipant s are quite cap -! 1 ab le o f a violent d i srupt i on .

I t a ppea r s that the kr i s ha s b e en a par t o f the s o c i a l

, l i fe o f Gyp s i e s and a s our c e o f the ir s o c i a l c ohe s ion s ince ·

the ir Ind i an emigr a t ion . Contemporary Gyp s y - l ike trib e s in .

Ind i a , inc lud ing the a foremen t i oned Dom , pra c t ic e a s t r ik -

ingly s imilar s y s tem o f j us t ic e c a l le d the �· As

d e s cr ib e d by D. N . Haj umdar (1944 : 2 0 3 ) the ma in purpose o f i the ranch�ya� appears t o b e exa c t ly that o f the kr i s ;

36

- · · , _ _ ., .. �----- ___ ,_ _ _ .

: to re gulat e a c t ivit ie s o f memb er s who are showing d i s regard

• o f the int e r e s t s o f the group and produc ing s oc ia l chao s .

S ourc e s o f dy s fun c t ion within the N omad Gyp sy s o c ia l

s y s tem that might b e arb itrat e d b y a kr i s a re murder , rape ,

' marr i a ge d i s pute s , a c cusat ion s o f t he ft , and cla ims for

money due from c o1nmuna l ho ld ings or work done in c omn1on .

' c ommun i c ab le d i s ea s e s may a l s o b e prevent e d fr om spre a d ing

i

i

among the sma l l N omad populat ion b y a de c i s ion t o enfor c e

i s o lat ion up on a n in fe c t e d ind iv idua l o r gr oup .

The fre quency o f the kr is in the Uni t e d S t ate s dur ing I,

' the p a s t few de c ad e s may b e d e c l in ing ; N ever the le s s , a

body o f tradit iona l l aw c ircums c r ib e s N omad Gyp s y b ehavior

: that ext ends b e y ond the forma l pro c e e d ings o f the kr i s .

' A Gyp s y may a l s o b e exc lude d from interper s ona l r e l a t ion-

i Ships w ith other N omad Gyp s i e s b y a le s s forma l c oncensus

; o f op inion among his p e er s . They might j udge him , a c c or d -, : ing t o h i s unde s irab le behavior , t o b e 1 1 b locked1 1 from N omad ·

! Gyp s y s o c ia l and e c onomic l i fe . He is then c on s id er e d t o

i b e maxr ime b y a l l N omad s ; the s e endanger their own s o c ia l

p o s it ion by c ont inuing the ir a s s o c iat ion w ith the de f i l e d .

I t i s e x t reme ly important t o the c ont inuance o f c overt l

, ac t ivit ie s b y N omad s in the ir hab it a t s that they are ab le

: t o arb i t rat e d i sput e s and re s o lve ant agoni sms b e fore

pub l i c i t y ar i s e s and the non-Gyp sy eventua l ly int e r f e re s .

37

I t i s a rare o c c a s ion that one ob s e rve s a d i spute be twe en

N oma d s b e ing arb itrated in a non - Gyp s y c ourt room .

Changing s pa t ia l p a t t erns o f t he N omad Gyp sy in the

:United S t ate s are o ft en guided by what ever reputat ion has

b e en e arned by an individua l or his fami ly . Unde s ir ab le s

and out ca s t s f or c e d t o the fr inge o f N omad s o c ia l l i fe are

;sub j e c t to l iv ing a mar gina l exi st ence in thi s country unt i l

the t ime that the y can r e c l a im the ir reputat ion . Thi s c an

be an expens ive pro ce s s . The c ontemp orary N omad in the

pnit e d S t a t e s know s that hi s opp or tun i t ie s to occupy and / ;ut i l iz e space in an e f f i c ient manner are f init e . The re are

p l a c e s where he ha s k in fo lk and wi l l be we l c ome . Ther e are

a l s o p lace s wher e he w i l l not go fo r fear o f his l i fe ; such

. is the s er iousne s s o f Gyp s y feud ing . Should h i s own p e o p l e

· deny h im the re wi l l be few , i f any , p la c e s where h e c an

pra c t ic e h i s f ami l iar l iv ing p a t t ern . The s o c i a l and

e conomic l ive l ihood o f the out c a s t i s extreme ly l imited in

t ime and s p a c e . E x c lude d fr om the c omprehens ive s oc i a l

: organ i z a t i on o f the Gyp sy c ulture l i fe in whi ch h e wa s

r a i s e d , _ the out c a s t i s a c omp le t e ly d i s or ient e d per s on .

B rown { 1929 : 1 6 5 ) s ugge s t ed that the r e i s prob ab ly no c om-

mun ity in t he We s t e rn wor ld where the mora � e ffe c t o f pub -

: l ie o p inion i s a s s t r ong a s in N omad Gyp s y s o ciety .

]:'_b..e kumpa�ta and \vortacha . - The ku�ania i s an ag-

gregate o f N omad Gyp s ie s bound by a c o1nmon economic goa l .

, It may br ing toge ther mernbers o f d i fferent vit s� and

JO

' fami l ia in order t hat they might share the lab or , expenses , _____ _

: and profit involve d in c omp l et ing a given j ob . Tradit ion-

: a l ly , once the pro fits have b een d ivided the ku�Rap��

. d i s s o lve s . The wor!_:a� is a smaller ec onomic union , more

resemb l ing a partnership . �um��i� of N omad met a l workers

. might c ontract the repairs of a large b rewery vat whi le

i wort_acha hand le le s s formidab le j ob s such as fender repair s

: on automob iles .

The c oncept o f the e c onomic union may b e extended t o

• in c lude tho s e k ind s o f s oc io - e c onomic unions that are

e st ab lished when N omad s in a c ity j o in t ogether for the ir

i mutua l b ene f it under the leadership of a re s ident Nomad

chie f . Thi s large ec onomic union c ould b e c ons idered t o

, be a h igh ly s t ructured ku)llpania with s t rategic rather than

tactical d e s ign s for localized economic enterprise .

2 . 5 N omad cul�ure h i st ory in the United State s

Some o f . the fir s t Gyp sy immigrants in the United

State s arr ived invo luntari ly . * However , the Ea s tern

�·•The ) ourn�J o f__t 4.� .. J!.::l:J?)>.Y_1.9X_�_.J?..Q.£.t�t.Y. ( 18 9 0 , 2 [1] : 6 0 - 6 1) reported t hat Gyp s ie s were once deported t o the , America�s a s fie l d hands .

'European Nomad Gyp s y immigrat ions o f 188 6 , 19 0 7 -19 09 and

;19l l-1913 were o f a different �haracter . The se large and

:volunt ary migrat ion s were re corded by a few Gyp s io logist s .

:As a re sult o f the s e immigrat ion s the We s tern Hemi s phere

;be came innundated by a t ide of Kaldera s and Macvaya culture

bearers that brought the ir complete s oc io-economic systems

t o the Americas and attempted t o c ont inue pract ic ing the ir

tradit iona l culture patt erns (B rown , 1.9 2 9 : 14 5 ) .

. 2 . 5 . 1 Two e·ras o f N omadism in the United Stat e s

N omad Gyp sy culture h is t ory in the Unit e d Stat e s may

: be d i s cus sed a s cover ing two eras . T he s e are the eras o f

: Rura l N omadism and Urban N omadism. The era o f Rural Nomad-

\ ism cor re sponds to the period of a pre dominant ly rura l

: Amer ica , those years b etween N omad Gyp sy immigrat ion and

' that period o f rap id urbanizat ion in the United S tate s that ·

commence d short ly a fter the Fir st Wor ld Har . It was a t ime

when the revo lut ion in manufactur ing wa s only in it s in ­

i c ip i ent s tage s . There were adequat e market s for the s e l f-

emp loye d N omad cra ft sman , fewer federal contro l s , poorer

communfcat ions and there fore · greater freedoms of movement

for t he N omad . The impre s s ions o f one famous Nomad chie f

who l ived at that t ime were re cor ded by Joseph Mitche l l

. (1942 : 28 ) :

• • . The U . S . was a Gyp sy heaven . Everybody \-va s real i gnorant • • • and had hor s e s t o trade . And every woman had s ome pot s with ho les in them

• • . and there wa sn ' t no mot orcyc le c op s , and you could c amp anywhere . Pr ivat e property wasn ' t even heard o f .

40

The t e rm " urb an Americ a" de scrib e s a sub s e quent per iod

o f rap id social and economic change s in the United St ate s .

Cotten (19 5 0 : 2 6 ) has sugge s t e d that the trans it ional per iod

:be twe en Rura l and Urban N omadism l a s t e d for a lmos t a decade i ; ; a fter 19 2 5 . As par t o f the mas s ive influx by rura l people s

! int o the c it i e s during and subse quent t o this transitional

period the Rural N omad s b e came Urban N omads . Lee (19 6 7 : 41 )

ha s described the ir urban invas ion :

They moved t o the c i t i e s and t ook house s and a s far as N orth America in general is c oncerne d , vanished int o the yawning j m-vs of i t s me lt ing­p o t and ceased to exi s t as a d i s t inct peop le .

Each era o f N omad Gyp sy culture l i fe in the United

State s , the Urban and the Rura l , can be di scus sed in t erms

o f it s characteri s t i c s pat ial patterns .

The era o f Rural N omadi sm . - The era of Rural N omad -

i sm has been ca l le d a " camp ing s ituat ion" by Cotten

41

(1950 : 2 6 ) . It wa s a t ime . when pol it i c a l and s oc ial c ir­

cums tanc e s in the United State s permi t t e d the Nomads to

c ont inue in the l i fe s tyle that they were accus t omed t o

l iving while in Europe . Thi s l i fe s tyle e stab l ished a

p lace for the N omad in the romant ic h i s t ory o f the United

Stat e s a s the exot ic f lavor of the overt Nomad exis t enc e

s t irred the imagina t ions and the pens o f many non- Gyp s i e s .

Out fitt ed with hors e s and pa int ed wag ons , d i s t inct ive ly

dre s s ed , the Nomads prac t ic e d the ir tradit iona l activities

throughout a predominant ly rural United 'States whos e in-

. hab itant s awe d , feared and d i s trus ted them .

As Rural N omads the Nomad Gyp s ie s d id not have the r) QPu \:. <f\

technic a l p otent ial t o make any las t ing modi fic at ion s on

the landscape . The ir pattern o f l iving c entered on the ir

mob i l ity and was charac teriz ed by the ab s ence of cultural

art i fac t s found in the ir wake . The mos t evident explana ­

t ion for the lack o f l andsc ape modi ficat ion by the Rura l

Nomads in the United Stat e s c an be found in the charac ter

o f Nomadism itse l f ; Nomadism i s an advanc ed and spec ialized

mode of l i£e that leaves l it t le opportunity for the c on­

s t ruc t ion of cultura l immob i l ia . Rural Nomadism prov ided

l it t le more than scatt ered p i l e s of c oa l s and tramp led

meadows - a t inker 1 s legacy -� t o ind icate it s phys ical

pas s ing .

4:Z

. . . , .

· The s pa t ial pattern o f Rura l Nomadism deve loped \vhen

. Nomad Gyp sy group s began t o organize purpose ful , o ft en

: se a s ona l , syst ems o f trave l be tween p o ints o f socio-

e c onomic interatt ion in the Un ited Stat e s . Init ia lly i '

! haphazard , t he se func t i ona l patterns , or it inerarie s , grad -

ual ly became systemat ize d .

The systemat izat ion o f d i fferent it inerarie s among

Rura l N omad s refle cted the ' d i f fe rence s that exi sted among

the N omad culture -be are r s . N omad Gyp s ie s arrived in the

Unite d S t at e s in groups of d i f ferent s iz e s and compos it ions .

i The larg e s t group s c ould frequent both t he more product ive

' and the pot ent ial ly hazardous p lace s . Sma l ler group s ,

unle s s they had systematized the ir wander ing at an e ar ly

: date and were firmly entrenched , became re legate d t o

marginal are a s or a s s imi late d into a larger group .

Dif ference s in e conomic behavior among Rura l Nomads

:a ls o appear t o have had spat ial s ignificance . Group s of

: horse -trade r s , me t a l workers and fortune -te l lers e ach

ev� luate d potent i a l locat ions for the ir s o c io-economic

interac t ions with a specia l c ons iderat ion for the ir mm

capab i lit ie s . Func t iona lly d i s s imi lar Nomad Gyp sy groups

c ould not be expe cted to organize the s ame spat ial patterns

: o f l ive l ihood . The s patial c onsequence s of the s e di ffer -

ences \vas the deve lopment o f d i fferent it inerarie s . While

I I

mo s t itineraries '"ere unique , c er ta in p lac e s o f s oc io­

ec onomic inte ra c t i on , part icular ly in and near c it ie s ,

c ould b e found on many different Nomad Gypsy i t inerarie s .

A s the era o f Rura l N omadism drew t o a c l o s e most o f t he s e

groups began t o ext end the ir urban v i s i t s , eventually

s e t t l ing int o spec ific c ommunit ie s a long the ir seasonal

migrat ory r oute s .

43

The typ i c a l itinerary o f the Rural N omad c oul d be c om­

pared to a s t r ing o f beads let fa 11 acros s a map o f North

.America . Each bead repre s ent s a plac e , a camp ing s ite that

was s e lected by it s N omad float ing industrial populat ion

b ec aus e it repre s ent e d a potent ial s oc io - ec onomic oppor­

tunity . Members o f a c erta in v it s a , for instance , would

gather each July at a woods on the out skirt s o f a sma l l

Ohio t own ; there were usua l ly s everal s oc ia l matters , a

kr i s , s ome \vedding s , e tc . , t o a t t end t o in the fe\v weeks

that the s e N omad s r emaine d camped t ogether . They would

eventua lly b reak c amp , s ome going to Toled o , other s t o

Chicago , or acr o s s the internat ional b order into Canada o

Eac h famil ia had i t s own funct ional region and t imet ab le

t o ma inta in .

S ome o f the s e funct iona l reg ion s c harac teris t ic o f the

era o f Rural Nomadism remain to the pre s ent , though they

are becoming increa s ingly rare . The it inerary diagrammed in

44

F igure 4 (A) is an examp le o f one such funct ioi1.a l· region

'organized by T . N . , a Rus s ian N omad t inplater . B r ie fly ,

hi s s y s t emat ic t rave l s conne ct point s o f ec onomic int er -

'ac t ion w ith his non-Gyp sy c l ient s (bake r s , ca fe t er ia mana -

'ger s , e t c . ) in t mvns small enough t o s t ill require the s e r -

.vice s o f a n i t inerant t insmith such a s h ims e l f . T . N .

guarantee s h i s c li ents t hat his work will last two year s ,

thereby guarante e in g h ims e l f that his s ervic e s wil l prob -

ab ly be in demand i f he mak e s a regular appearance at two

:year interva l s . F or thi s reason he has a l s o organized the

i alternat ing it iner ary which he s ervice s every other year

' ( s e e Figure 4 [B] ) •

C i t i e s dominat e his culture l i fe a s they appear t o

: domina te the cul ture l ive s o f mos t Nomad Gyp s ie s in the con -/

t emporary United S t ate s . C i t ie s are the primary point s o f

' social int eract ion between hi s nuc lear fami ly , which

!

acc ompany him , and the ir k in fo lk in d i f ferent p lac e s

throughout t he nat i on . Often a c ity i s used a s a base for

an extended stay , in which case he a l s o service s the

surround ing areas .

The e ra o f Urban N omadism. -- The imper s ona l ity o f the

city make s it a de s irab le p lace for the N omad Gyp sy to be .

He and h i s peop le are ea s ily lost within it ; the ir act iv i -

· ti e s are o ft en unnot iced amidst the cont inua l s t i r o f people

Figure 4

A �;ea t i a}:.. f:.xE,re.s,..s i.on o f Rura l N omad i sm . - Map s A and B

wer e c ons truc t e d from f i e l d note s by t he author and d e p i c t

a n a ctua l a lt ernat ing it inerary fo l lowe d by a sma l l f l oa t -

ing indus t r i a l popu l a t ion o f N omad Gyp s y t in smiths dur ing

t h e l a t e 1 9 5 0 ' s . L o s Ange l e s w a s the ir w in t e r r e s i d enc e .

They wer e ord inar i ly on the road , p ly ing t he ir t r a d e and

v i s i t ing r e la t ive s , dur ing the f a ir we a th e r months o f l a t e

s pr ing , s ummer and e ar ly fa l l . Whe n win t e r we ather b e came

a d i s t inc t t hre a t t h e y were forc e d to d i s c on t inue the ir

annu a l c ir cu i t and r e t urn d i re c t ly to Los Ange le s .

.!.t:ine �.a rx J:.. or i g in , L o s Ange l e s Por t l and , Qrlio , �,

Ta c oma , Wa sh . S e a t t l e , Wa s h . Spokan e , Wash . His s ou l a , Hont . But t e , Mont . He l ena , Mont . B i l l ing s , Mont . C a s pe r , Wyo . Rap id C i t y , S . D . Grand I s l and , N eb . L in c o ln , N eb . Omaha , Neb .

*Topek a , Kan . *Ok l ahoma C i t y , Ok l a .

T exa s d e s t in a t i on , L o s Ang e le s

1 t. i;n.e.r.a ry qB . o r i g in , L o s Ange l e s N e e d le s , C a l . S t . Loui s , Mo . Ind iana p o l i s , Ind . De t r o i t , Hic h . W ind s or B r idge Canada Buffa l o , N . Y . Penns ylvan i a Akr on , Oh i o Cant on , Ohio Fin l ey , Oh i o Y oun g s t mvn , Ohio Har i on , Ohi o Dayt on , Ohio C inc inna t i , Ohi o Louisv i l l e , Ky . Wis c on s in M inne s o t a d e s t inat ion , L o s Ange l e s

* P la c e s where an e x t ende d s t ay wa s ant i c ipat e d .

A

B

0 300 M i l e s

0 300 Miles

F igure 4

4 6

: and the ir machine s . On the other hand , small-town America

has gradua l ly become more hos t ile t oward s the Nomad . It

would be d i f ficult for the contemporary Nomad Gyp sy in the

United S t at e s to avoid c it i e s and c ont inue t o survive .

Moreover , i t is que s t ionab le whe ther the N omad ever d id

. have a real avers ion t o c it y l i fe in the United State s .

, Probab ly , once it wa s discovered that a l l the ne c e s s ities

for e ffic ient Nomad Gyp sy culture l i fe could be found in

the c it ie s , they b e came de s irab le hab it at s .

Cotten ( 19 51 : 24 ) has sugge s te d tha t the emanc ipat ion

o f the N omad fema le from a sub ordinate r o le in s o c io-

e conomic act ivit ie s may have coinc ide d with , and pos s ibly

' ac ce lerat e d , the p roce s s o f N omad urbaniz a t ion . Fortune -

i te l l ing , unl ike s ome o f the other N omad occupat ions ( e . g .

, it inerant me t a l working) has be come a lucra t ive trade in

: the United S t ate s . Many N omad craft smen have gradua lly

! c ome t o depend on the ab ilit ie s o f the ir women t o e arn an

1 income at fortune - t e l l ing . As princ ipa l wage earners the ' ' : women have increa s e d the ir role in N omad s oc iety . The

it inerant li fe apparen t ly lost it s g lamour fir s t among the

womenfo lk . Perhap s re luc tant ly , but neverthe les s , the men

came t o realize that c ity living was a ne c e s s ary ev il ;

'we l fare funds were there in the c ity where the fo rtune -

t e l ler ' s market wa s probab ly mo s t concentrate d .

4 /

. . .. R.eca lling the analogy o f the s tring o f beads , once the

era o f Rural N omadi sm be gan t o wane in the United States

each bead that re pre s ented a c ity bec ame increas ingly

pre c ious . Smithery , hors e - trading and fortune - t e l l ing in

: rura l area s prov ided a quite acceptab le standard o f living

for the N omad at a t ime when there · wa s no reason for him to

fre quent urban place s . During the era o f Rura l N omadism

the re source s o f the city were bare ly t apped by mo st Nomad&

I t was on ly when the ' ' camping s ituation" began t o appear to

,be an imprac t ical e c onomy o f e ffort that the potent ia l for ' i I a l i fe in the city c ommanded the re spe c t o f the N omads .

:Nomad group s began a sear ch for the means t o pro t ract the ir

. live s int o an urban environment . Urban places that once

: on ly demande d the t a c t ical c on s iderat ion o f the Rura l

N omads b e came the foc i o f the ir strategic planning . The

!N�mads de s c ended on the c it ie s and became faced with over -

p opulat ion and comp e t i t ion for a marke t .

The e ra o f Urb an N omadism ha s a hvay s been character ized

iby the limited marke t that it c ould provide for the t radi-' t i t iona l N omad cra ft s and servic e s . The maj or prob lem o f

!Urban Nomadism be came the e s t ab li shment o f marke t s and I : i i the ir pro t e c t ion . The familia , and even the v i t s a , were

: usua l ly t oo sma l l or d isper s e d to accomp l ish the se t a sks by

themse lve s . The s t age wa s set for the deve lopment o f the

48

h ighly struct ured economi c union .

An examp le o f a modern , urban-b ased e c onomic union is

depicted in Figure 5 . This actua l s itua t ion deve loped in

the S tate o f Hichigan ; The City o f Hamtramck and the C ity

:o f Highland Park are both munic ipa l enc lave s within the

b oundar ie s o f Detroit C ity . The C i ty of Hamtramck wa s the

'functiona l reg ion organized and ma intained by s ome Rus s ian

I S N omad Gyp s ie s o f the Gone s tPW vit s�, N i cho las f�ilia . The

C ity o f H igh land Park was not contr o l led by any par t icular

l Gyp sy group . Det roit C ity was the service area organized

'

,by a different Rus s ian N omad vit s a led b y "king" Tom

' St anley . The members o f the Detroit economic union were

prohibite d from prac t i c ing the ir t rade in Hamtramck by the

Hamtramck e c onomic union . S imi lar ly , members of the

Hamtramck e c onomic union were d i s suaded fr om work ing in

Detroit . The ' ' king" o f :each e conomic union admini stered a

· variety o f c onvent ions t hat regulated the compet it ion among

[ the union members in his mvn doma in . A s long a s the s e

c onvent ions were re s pe cted a l l members in the economic '

union c ould p e r form the ir work e f fic ient ly and be c on fident '

t hat they wer e e c onomica lly s e cure and wou ld pros per

, a c c ordingly .

There wa s a determined at tempt t o re gulate the s i z e

and the behavior o f the membership o f the economic union

T H E E R A O F U R B A N N O M A D I S M

T W O N O M A D S T R O N G H O L D S I N M I C H I G A N

The Stan ley fam i l i a of Detro i t C i ty coexists w i th the N i cho l as fam i l i a of H am tramck. Each fam i l i a fo rms the - - �

core of two compet ing econom i c un ions. The m embers of each un ion are d i scouraged from seek ing th e i r

c l i en te le i n t h e dom ain of t h e compet i n g econo m i c u n i o n . The boundari es of each econom i c u n i o n approxi mate

l ocal mun i c i p a l bounda r ies . H i gh l and Par� another mun i c i pa l enc lave w i t h i n D etroi t C i ty, does not appear

to be dom i n ated by e i ther Nomad group.

1 D Detro i t

§ H amtramck

� H igh l and Park

0 3 N mi l es

d a t a f r o m i n t e r v i e w s

Figure 5

50

a c cording to the e c onomic opportun i t i e s that wer e ava i l ab le

a t any g iven t ime . The 1 1 k ing" was , a t t ime s , unab le or

he s it ant t o enfor c e the r egulat ions o f the e c onomic un i on

d ir e c t ly b e c au s e h i s p o s it i on , and that o f h i s fami l ia ,

might have b e en j e opard i z e d in ·the proce s s . The result wa s

that the 1 1k ing1 1 reput e d ly us e d h i s p o s it ion a s e conomic

un ion chi e f t o d i s tr ibut e b r ibe s e armarked for l o c a l non­

Gyp s y p o l ic e and admin i s trat ive o f f i c i a l s . The s e non­

Gyp s ie s ,.,ere p a i d t o prot e c t the int e r e s t s o f the loc a l

e c onomic uni on a ga in s t the disrupt ive threa.t o f non-union

Gyp s ie s . The re sult was that t he pat t ern o f the s e Urban

N omad funct iona l areas c ame t o approx imate loc a l non-

Gyps y a dmin i s tr a t ive area s .

CHAPTER I I I

NOMAD GYPS IES IN LOS ANGELES

3 . 1 Introduc t i on --·-

The h i s tory o f Nomad Gyp sy s e t t lement in the Los

Ange le s area in many way s t yp i fie s the e ar ly day s of U rb an

Nomad i s m throughout the Uni t e d St a t e s . In many c a s e s the

Nomad s e t t le r s we re inf luenc e d by the succe s s of s ynd i c a t e d

cr ime in the i r new env ironmen t s . N omad t r ibe smen l ike _ / I o;n c.,

'Steve Kas lov , T inya B imb o , Pet e Ange l o and Georg e Cooper

were among the f i r s t Nomad chie fs t o t a ckle the prob lem o f

urban s e t t lement . I t wa s the y \vho f i r s t le arned to make

N omad cul ture survive in t he c i tie s o f N orth Amer ic a .

The s e l e gendary figur e s mo l d e d the trad it iona l N omad s o c i o -

e c onomic s t ruc ture int o large and p ower fu l organ i z a t ions

tha t were capab l e o f uni t ing Nomad s , a lbe it t emporar i ly ,

beyond the fami ly leve l .

As the s e e c onomic uni ons grew in s iz e and in fluence

great p ower s trugg le s b e twe en N omad chi e fs erup t e d with in

the l arger c it ie s . S ome o f the more d e p l or ab le inc iden t s

that wer e perpe t r a t e d b y N omad s a ga in s t other N omad s in -

e lude d b omb ings and extort ions . One may c onj e c ture that

the r e a s on that t he s e inc ident s rar e ly came to the

5 1

52

_ _ , _ , _ _

a t t ent ion o f non -Gyp s ie s is b ecause non - Gypsie s were rare ly

; d irect ly invo lved . N omad gang sterism wa s indist inguish-

ab le , in the eye s of the genera l pub l ic , from the highly

: popular ized non-Gypsy gangster ism o f the same per iod .

' 3 . 2 Organ ized N omad Gypsy fraud

One can que s t ion whether the maj or ity of misdeeds com-

mitted by member s o f the economic union against non-Gypsy

s o ciety are c orrect ly categor ized as or ganized cr ime .

Organ ized de l inquency might be the more appropriate de s ig-'

! na t ion . Gyp s y peop le s have a lways behave d as i f a funda -

, mental d i f ference existed between themse lve s and non-Gypsy

, pe op le s . They have character i s t ically deceived and tricke d

:non-Gyp s ie s throughout the ir wor ld-wid e migrat ion s . The

Romani word t hat denote s the generic non - Gypsy is �'

:which , in a generous trans la t ion means " the simpletons" .

: organ ized Gyp sy fraud s , then , may be c on s idered t o be is -

, so c iated with the ir genera l disre spect for the members o f I

: any s o c ial system but the ir own .

To the knowle dge o f thi s inve s t i gator , the N omad s have

Jnever ventured , in e arne s t , beyond the organizat ion o f i I \ fraud in the United S tate s . Organiz e d pro s t itut ion , for ! '

; instance , would be unthinkab le among the N omads . S ome o f

the more not or iou s frauds perpe trat ed by members o f Nomad

e c onomic unions invo lve . the debas ement o f tradit i ona l

F i gur� 6

S ome work in Oh io f or a N omad Gyp� i];}.£._l a�t-�!.• I n

t h i s in s t anc e t h r e e l arge b akery bmvl s a r e in var ious

s ta g e s o f c omp l e t i on . N omad Gyp s y t in p l a t ing , as t hi s in­

ve s t iga t or ha s b e en abl e t o a s c er t a in t hrough f ir s t -hand

exper ienc e , i s a t r a d e tha t e nt ai l s c r a f t sman s h ip , s a le s ­

manship , b ravad o and luck . The t o o l s u s ed a r e inexpens ive ,

make s h i f t , and p ort ab l e , t hus fac i l itat ing n oma d i s m . The

ski l l i s a s ymb o l o f fami l y p r i d e , o en a fAmi ly proj e c t >

han d e d d o,trn thr ough gene r a t ion s . The a dvent o f s t a inl e s s

s t e e l h a s s evere ly d amag e d the mark e t o f the i t in erant t in ­

p l a t er . Fraudulen t t inp lat ing i s n o t unkno;.m and i s t he

b ane o f the h on e s t t r ans ient N omad t in s mi t h in sma ll - t own

Amer i c a . This pho t o graph and the one b e l ov.1 i t d a t e from

t he early 60 ' s and h ave b een c on t r ibut e d b y a N oma d in form-

ant .

F igure 7

k \vor t �c h"2L.tn._r e\v Orl_��· - Fend e r - f ix ing , an a lmos t

univer s a l s t and-b y oc cupat i on prac t ic e d b y N omad Gyp s ie s in

t he Un i t e d S t a te s , a l s o require s very l i t t l e c a p i t a l in­

ve s tment . The obvi o u s int ens e fury of mal le t s and d o l l i e s

i s p e r formed under t h e e qua l l y intense in s p e c t ion o f a

c onc e rn e d c us t ome r . Sh oul d the c us t omer s t ep out o f the

he at for a b e er , t he r e a l 1 1 art" o f N omad f ender- f ix ing

might c ormuen c e ; the art o f making shoddy workman ship l o ok

g o o d .

54

Nomad c r a f t s and s erv ic e s . Fortune - t e l l ing , for ins tance ,

in the hands o f s ome Noma d s , i s mer e ly an intr oduct ion t o a

var iety o f crue l d e c ept ions involv ing tho s e non-Gyps ie s

tha t a re le a s t c ap ab le o f d e fend ing t hems e lve s : the super ­

s t it i ous poor , e lder ly and d e spera t e . A varie ty o f Nomad

me t a l working ar t i fic e s appear t o demand a s much sk i l l a s

l e g i t ima te cra ft s , ind icat ing aga in tha t proving the non ­

Gyp sy t he foo l may be a s r eward ing t o t h e Gyp s y a s h i s

a ctua l remunerat ion . Gyp s y cra ft smen , for ins tance , have

been a c cu s e d o f fraudulent s t ov e - r e pa ir ing , fender - f ixing

and hydrau l i c j a c k and shop p ing cart rej uvenat i on s .

The introduc t ion o f the urb an e conomic un ion by Noma d s

may have d imin i s he d t h e pro s p e c t o f \vho le s a le N omad fraud

in s ome port ion s o f the Un i t e d S t at e s . The Nomad s have

· le arne d that it p ay s to re s train thems e lv e s at t ime s . Any

exc e s s o f Gyp sy fraud s in one c i ty thr e atens a l l Nomad�

l iv ing t here with the kind s o f non-Gyp s y repr i s a l s that

· co�ld d i srupt a l l o f the ir s o c i o - e conomic p a t t e rns .

The e c onom i c union prote c t s it s e l f by c on s c ious ly

contro l ing loca l N omad a c t iv i t i e s . S ub s equent ly , the e co -

. nomi c union d i s c ourage s e conomic tre s pa s s among a l l loc a l

N oma d s and e ven force s emigr a t ion whenever ne c e s s ary . By

b e ing v i g i lant the e conomic union r e duc e s tho s e k ind s o f

s tre s s ful s ituat i ons tha t introduc e c ondit ions o f in-

J J

s t ab ility and ine ffic iency into the Nomad s o c io-economic

sys t em and ult imat e ly threaten the surviva l of that system . '

3 . 3 Los Ang_e le s and its fortune -te l lers-!'"

S ince the b eginn ing o f the era o f Urban Nomadism in

: the United S t ate s , Los Ange les has b e en the home o f Macvaya

fortune -te l lers . Thi s , despite the fac t that an ant i-

f ortune � t e l l ing ord inance exist s in the C ity . In order t o

unders tand this apparent c ontradict ion one must apprec iat e

whatever s o c io - e c onomic opportunities that Los Ange les of-

fers its N omads . The Macvaya have prospered in Los

Ange les be caus e the re is a large marke t fo� the ir service s .

A ls o , local s oc io - e c onomic s t ab i lity ha s been provided by

; local N omad "kings " for a lmo s t four decade s .

The fortune - t e l l ing market in Lo s Ange les grew

s tead ily with succe s s ive immigra t ions o f part icular kinds '

1 o f people t o the C ity during the early twent ie th c entury .

In 1 9 2 0 there were over 5 00 , 00 0 persons in the City . Dur -

i ing the fol l owing t en years the populat ion had doubled .

Immigrat ion t o Los Ange les at that t ime wa s dominated by

p e r s ons from sma l l c ommunities in t he Middle We st .

*Some o f the following in formation , part icular ly that : which c oncern s the hi s t orical deve lopment of the local eco­nomic union , wa s given in c onfidence and ha s been general­i z ed wherever nec e s sary in order to protect informants .

5 6

· Los Ange les biographer Carey l'k\Vi:lliams ( 1946 : 1 5 8 ) has des -

cribed their cultural baggage as inc luding a complete stock

o f rural belie fs , pieties , superstit ions and hab it s . Ne\v

· arrival s dur ing the subsequent Depre s sion years included

large numbers of lower middle-clas s persons . Mclrlilliams

( 19l�6 : 328 ) described Los Ange les d�ring the 19 30 ' s as be ing

a "vast c onglomerat ion of unending boulevards , vacant lot s ,

oil derricks , cardboard bungalmvs , retired farmers [and J fortune -te llers . 1 1

The fortune -te llers that Mcltlilliams re £erred t o were

probab ly jus t as pleased \vith the prevailing political

s ituat ion in Los Ange les as they were with the socio-

e coriomic conditions in the City . McWill iams ( 1946 : 239 )

noted that in 1 9 2 7 the Los Angeles District Attorney was

even sentenced t o San Quent in for bribery and that the

nat ional pres s considered the political s ituation in the

City t o have been 1 1near insanity' ' . The people o f Los

Angeles , meamvhile , \vere l eft t o the mercy of numberless

prophet s , and had grmvn accustomed t o l iving amidst ' 'modern

idolatry , s orcery and superstit ion1 1 (HcWilliams , 1946 :

268) .

The only maj or obs tacle bet\veen the f0rtune -telling

Nomads and their market in Los Angeles was , and st ill is ,

the ant i- fortune -te lling ordinance ( s ee Appendix A ) .

S e c t ion 4 3 . 30 o f the Los Ange le s Mun i c ipal Code current ly

prohib it s fortun e - t e l l ing or it s advert isement . The

fortune - t e l ler ha s learne d t o both d i s ob ey and c ircumvent

this law . In b oth c a s e s the fortune - t e ller init ial ly

minimi z e s the c han c e o f a c onvic t ion through bribery . Be -

s ides purcha s in g immunity from prosecut ion , a c oTILmon v1ay

t o t e l l fortune s and evade punishment has been t o res id e

out s ide the C ity l imit s and forage ab out \vithin them for a

c lient e l e . Norma l ly the p o l ic e umver o f a munic iualitv L L J

doe s not ext end b eyond its b orders . There are numerous

c it i e s in the Los Ange les metropol itan area in which t o

base a fortune - t e l l ing operat ion , i f nece s sary ( see Figure

8 ) . The Nomad , ever mob il e , will us e many o f them . The

notor ious Hother Mary (Rache l ) U\vana,vich , for instance ,

pract ic e d fortune ··t e lling a s a res ident o f Temple City ,

L o s Angeles and N ewport Beac h between 19 51 and 1953

:J I

(Mirro�_J�e\vs , Augus t 2 0 , 19 5 3 ) . Thus , the munic ipal d iver-

s ity of the Los Ange le s metropolitan area works to the

a dvantage of t he fortune - t e l ler .

Attemp t s at c ircumvent ing t he ant i- fortune - t e l l ing

ord inance in Lo s Ange les have alv.ray s b e en popular with the

re s ident Nomads . Very soon a ft er the introduc t ion o f

ordinan c e !+3 o 30 t o the munic ipal c ode the fortune -t ellers

happened upon S e c t ion 43 . 3 1 {Fortune -Telling - Exempt ions )

T H E C I T Y O F LO S A N G E L E S

S H OW N A S A PA R T OF I T S M E T R O P O L I TAN A R E A

BAK ERSFI ELD

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

MALIBU

N

_ Los Angeles City limits. The boundaries of

municipal enclaves within

these limits are not sho'Ml.

0 Los Angeles C iv ic Center

BEVERLY HI LLS

CULVER CITY

Figure 8

LA CANADA

PASADENA MONROVIA

DUARTE

TEMPLE CITY

EL MONTE

POMONA ,.

MONTEREY PARK

MONTEBELLO

SOUTH GATE

DOWNEY

PICO RIVERA

WHITTIER

LYNWOOD

COMPTON

BELLFLOWER

SAN DIEGO ...

0 5 m i l e s

SB

· in the ir search for s ome lega l mean s t o prac t ice the ir ··

t radit iona l c ra ft ( se e Appendix B ) . In brie f , the s e exemp -

: t ions a llow N omad s piritua l advis or s and pr ie s t s , o f s o rt s ,

: t o b e rec ognize-d a s re ligious c orporat ion s with the

: at t endant " fund -ra i s ing" advant age s . Loca l N omad Gyp s ie s

' have experienc e d mixed succe s s with this p loy , only inter-

mittent ly suf fering pro s ecut ion ( se e Append ix C ) . Fortune -

t e llers tha t ope rat e under the protect ion o f the s e exemp -

t ions o ft en c on s ider the ir b ehavior t o be in harmony \vith

; the realit ie s of c ontemporary Amer ican e c onomic s , which , to ! i the ir way o f thinking , i s s t ea ling with a license .

More than the ind ivi dua l Nomad ' s e ffort s , it has b e en

, the · e ffort s o f the local N omad e c onomic union in Los

: Ange l e s tha t ha s made the c ity a popular Nomad hab itat •

• The local e c onomic union wa s ab le t o s e cure t he ec onomic

we l fare o f it s members from the ear ly 19 30 ' s unt i l 1964 ,

when it was de s t roye d .

� . 3 . 1 N omad b ehavior in Los Angeles

The fort une - t e ller prac t ic e s her trade , at pre s ent , in

much the s ame way a s she d id a few years ago despite the

incre a s ed pos s ib i l ity o f he r arre st and c onvict ion due t o

more intens ive police surve i l lance . Fortune - t e ll ing

· e s tab l ishment s within the C ity l imit s are a lmo s t ind i s ""'

, t inguishab le , ext e rnal ly , from adj acent struc ture s . _ The s e

Fi gure 9

An o fi s a out s ic.L�!..t!.�Los Ange l e_LC i_t;_y l imit s : N omad

Gyp sy fortune - t e l le r s are l i c en s e d a s re s p e c t ab l e bus ine s s ­

men in many c it ie s o f t he Uni t e d S t a te s . Thi s part i c ular

o f i s a i s hard to mis s and remin i s c ent of a d e s e r t oa s is .

N o t e , again , the Sph inx . The p r op r i e t or may b e a Na s on

and a memb e r o f the l o c a l Chamb e r o f Comme rc e . Th i s i s a

p a r t i cu lar ly v a l id a s s umpt ion i f he intends on ext end ing

h i s min i s t ra t ion s int o t he prox ima t e mun i c ip a l it y o f Los

Ange l e s . Au tho r i t ie s in Los Ange l e s C i t y might he s it a t e

t o e xt ra d i t e h im , the r e s pe c t e d bus ine s s man , and memb e r s o f

h i s fami ly f r om t he i r p la c e o f r e s idence ove r minor fraud s .

Figur e 10

An o f i s a ins i_cl._E;__ t he_...b_<2_.� Ange l e s. C i t y_ l imit 1i : One i s

imme d ia t e ly imp re s s e d b y t he c on t ra s t b e tHeen t h i s s e d a t e

for t une - t e l l ing e s t ab l i s hment a n d i t s s e du c t ive c oun t e r ­

p a r t , p i c t ur e d ab ove . B ot h e s t ab l i s hment s a r e o c c up ie d by

memb e r s of the Macvaya Nomad Gyp s y t r ib e a nd t he y r e f le c t

a s imi lar a f fe c t i on for p a lms , a lab a s t e r p o t s and a luminum

a�Vn ing s .

- -- - - -· - , · � � -- - · - · - - - < - � --- - - · . · · ·- · · -. --- · -·

V L

o fisa , a s the N omads ca l l ·them, are ordinarily located on a

71 - u· , maj or thoroughfare for at least �o rea s ons : (1) The

I c l ient e le is potent ia lly larger , and ( 2 ) vis it ing re lat ive s

• • ( 3) T� ,<1 1 r- S<-t(id/) �; .. f(:iO,• S Jcl.<f T�2'' '' cc> .. uc-'1 -fr""�' : can e a s J .. ly f lnd the p lace . J.� .. . "f:r;,V..!Wt VI� .

Unle s s re s idency has b e en fair ly e st ab li shed in the

, C ity the fortune - t e l ler doe s not burden herse l f with many

i household items . Thi s explain s the sudden apparit ion of a

fortune - te l le r in a neighb orhood a s He ll as he r equally

swi ft d i sappearanc e .

Fortune - t e llers fre quent ly work and soc ia lize in the

s ame bui lding unl e s s the s i tuat ion ( e . g . ?- wepdi,ng) demand s 1 Cc t.c-d-_:. ·\ cc�:i� ;

i tha t a ha ll b e rented . An a stute p a s serby may b e ab le t o

s en s e the exot i c Nomad culture a t tho s e t ime s when it is

: as s ert ing it s e l f b ehind c o lorfully draped �. '\vind m·Js .

The 1 1 s ecret ways 1 1 tha t are made avai lab le ins ide the ofisa

are s ome t ime s suggested by c e rt a in art icle s , located on the >

i porch o r in the vJindow , that smack o f the Orient . Golden

: j e,ve lry and long br ight skir t s c ommonly adorn the pro-'

l prie t re s s . The house numbers o f the ofisa are made un-

usua lly large , indicating that the N omad s ant ic ipate

returns from the ir sub t le newspaper and radio advertise -

ment s . ·k Large house numbers a l s o he lp out - o f - t m·m vis itors ·

· ""1 1 S i s t e r Rob ert s • • , for instance , occas iona l ly adver -, t i se s her avai lab i l ity t o s o lve per s ona l prob lems on s eveml

�p ir itua l -ho:ur broadcast s on . ?tmday � �n Los Ange �e s . area • .

find . the ir \vay . Many o fisa have 1 1For Rent1 1 s igns dis -

• p laye d . The s e he lp exp lain t o cur ious ne ighbors why s o

· many peop le c ome and go from there .

S oc ia l hours in the o fi �� ( it i s s a fe t o s ay that

: Nomads l ive from one party t o the next) are d ominate d by

, t he s ounds o f mus i c , danc ing , and heat e d d is cus s ions of

family a ffa ir s . Tea is a lway s s erve d and the aroma s ' o f

s picy foods preva i l . A fami ly a ltar i s usua lly locat e d

h igh on one wa l l ; it i s u s e d for o fferings and for the

v �.

exhib it ion of fami ly icons . On another wall there may even

i be a pay t e le phone ; Gyp s ie s make great use of long dist anc e

: te lephone s ervic e . Amidst the c igare t t e smoke and the

. heavy drinking a t ot a l cul tural experience unfolds that i s

: quite a l ien t o anyone raised a s part o f the modern

i American culture . When marr iage proposals are d iscus se d ,

t hey are d i s cus s e d in terms o f bride price and o ft en con-

! c e rn j uven i le s \vho have never me t . Work i s dis cus s e d

! without re ference t o bos s e s and t imec ard s . Laughter c on-

s t ant ly ari s e s at the expens e of the �- c lient e le . Tea

is s ipped from a s aucer . ·The 1 1we s tern1 1 guitar is re s t rung

! 1 1 Serb ian s t y le" . Tab oo s guide the movement s o f t he women i . i i l a s they c ro s s the room on end le s s errands of ho s pitality .

And , o f c our s e , Romani is spoken .

- - - � _________ , -·-· - - - - · . . --· - - - . "'" " " " ·�-- ---·-·· --· -· .. - -'" �-- . .

:3 . 3 . 2 Loca l N omad culture · hist ory

The Los Ange l e s Po lice Department arre s t s approximate -

ly thirty - s ix fortune - t e l ler s each year . Polic e informant s

, ( interviewed June 8 , 19 6 8 ) mainta ined that a lmos t a l l

: fortune - t e lle rs operating in the C ity were Gyp s ie s . In the

e s t imat ion o f the po lice 5 , 0 00 Gyp s ie s re s ide perw2nent ly

in the C ity . The r e liab i lity o f this figure may be c on-

t e s t e d on at leas t t\vo account s : ( 1 ) Polic e e s t imate s may

not appreciate those Gyp s ie s whos e ac t ivit ies are law

; ab id in g , and ( 2 ) t he supposed permanency o f Gyp s ie s in Los

:Ange le s doe s not account for sea s onal variat i ons in the

: local p opulat ion that d o , in fac t , exi st .

A Nomad in formant ( intervie\ve d in C ity o f E l Honte ,

March 10 , 19 69 ) has exp re s s ed his op inion on the matt e r o f

Gyp sy p opulat ion s ize in t he C ity o f Los Ange le s : He

: es t imate d that p o s s ib ly ha l f o f the Gyp s y p opulat ion in

: Los Ange le s during the winte r months o f 1 9 6l� - 6 5 , r oughly

v 1 2 , 0 00 - 3 , 0 00 p e r s on s , were Macvaya . The other ha l f , accord-

; ing to this s our c e , were mos t ly repre s entat ive s o f the

Rus s ian , French , Argent ine , and Gre ek Gyp sy nat ionalit ie s .

N ewspaper report s may also be ut i l ized t o provide

b oth ra\v data about the loca l popu lat ion and the spat ia l

and t emp ora l parameters that make this data finite and more

' amenab le to inte rpretat ion . Cr it ica l p er iod s in the lives

64

o f members o f the loca l Gyp sy p opulat ion are ordinarily

. accompanied by the a s semb ly o f local tribe smen and the ir

appropriate ritua l s . Not only rit e s o f pas s age ( e . g .

: b irth , marriage , death) but intra-group disput e s , reunions , i

\ il lne s se s and arre st s are s ocial event s for the loca l

; Gyp s ie s . In the s e occa s ions Gyp s ie s bec ome more exposed

. to the curious and uninitiated non -Gyp s ie s that share the ir

Los Ange l e s habitat with the Gyp s ie s . When Gyp s y s oc iety ' .

suddenly sur faces for a c e lebration it provide s the genera l

public with a p opular news item . As the s e inc ident s are

recorded over a period of s evera l years in one p lace they

b e come a crude d irectory to Gyp sy ac t ivity there .

The l ib rary o f the Lo s An�le s T ime s c ontains numerous

e xamp le s o f Gyp sy ac t ivit ies in the C ity that have b e en

reported dur ing the past four decade s . Name s , plac e s and

act ivit ie s have b e en c o l lected in mos t ins t anc e s . Notwith-

s t and ing the pos s ib il ity of an occa s i ona l report ing error

and mi s informat ion there is enough evidence in the totalit y

o f this data t o enabl e the following generalizat ions t o be

made : ( 1) Members o f the Nacvaya tribe o f N omad Gyps ie s

form the maj ority o f a l l Gyp s ie s report e d ; ( 2 ) Nacvaya

and other Nomad t r ibe smen have b een or ganized locally as

' memb e rs of an ec onomic union for at least four decade s ;

· ( 3 ) the cour s e o f Nomad s oc io-economi c his t ory in the C ity

Adams familia . More spec i fica l ly , the data indicates that

a succe s s ion o f Macvaya N omad chie fs have d irected the

,a ffairs o f a loca l e c onomic union that has operate d for

: over thirty years in the Los Ange le s are a .

Evidence at Calvary Cemetery in Eas t Los Ange le s

' fur ther e stab li she s the re sidency o f the Macvaya Nomad

Gyp s ie s as we ll as ind icat e s s ome thing o f the ir b lood t ie s

( se e Figure 1 1 ) . Local N omad fami l ia have been us ing one

! se c t ion o f Calvary Ceme tery in Eas t Los Ange le s for at I i ; : least three decade s . Mos t o f the e le gant t omb s t one s and

: vaul t s b ear phot ographs that portray the deceased in the

pr ime o f his or her l i fe , usua lly c o lor ful ly attired . The

! ac compai;ly ing epitaphs s omet ime s dec lare the nat iona l

or igins o f t he deceas e d . S ome fami lia inte rre lat ionship s

may b e inferred from the proximity o f the var ious grave -

s ite s . The c oncent rat ion o f a l l Nomad grave s it e s in a

re lat ively sma l l area o f the large c emet ery provide s one

more ind i cat ion o f N omad s oc ia l s o l idarity .

Hist or ical out line . - The follmving hist ory out l ine s

V .J

the deve lopment o f the Nomad e conomic union in Los Ange le s .

I t has been c omp i le d from ( 1 ) local newspaper report s , ( 2 )

int erviews with non-Gyp sy persons vJhose j ob s have led them

t o an acqua intanc e with the loca l Nomads ( e . g . policemen ,

F igure 1 1

Gyp sy grave s i t e s in C a lv9ry C eme t �ry , Ea s t L o s

Ange l e s : Memb e r s o f the r e s i dent Los Ange le s N omad Gyp s y

c ommun i t y a r e l a id t o re s t in t h i s , one o f the o ld e s t

s e ct ions , o f Ca lvary C eme t e r y . Not ing the r e l a t ive l o c a ­

t ions o f the d e c e a s e d , one t o the othe r , revea l s s ome thing

o f the i r fami ly t ie s . The i r grave s t one s are o ft e n quit e

unique in b oth s t ruc t ure and c ompo s i t i on . Th i s f ie ld

dr a\ving ha s b e en c omp i l e d b y the author .

•

'-/ • •

!,_1

0

0

-)

0 0 0

• •

• 0 0 •

0 0 0

(I 0

0 0 0

• e •

0 0

0

Figure 1 1

0 .

Ident i f iabl e Gypsy fam i ly names i n Ca lvary C emetery: Adams, Lee, Merino, Marks, Uwanawich, Mitchel l , _Gu ich , M i l l er , Stevens

:1) ' '"-" -,_,,� Y\'1,)

\ ,.}0 'f- " r- -.i)'

-�

_ _ . _ - -�· · · · " - - - · - � - ---

:we l fare workers , etc . ) and ( 3 ) interviews \vith Nomads .

The fir s t Gyp s ie s t o vis it Los Ange le s were prob ably

V /

not Nomads recent ly fr om Eas tern Europe . Lee ( 19 6 7 : 40 ) has

: indicated that there were a lready Engl ish Gyps ies in Los

' Ange le s b e fore the arr iva l o f Gypsy trib e smen from Eastern

; Europ e . The two group s eventua l ly intermarr ied . Host

; Nomads arrived b y wagon , then automob i le , from the Ea stern

United States and from Hexic o . I t i s l ikely that Nomad

. immigrant s in Ame r ic a wandere d t o the east o f the Rocky

Mountains unt il cro s s - c ountry trave l b e came more prac t ical

and sa fe .

A large enc ampment of Nomads wa s reported t o have

oc curred in a Los Ange les suburb in 19 2 9 . Nomads gathe red

; there to e le c t a chie f from among thems e lve s . Rep ortedly ,

: St eve Uwanmvich won the confidenc e o f most Gyp s ie s pre sent . ·

T�o years la ter Hark Adams achieved the same honor during

[ anothe r encampment in San Pedro . I t appears , in retro-

1 spect , that a power s truggle between the Uwanawich-Mer ino

familia and the Lee-Adams fami l ia was in i t s inc ipient

stage s at that t ime . Apparent ly the idea of a large

organized e f fort t o c onvent ional ize Nomad ec onomic act ivi-

, t ie s in Lo s Ange le s appea led to b oth �1ia . The ir

• ac t ivitie s coinc ided with an influx of Hacvaya trib e smen

from the Eas t , part icular ly Chi cago , where the indomitab le

; I

1T inya B imb o was then organiz ing his own power base at the

:expense o f many Macvaya trib e smen who were forced t o emi-

$rate we stward .

v o

The amb it ions o f Steve Uwanawich and Mark Adams appear i ;t o have ent e re d on a c ol l i s ion c ours e when each attempted

't o c ons truc t the framework for a soc ia l hierarchy among all

N omads in the Lo s Ange le s area . The imp ac t , however , was

not t o be focused on the ir generat ion . The theme of Nomad

a c t ivity in Lo s Ange le s during the 19 30 1 s was 1 1building

t ogether for the future1 1 • Macvaya fami lia c ontracted

p o l itical ly s ound marriage s among the ir y ounger memb e r s in

order t o uni fy the local Nomads . Memb e r s o f the growing

e c onomic union t e s te d the ant i - fortune - t e l l ing ordinance

in the C it y and attempted to inf luenc e , and even infil-

t rate , local law enforcement agenc ie s .

In 1940 , seven months after Tom Herino , the son of

S t eve Uwanawich , had app lied for an appo intment as a p o lice

o f f icer with the Los Ange le s P o l ic e Department , Mark Adams

die d . Hark Adams 1 s on , George Adams , novJ the brothe r - in-

law o f T om Merino , had b een groomed for his father ' s j ob

and shmved great potentia l a s a leader for the growing

e c onomic union . He had not , however , proven himse l f a s an

ab le admin i s t rator . Local N omad s expected that the ir chie f

b e no l e s s t han an unimpeachab le leader , busine s srD.an , and

arb iter .

The War y ears in Lo s Ange le s pr ovided George ·Adams with

many tes t s . In 194 1-42 many Nomad s moved t o the Pac i fic

: Co as t from the East . Ge orge Adams '·m s det e rmined to f ind

room for them, f ir s t through the reorganizat ion , then the

expan s i on , o f the e c onomic union that his father had been

, instrumental in organiz ing and de fending for his peop le .

The prob lems inherent in expanding the s ervice area o f the

ec onomi c uni on were c omp l icated by att emp t s among his m·m

trib e smen t o dis credit him . Also , he had to c ont inua l ly

dea l with a large number o f Gyp s ie s in the C ity who owed

him no a l le giance at a ll . N ot b e ing acceptable for

! memb ership in the e c onomic union , the s e t rans ient Gyp s ie s

; disp layed lit t le c oncern for the res ident Gyp s i e s upon whom

: the ir behavior "\Ala s b e ing re flec ted . Despite the s e prob lems ' l ! George Adams was ab le t o expand the ec onomic union beyond

the C ity l imit s o f Los Ange les .

Fol lowing the War another maj or migrat ion o f Nomads

to the Los Ange le s area occurred . When S teve Uwanm·Jich

pas s e d av.1ay in 1946 , Tom Merino began to increase hi s

p o s it ion among local members o f the e c onomic union . The

! fo l lowing year marked a maj or a s sault on the p o s ition o f

1 George Adams in the person o f another Ge o rge Adams . The

usurper attempted t o use the non-Gyp sy legal system to bring

/ V

: down the chie f , b ut fai le d .

The re were no appre c iab le setbacks in the e c onomic

union from 1947 - 5 5 . The Lo s Ange le s area , in fact , became

: a pre fe rred re s idence among Nomads in the United Stat e s .

: In Gyp sy-carniva l j argon the C ity had been ' ' se\ved -up" .

: The suc ce s s o f the economic union in Lo s Ange les had much

t o d o with the l ong tenur e o f George Adams . It i s said

that he did not o ft en att empt to insp ire terror in hi s sub ­

ordinate s , nor did he try t o control them thr ough brute

i force . He i s described a s having b e en a benevo lent leader

i and ext reme ly popular with the maj or ity o f the union rnem­

. bers . Certain non-Gypsy ind ividua ls mus t have found him

e qua l ly a f fab le and dedicated because with the ir he lp he

was ab le t o eventual ly ext end the power o f the ec onomic

union b eyond the County l imi t s o f Los Ange le s .

In 1 9 5 5 the ant ipode o f George Adams , Torn Stanley ,

chie f o f the Detroit economic union , arrived in Los

: Ange le s t o t e s t the re s i liency o f the popular Los Ange les

chie f . S tanley le ft short ly a fter his arrival . Local

witne s s e s o f that con frontation reca ll that Torn Stanley

impres se d everyone as a "b ig flash of d iamonds" and l it t le

, more .

In 1 9 5 7 a far more ser ious threat t o local Nomad

s ol idarity o c curred . George Adams \vas sued ove r a mat ter

I .L.

o f inher itance monie s in the non- Gyps y c ourts by Tom

Her ino , who finally s e t t le d for $ 5 , 000 . The operat ions o f

the local ec onomic union 'qere endangere d for t he many

Heeks that t he two "big men1 1 s quare d o f f in the courtroom .

At the he ight o f the c r i s i s Ge orge Adams was -ab le t o

c orre c t ly s e n s e that through h i s display o f t radit ional

e thic s and s e l f- control his po s i t ion had become more

s e cure than ever . He remarked , vli th s ome levity , to re ··

p orters \·lho had inquired into Tom He r ino ' s rapid re t ire ··

ment from t he c ourtroom , 1 1He ' s a fraid for h i s l i fe" .

General ly s peal<. ing , dur ing the years o f his leader ship

Ge orge Adnms per forme d impeccab ly . Rec a l l ing that Los

Ange le s pro s e cute s on t.he average o f thirty - s ix for tune ··

t e l lers e ach year , George Adams would not only hire the

b e s t legal s ervice s but per s onally superv i s e most o f the

c ourtroom pr ocee dings and step fon·mrd t o pay the usual

tventy- five to f i ft y dollar fine s . His applicat ions o f

t ac t and pat ien c e are legendary among Noma d people s a cro s s

the United S t at e s . In the early 19 60 ' s , for example , s ome

Gyp s ie s brought a troLU) l e s ome aut omob ile body-repair

rack e t int o the C it y . Although George Adams c ould a hv-ays

threaten the newcome r s -vvith p o lice hara s sment , in this case

he rented a hal l , part ied the racketeer s , and h ighl ighted

the - fe s t ivit ie s by pub l icly admonishing them .

Due t o c e rt a in administrat ive changes in the ear ly

19 60 ' s fortune -te ll ing began t o come under a more critical

pub lic inve s t igat ion in Los Ange le s . City o f ficials be gan

· to have a better appreciat ion o f the organiz ed nature o f

fort une - t e l l ing . The economic union , hmvever ,- was at the

peak of i t s st rength so the po lice inve s t igat ion proceeded

caut ious ly .

The death o f Ge orge Adams in Ju ly , 19 64 , provided

· local law enfor cement agenc ies with an opportunity to

unde rmine the s t rength of the ent ire Los Ange le s fortune -

, t e l l ing organizat ion . The matter o f success ion to the ' leadership o f the economi c union c ould not be immediat e ly

i s ett led t o the s a t i s fact ion o f all union memb ers . The

l police were ab le t o c apitalize on the s itua t ion through the

! us e o f " div ide and c onquer" tac t ic s . \

The obvious person to fill the void le ft b y George ' . i Adams was hi s s on , John , then 2 7 years old . John Adams ,

' although he appa rent ly had the support of his unc le T om

Mer ino , had t o c ontend with some other would b e potentates . ; iThere was George Adams ' b rother , B laney , and some "b ig men" i ! i from out - o f-town who came to c la im the vacated throne . ' ! i ;ord inar i ly the re would not have b een so many quali fied

Gyp s ie s availab le for leadership in Lo s Ange les . George

Adams ' death , hmvever , came on the heels of a crisis in

1 .5

' -- -

. Neiv Y ork 1 s Nomad c o lony and probab ly coinc ided with the

re sul t ing dispers a l o f many Nomads from that City .

The c ompetit ion among the a s pirant s cont inued for over

I

a year . The stre s se s o f c ompetition undermined the e f -

: fic iency o f the Los Ange le s ec oi1.omic union ; over tivo

hundred fortune - t e l lers were arre s t ed in 19 6L� owing large ly

• t o a c omb inaion o f Nomad b ackb it ing and police pres sure .

Dur ing t hi s t ime John Adams at tempted t o prove his ab i lity

. t o reunite the C ity 1 s fortune -te llers into another pmve r ful

e c onomic union . His e f fort s we re ne gate d in 19 6 5 , however ,

when he eventual ly brib e d himse l f int o a c leve r police

t rap . He fina l ly p leaded gui lty t o a charge o f giving a

. large sum o f money t o a po lice officer in order t o protect

� a number o f fortune -telling e stab l i shment s in Lo s Ange les .

Although s ome years have passed s ince John Adams was

' cunvicted and s entence d , vigi lant po lice surve i llance of

: local N omad fortune - t e l l ing activities st ill preva i l s in

the City . Neverthe le s s , Nomad t rib e sivomen are s t ill t e l l -

ing fortune s . Dur ing the past fe\v years the re have been

some renewed at t empt s among the N omads t o rebuild the ir ! 1 ec onomic union . This i s a long and dangerous p roce s s .

Policemen and key o ffic ia l s must be bribed� O ft en such

: bribery is ine ffectual . The Police Department , for in-

' s tance , rotate s i t s o fficers in and out o f the Fraud

D ivis ion part ly a s a deterrent again s t bribery . S imi lar ly , .

b r ib e d City o ff i c ia l s , subj e c t to r e gular e lect ion pro-

c e dure s , may not s e rve in o f fice l ong enough to insure

Gyp sy intere s t s .

The r e ha s r e c en t ly been s ome evidence o f a reasser-

t ion of tre Adams ' dynasty ; J ohn Adams has been re leased

from p r i s on and c ont inue s t o re s id e \vith many of h i s

trib e smen \vi thin the L o s Ange le s me trop o litan area .

patterns o f s ocio- e c onomic act ivity demonstrated by Nomad

t r ibe smen in Los Angeles City dur ing the pas t thirty years

c an b e subj e c t e d to a spat ial ana lys is . Wnile loc a l N omads

norma l ly limit t he ir s ocial interact ions t o intra-Gypsy

act ivit i e s , the ir e c onomic interac t ions demand a direct

c onfrontat i on by t he Nomad s \vith the ir non-Gypsy fortune -

t e l l ing market . Thi s con fr ontat ion o ft en t ake s p lace at or

near the o fi��' which is a l s o the are a where many Nomad

s o cia l a c t ivitie s are concentrate d . I t may b e that Urb an

Nomad fortune - t e l le r s , i f at a ll p os s ib le , \vork and

s ocia lize in tho s e parts o f the C ity to \vhich they are

e c onomi c a ll y b ound by the ir c ommon trade and int r ic ate

t ie s . The Los Ange l e s Police Depar tment: has ident i fied

the l ocat ion of s eventy inc ident: s invo lv ing fortun.e - tell ing

ac t ivities during 19 6 7 - 6 8 . This index t o fortune - te l l ing

I ..J

.. _ _ ,_ . -� � .

ac t ivit ies in the C ity has b e en supplemente d by twenty- five

addit ional inc ident s inc luding e ither Nomad s o c ial act ivi-

; t i e s (part ie s , 1.vake s , etc . ) or add it ional fortune -te l l ing

·- · act ivit ie s a s they have b een report e d by the Los. _Ange les

. T ime s neHspaper over a period o f thirty- five years . The

d istribut ion o f the s e nine ty - five inc ident s in the C ity has

b e en depic t e d in F igure 12 .

I t i s inte re s t ing t o note in F igure 12 that the inc i-

denc e o f Nomad a c t ivity w ithin the C ity doe s not have an

: even d istribut ion and that there is a conc.entrat.i.on of - such

: ac t iv ity near the City ' s C ivic C enter . Horeover ; , :Lt-� ap - ·

' pears that N omad act iv ity has shi fte d in a we sterly dire c -

' t ion dur ing the p a s t thirty- five years ; the t1.-ve.lve inc i.:..

: dent s indicating Nomad s oc io - e c onomic activ it ie s prior to

! 19 4 5 apparent ly p re dominated in a small area direct ly t o

1 the s outh o f the L o s An,ge les C iv ic C enter wh:i:T.e the: same

ac t ivitie s recorded s ince 19 4 5 are more dis persed and pre -

' dominate mor e t o the we st o f the C ivic Center .

The exp lanat ion for the apparent ly int ens ive o c -

cupance o f N omad s oc io - e c onomic ac t ivity irr on-ly certain

part s o f the C ity during the past thirty- f:Lve ye:ars may b e

found in an examinat ion o f the locat ion o f the fortune -

i t e l l ing marke t during the same pe riod . The Los Ange les

. Po l ice Department suspe c t s that the fortune -telling market • j

/ U

F igure 12

G Y P S I E S I N L O S A N G E L E S C I T Y

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

1 • •

N

\\ Each dot or tr iang le represents one account of

Gyp sy soc i o-economi c acti vity in the c i ty, u sua l ly fortune- tel l i ng

• to 1945

• 1945 io 1969

Not p a rt of Los Ange les C i ty

0 4 ..._ ___ __.

mi l es

T h i s d a t a h a s b e e n c o l l ected f r o m p o l i c e f i l e s a n d newspaper reports representing a thi rty y e ar p e r i o d , 1939 t o 1969 .

- · _ _ ,_

11

in Lo s Ange l e s h as cons i s t e d large ly o f superst it ious age d ,

: minority , and low income persons with urgent prob lems .

· · It i s pos s ib le t o locat e the distribut ion o f a fortune -

> t e l l ing marke t within the C ity by ut iliz ing recent census

' data .

( 1 ) Supe rs t it ious aged persons : The d i sproport ionate-

ly large numb e rs o f age d pers ons in Los Ange le s did not

e s c ape Hct.Vi l l iams ( 194 6 : 2 3 0 ) \.Yho re ferred to the City as

" a mort ic ian ' s paradise 1 1 • The Los Ange le s area ha s had a

, sub s tant ia l ly higher percent age o f it s populat i on age d

' s ixty - five years and over dur ing the past five decades when

. c ompare d to the nat iona l average (Heeker , 19 64 : 2 2 ) .

It seems rea s onab le that p e r s ons s ome�>vhat younger

• than s ixty - five a l s o might share c onditions of b io logica l

: maturity that might re sult in the ir s earching out the

� service s o f a fortune -t e l ler . The c ondit ion o f menopau s e ,

; for instanc e , that is share d by many persons over age o f

i fi ft y i s symptomatic o f b io logica l matur ity . Henopause

i can b e acc ompanied by increased anxiet ie s that c ould lead i J

a person t o s e ek s ome s o lace in a fortune - te l ler . There i� '

the re fore , s ome rea s on t o genera lize aged persons , a s they

re late t o the fortune - t e l le r , int o a group o whos e minimum

age is forty years . Figure 1 3 d iagrams concent rat ions o f

: aged per s ons in the City in plac e s where the median age

7 8

Figure 1 3

T H E A G E D I N L O S A N G E L E S C I T Y

� � Census tracts in which the median age of the total popu l at ion is over 40 years.

Abstracted fro m B rewster M ap based on 1960 census

1 N

0 4 m i les

- - -- - - -·-" ... - " -- - -·-·- �·

o f the populat ion , by c ensus tract s , was forty years and

; over in 19 6 0 . F igure 1 6 , which , in part , superimpose s the

locat ion s o f N omad s ocio- e c onomic ac t ivit ies over Figure 1 3

demons trat e s that much Nomad ac t ivity has b e en ob served t o

exi st in c l o s e proximity t o c oncentrat ions o f - the aged .

( 2 ) Supe r s t i t ious minor ity person s : The two princ ipa l

_ minor ities in Lo s Ange le s City are the Negro ( 7 . 6% o f the

total populat ion in 19 6 0 ) and the peop le o f Spanish surname

(9 . 5% o f the t o t a l populat ion in 1 9 60 ) . Individuals in

' both o f the s e group s , a s \vel l a s memb er s o f other minority

; group s , may be s uperst it ious . The Los Ange le s Police De -

i partment has , however , spec i fica l ly pre sumed that memb ers

; of the Negro minor it y make up a large part of the fortune -

t e lling market in Los Ange l e s .

It i s true that American romant ic ist s ( e . g . Mark

< Twain) have att empted t o p opularize Negroes a s part icularly

i super st it ious memb ers o f American s oc ie ty . There are ,

i however , mor e rat ional exp lanat ions for s ing l ing out supe r- :

s t it i ous Negroe s a s maj or c omponent s o f the Los Ange le s

fortune - t e ll ing market .

One might a sk , 1 1Y.lhy s pec i fy the Negro c omponent and

not t he Mexican -American ? 1 1 Although there were more peop le

; of Spanish surname in the City in 19 60 than the re were

: Negro persons , many o f them s t ill re lied on the ir Spani sh

Figure 14

T H E N E G R O M I N O R I T Y ­

I N L O S A N G E L E S C I T Y

Over 7% of the tota l popu lat ion by census tracts is N egro

A b stracted from B rewster M ap b a sed o n 1960 c e n s u s

1 N

0 4 ._ _ __.

m i l e s

8 1

language ins tead o f the Engli sh language emp loyed by the

· maj ority o f fortune - te llers operat ing in the C i ty . The

fortune - t el le r ' s suc ce s s is her s p ie l . English i s a lready

her s ec ond language , a ft er Romani . Apparent ly not very

many o f the local fortune - t el lers are operat ional in

. Spanish .

Loc a l Negroe s , on the o ther hand , s peak English and

are found c oncentrated in one s ec t ion o f highly segregated

Los Angele s . C ensus t rac t s in Los Angeles \vhere Negroe s

made up over s even p er c ent o f the re s ident populat ion

in 1960 are shown in Figur e 14 . Figure 1 6 , which , in part ,

supe rimp o s e s the locat ions o f Gypsy s oc io-economic

act ivit i e s over F igure 14 demonstrat e s that much Gypsy

act iv ity has a l s o b e en in c lo s e proximity to c oncentrat ions

o f the Negr o minor ity in the C ity .

( 3 ) Super s t i t ious l ovJ- income p er s ons with urgent

prob lems : Eas t Los Ange le s and the Central C ity , acc ord­

ing to }leeker (19 64 : 35 ) are the t"V-70 areas 1vith the l owe s t

. median fami ly income s ( l e s s t han $ 5 , 000 per family per

year) in Lo s Ang el e s . Figure 1 5 dep ic t s alL tho s e s tudy

areas in the C it y that have b e en c l a s s i fied by the Wel fare

P lanning Counc i l as 1 1 low income1 1 • Aga in , Figure 1 6 , which ,

in part , super imp o s e s the l ocat ion o f Gyp sy ac t ivities over

F igure 15 demon s t ra t e s the proximity of Gypsy ac t ivit ies

Figure 1 5 --·======================= ======· =-==-============:;-1

LO \JV I N C O fVl E A R E A S

I N L O S A N G E L E S C I T 'r'

Study areas i n wh i ch the

m ed i an fam i l y i n come is below S5 ,500.

D ata p r o v i d e d b y W e l f a r e P l an n i n g C o u n c i l b a s e d o n 1960 c e n s u s

1 N

0 4 miles

, t o low income fami lie s in the C it y . Wl�ile supers t it ious

' members of a l l income group s in the C ity are faced \vi th

urgent prob lems at one t ime or anothe r , the lmv income

; group probab ly has the least a lt e rnat ive s for the s olut i on

' o f the s e prob lems . Fortune - t e l le r s are not only proximate

and moderate ly priced , they act ive ly fill the role of the

; po or man ' s p sychiat r i s t .

Taken ind iv idua l ly , F igur e s 1 3 , 14 and 15 only demon-

s t rate proximity to Gyp s y soc io - e c onomic act ivit ies \vhi ch

; are depicted on F igure 12 . Figure 1 6 , which superimposes I j Gyp s y socio - e c onomic act iv i t ie s ove r a c omb inat ion o f a l l

three a s pec t s o f the suggested for tune - t e l l ing market in

Los Ange le s , demonstrate s that Gyp s y fortune - t e llers have

c onc ent rated the ir ac t iv it ie s in t he sugge s t e d market area

dur ing the ir years of res idency in Los Ange les •

. The dat a a l s o indi cate s t ha t the marke t for fortune -

: te l l ing in the p ort areas o f San Pedro might also attract

! Nomads (Appendix C prov ides evidenc e o f such ac t iv ity in

t hat are a ) . N o spec i fic ins t ance o f Nomad act ivity in that

area ha s , hmveve r , b een recorde d for inc lus ion in F igure

12 . Neverthe le s s , b e c ause the market apparent ly does

: exi st , it mus t be a s sumed that N omad s have "\vorked and re -

s ided in the area at one t ime or another . Further inve s t i-

; gat ion , p os s ib ly a larger s amp le , may uncove r more evidenc e. L .

F igure 16

T H E F O R T U N E - T E L L I N G M A R K E T for

G Y P S I E S I N L O S A N G E L E S C I T Y

• • 1 N

Each dot or triangle represents one account of

Gypsy socio-economic activity in the city, usu al ly fortune- tel l ing

• to 1945

• 1945 to 1969

Aged, Negro, low income areas 0 4

mi les

O J

Gyp sy s oc io - e c onomic a c t ivit ie s i n Los Ange l e s pose

s ome que st ion s beyond the ir re lat ive lo cat ions in the C ity .

The app arent dispers ion o f Gyp sy a c t ivit ie s from the area

· irrrrnediate ly s outh o f the Civ i c Cent e r in the years after

1945 might b e explained by a progre s s ive urb ah b l ight that

· has rendered the d ovmtmvn s.e c t ion o f the City l e s s suitab le

for re s idenc e .

The dm\'ll.tovm s e ct ion o f Lo s Ange le s has had a popula -

t ion los s dur ing the past fe,·l decade s while t-he C ity

suburb s have been b ooming . Gyp sy a c t ivit ie s eventua lly

d i s persed from ther e for a v ariety of rea sons , inc lud ing a

c oncern among Gyp s y per s ons for the ir per s onal health and

s a fety . Thi s s ituat ion reached a c r it ical point during

the vJar years , a c c ording t o a Nomad informant , \,Then

American s oldier s r oamed the downtoHn s tre e t s rudely a c -

cost ing Noma d '.vomen and o ften ac cus ing the . Gyp s ie s o f

exce s s ive c r iminal a c t ivit ie s . Many Nomads move d away

from the Civic Center though they c ont inued t o s ol i c it

bus ine s s there . *

*Photo -b ooth operat ion wa s a p opular War- t ime Nomad oc cupat ion . A C ity ordinanc e a l s o prohibit s this trade . Neverthe le s s , s oldiers and s a ilors liked to have th&ir picture s t aken with the ir girl friends and the Nomads 1vere happy t o obl i ge . Ac c e s s orie s s1.1ch as art i fic ial flmvers were made and s o ld by Nomad \vomen .

Today there are few o f�sa near the Civic Center

despite the fac t that the data indicates that a marke t r e -

mains there for t h e fortune - t e ller . A Macvaya fortune -

t e ller may advert is e heavily in the downtmvn sect ion but

· pre fer t o l ive e l s e�vhere . Intere s t e d c liente le , on the

other hand , c an t ake a bus from City Hal l and t rave l le s s

than two mi les in order t o b e in the ne ighb orhood o f many

fort une � t ell er s . The obvious c lust er s o f Gyp sy s oc io-

ec onomic act ivit ies t oday b e g in t o app ear a few mile s \ve s t

o f the C ivic Cent er and can b e attr ibuted t o a gradual

exodus from C ivic Center. areas . The p ot ent ia l fortune -

t e l l ing market in areas o f pre s ent Gypsy dens it ie s is ex-

c e l lent . Al s o , the recent home o f the late N omad ' 'king"-;�

i s in the ir vic in it y ; � members s t ill pre fer t o l ive

near one another in the area . N on-Gypsy bus ine s smen have

b een ab l e t o capita lize on t he relative dens ity and free

s pend ing o f Nomads in the area by s t ocking the ir meat

mark et s , mus ic shops and pawn shop windm-vs Hith produc t s

that are in d emand among t he Gypsy res ident s . *·k

i'�His fathe r , the previ ous "king" , resid0d in a dmvn·� tmm area that i s now quite delapidat ed .

o u

**Popular Gyp sy foods inc lude sheep ' s heads and trip e . Hacvaya mus ic ians ( e . g . Harry and the Horr ib l e s ) have r e ­leas e d a fe\.v rec ords that are quite popular in the loc a l Gypsy c om .. rnunity . Pawn shop s near the Civic Center ahvay s have gold trinket s in the w indmvs for the ir Gypsy c l i eh­t e l e .

It mus t a l s o b e noted that Gyp sy s o c io-economic

. ac t ivities are not limited t o Los Ange le s City although

such a limitat ion has been c ons tructed a s F igure 1 2 for

i re s earch purpose s . The Lo s Ange le s metropolitan a re a ex­

: tends far beyond t he C i ty l imi t s o f Lo s Ange le s and supports

; many N omad cultur e -b earers , fortune - t e l lers and othenvise .

' The Los Ange le s Police Department has sugge sted that a

large c onc ent rat ion o f Gyp s ie s c an a l s o b e found in

P omona , Ca l i fornia .

CHAPTER IV

CONCLU S ION S

4 . 1 Gypsy s oc i a l s tructurJng and c ultura l cont inuity

The s ingu la r i ty o f Nomad Gyp s y s o c iety apparent ly owe s

l it t l e t o the b enevolence o f non-Gyp s y p e op l e s in the

wor l d . I t might b e more re a l i s t i c t o suppos e that it h a s

b een t h e prej u d i c e o f the non - Gyp s y again s t the Gyp s y

everywhere that ha s fa c i l i t a t e d t h a t prac t i c a l s truc tur ing

o f Nomad s oc ie ty whi ch ha s , in i t s turn , enab le d Nomad

Gyp s y cul ture l i fe to prot r a c t it s e l f for centur i e s without

s acr i fic ing i t s int e gr it y .

One e s s e n c e o f surv iva l built int o the high ly

s tructured N omad s oc ia l s y s tem appears t o b e i t s c ond i ­

. t ione d r e sponse t o s tre s s fu l s itua t ion s . I t is a maj or

at t r ibute o f N omad s o c ie t y that i t s member s may frequent ly

part from one another only to be j o ined toge ther again at

. s ome future t ime and p l a c e ; to be ab l e to a ch ieve order ly

s e gregat ion or s y s t emat iz at ion of s o c i a l un i t s as the

. s itua t ion d i c ta t e s -- b e it opportun it y or c a t a strophe

has b e en a maj or s uc c e s s fu l de s ign of N omad cultural

c ont inuity .

88

� .

· 4 . 2 S ome s ign i ficanc_e_ in Nomad socio-economic syst emat iz a -

f1oo in Los Ange les

Rap id urb anizat ion and a manufa ctur ing revolut ion in

the United S t a t e s during the fir s t ha lf o f the twentieth

century have dic t a te d that the loc a l Nomad Gyp s ie s

systemat iz e the ir t e chnique s o f l ive l ihood or e l s e face ,

· once again , the specter o f e conomic dependency and eventua l

a s s imi lat ion . Nomad fortune - t e lling spe c ia l is t s in Los

Ange l e s Her e ab le t o organize a power ful ec onomic union

over a thirty year period . Although the ir group e f fort

r� s emb led tradit iona l kumpa:'�ia format ion , it wa s more high- ·

ly s t ructured and le s s temporary than the tradit iona l

e conomic union . The Los Ange l e s e c onomic union Has , in all

actua lity , a strategic vehic le for Nomad cu ltura l c on -

t inuit y in p lace rather than a t a ct ical r e sponse t o some

f le e t ing e c onomic opportunity . It manife s ted an att empt t o

susta in and promote an interest shared b y no other members

of the immediate hab itat - N omad cultur a l survival . Al-

though the local police had b e en ab le to capitalize on a

temporary p o l it ic a l instabi lity in the Nomad economic

union in 19 64 and thereby threaten the ec onomic we l fare of

it s memb er s , the fac t that fortune -t e ller s continue t o

: pract ice the ir trade in the C ity on a much le s s organized

b a s is and are now a t t empt ing to r ebuild the ir economic

7 V

· union demons t rate s the tradit iona l tenac ity with which

! N omad s prot e c t t he ir cultural integrity .

The appe arance o f the Nomad e conomic union in Los

Angele s may be doub ly s igni ficant . Fir s t , it appear s t o

demonstrate a contemporary examp le o f the trans it ion o f a

� tr iba l s oc iety int o a chie fdom . Second , it introduce s an

: examp le o f territoria l behavior among members of a c ontem-

p orary human s oc ia l group .

It is p o s s ib le that the highly s tructured Nomad eco-

nomic union , a s it appeared in many American c it i e s dur ing

the era o f Urban Nomadism, wa s ac tua lly an inc ipient chie f-'

dom . The Nomad s , in sett ling in the s e c it ie s and sub se -

quent ly realigning their tradit ional s oc io - e c onomic

structure in order t o capture marke t s , were advanc ing from

t r ibalism int o a s o c ia l , economic and political system that

i s , by de fin i t ion , more comp lex . �·--

Anthropo logis t Peter Farb ( 19 68 : 135 ) ha s sugge s ted

tha t a chie fdom can ar i s e when a p opulou s culture b e c ome s

re lat ive ly f ixed in s pace and exper ience s an e conomic sur -

p lus . One reca lls that during the days o f Rural Nomad i sm

.,._.Variab i lity in the s ize o f Gyp sy socio-economic unit s:

· in the past has b e en noted by Gropper ( 19 67 : 10 5 5 ) . The co� p lex kuJ:_I.lp_ani�, p o s s ib ly the chie fdom , may have emerged on

' other occa s i ons dur ing Gyp sy culture his t ory .

';J l..

in the United S tate s the Nomad f loat ing industria l popu-

lat ion "\vander e d in rather small band s and depended upon a

, highly fluctuat ing market for i t s live l ihood . The p o s -

: s ib i lity tha t the sub sequent urbanizat ion and nuc leat ion

o f the s e Nomads might have been · a cat a ly s t for the ad-

' vancerr�nt o f previous ly de centralized Nomad bands int o

chie fdoms in t he Uni t e d S t at e s introduc e s a n intere s t ing

hypothe s is .

The deve lopment o f Nomad chie fdoms in the United

/ S tate s would a l so he lp to explain the oc currence of what l i ; appe ar s t o be t erritorial behavior among many Nomads living

' in it s larger cit ie s . Territorial b ehavior , according t o

B artholomew and B irds e l l ( 19 5 3 : 484) i s a concept tha t in-

e lude s the ent ire comp lex pat tern o f behavior a s s o c iated

with the de fense o f an area . The c onc ept , however , has

b� en most ly advanced by anima l eco logis t s and there have

b een few serious attempt s t o d i scus s the biological c oncept

in t e rms of i t s human s oc ial imp l ications . Neverthe le s s ,

the t echnique s o f territory ma int enance , the pre c ise fac t -

or s respons ib le for i t , and i t s s ignificance vary from

s pe c ie s t o s pe c ie s among social animals (B artholomew and

B irdse l l , 19 5 3 : 4 8L�) . Territor ial behavior among human

s o c ia l group s is , in fac t , highly probab le . I f it doe s

exist , it is ge ographica l ly s igni ficant .

Farb , ( 19 68 : 1 5 1 ) in hi s d i s cus s ion o f the deve lopment

o f human s o c ia l unit s in pre - industr ia l N orth Americ a ,

has sugge s te d that the acquisit ion and de fense o f living

s pace i s one character i s t ic o f the chie fdom . He de s cribed

chie fdoms who s e s ize s and comp o s it ions were fixed b y b oth

t opographic features and centripetal forc e s generate d by

the chief hims e l f . Recent ly , Gropper ( 19 6 7 ) has de s cr ibed

c ompetit ion b e twe en Nomad chie f s for living space in Ne1-v

York C ity . S imilar ly , the history o f the Nomad ec onomic

union in Los Ange le s has demonstrated ho-v;r a loca l chie f ha s

b e en ab le t o supp lement his own c har isma and mora l per -

suas ion with a p ower base and t hereby cons o l idate a

t erritory that eventua lly trans cended the C ity ' s adminis -

trative boundar ie s . This ec onomic union provided an opera-

t iona l framework for the loca l chie fdom . I t s highly or -

ganized soc ia l struc ture minimized the stre s se s o f the

urban existence by ( 1 ) c onvent ional iz ing t he patterns of

c onflict that would be p ermitted among it s members and ( 2 )

attempt ing t o e l iminate a l l ine ffic ient energy expenditure s

taking p lace within it s service area . The ult imate

s igni ficance of thi s s ocial deve lopment in the C ity of Los

Ange le s is t hat it permitted an unpopular �thnic minority

t o protract i t s e l f for severa l de cad e s and remain re la-

t ive ly independent from the pervas ive modern American

urban culture that surrounded it .

Much o f the succe s s o f N omad fortune • t e l l ing in Los

Ange le s can be attributed t o the e ffectivene s s o f the

e c onomic union . This succe s s is a l s o s omeHhat commensurat e

t o the fa i lur e o f l o c a l non-Gyp sy society t o protect s ome

o f i t s Heaker human e lement s fr om organized N omad frauds .

' Fortune - te l l ing among the N omads mus t b e cons idered t o b e

more than an occupat ion . I t i s a maj or cultural attr ibute ,

, the c ore o f a comp l icate-d trait - c omp lex , that appear s t o

rema in impervious t o the k ind o f legis lat ion that has been

d irected again s t it .

More s t r ingent legis lat ion may e l iminate local N omad

; fortune - t e l l ing but may not b e the mos t humanitar ian way t o '

: hand le the s ituat ion . An a lternat ive , no legis lat ion at i I I i a l l , might e l iminat e whatever compet it ive advantage loca l

for tune -te l le r s have a c quire d dur ing the ir years o f loc a l ' / r e s idence . Les s s crupu lous Gyp s ie s might then b e attracted '

t o Los Ange le s t o exp l o it the lucrat ive marke t for Gyp sy

· fr aud . Neither the exi s t ing fortune - t e l lers nor the ir

c li ent e le c ould b ene fit in such a case .

Another a lt e rnat ive might be for non-Gyp sy s o c ie ty t o i I c oncent rat e on e ducat ing the fortune - te l ler ' s c l iente le

, rather than t o p er s ist in le g i s lat ing aga inst the fortune -

te l ler . Agenc ie s l ike the C ounty Commis s ion o f Human

; Re lat ions , that pre s ent ly do not c o l lect statist i c s re -'

l garding the Gyp sy minor ity in the Los Ange le s area , might

a s sume the re spons ib i lity for s pons oring re s earch ,

eventua l ly providing data about the local Gyp sy c ommunity

and it s s oc io - e c onomic behavior for pub lic enlightenment .

: This data c ou ld a l s o b e used to c ompare the charac ter o f

Gypsy culture in L o s Ange le s t o that found in other

American c it ie s . Suc h comparat ive s tudie s need to be en-

. couraged .

Further inve s t igat ions might a sk whether Gyp s i e s are

t o expec t a c olle c t ive de s t iny in the Un ited Stat e s or

eventua l ly re linquish the ir c ommon her itage and disappear

' into the Amer ican me lting-pot . Nomad s have experienced

b oth waning i t inerancy and increased perse cut ion for the ir

fortune - t e l l ing a c t ivitie s . How many key cultura l at -

t r ib�te s c an the Nomad a fford t o abandon and yet retai�

h i s cul tural int e gr ity ? S ome answe r s t o this que s t ion may

l ie in the past whe re the anc e s t ors o f t he c ontemporary

Nomads s o lved s imi lar prob lems through adapt ion , c ompromis e

and emigrat ion . I t i s in the pre s ent , · however , where s o lu-

t ions for unprecedented s ocial and ec onomic prob lems might

demand unprec edented Nomad behavior . It i s c once ivab le

that in the near future local Nomads might a sk for non-

! Gyp s y federa l , s tate and local aid in pre s e rving the ir

l i

culture . .. _._

Unt i l that t ime the Nomad in Los Angeles l;vi l l prob -

ab ly per s i s t in his t radit ional economic versat i l ity and

adaptab il it y . Loc a l fortune - t e llers c ont inue t o operate

and have we l fare c hecks to cushion the ir hard- t ime s . I f

the s t re s s o f cul tural attr it ion become s t oo great for the

Nomad in An1e rica he s t ill has recours e to emigrat ion --

t o Europe , t o Aus tralia , t o Braz il - '.vherever the g§-j�

need 1 1 fix ing and fleec ing1 1 •

The s tudie s o f evolving culture s and the microevolu-

t ion o f man hims e l f may provide s ome ins ight int o the

future o f Gyp sy cul ture . Human territorial behavior , for

ins t anc e , il lus trat e s b oth the des ire and the ab i l ity o f

a s oc ial group t o init iate i t s � patt erns o f survival in

t ime and spac e . The culture o f the Amer ican Indian has

· a lr e?-dY suffered great s t re s s s imp ly because thi s initj�a-

t ive was taken away . American g overnmenta l o ffic ia l s that

knew very l i t t le about the r e lat ionship be tween Indian

t erritor ial b ehavior and Indian s oc ia l s o lidar ity great ly

· demora lized the Ame r ic an Indian , perhaps purpo s e ly , by

forc ing h im t o s t ay on irre levant piece s o f land , enact ing

·k in early 1 9 7 0 a federally supported s choo l for Gyp sy childr en , ins truc t e d b y a non- Gypsy t eacher fluent in Ror:g_�_J!.J.. , -vms opened in Richmond , Cali fornia , near S an Franc isc o .

9 5

lmvs t o regulate his use o f that land - and then calling

it Indian territ ory . S ome contemporary Amer ic an Indians

show more r everenc e for a s t er i le i s land on San F ranc i s c o

: Bay , recent ly 1 1 captured1 1 b y the ir own kind , than a l l the

: ac reage of re s ervat ion a l lowed them by the Federa l Gove rn-

ment . Undoub t e d ly , human t errit ory is more than a s egment

! of earth sur face ; it i s a tota l , comp lex , changing and

per s ona l re lat ionship bet\.veen a human group and i t s

' imme d iate hab it a t .

In conc lus ion , a s regards Nomad Gyp s ie s the re are two

b a s ic rea lit i e s fac ing c ontemporary Amer ican non-Gyps y

s oc ie ty : ( 1 ) Urb an Nomads have organized pract ical re la-

tionship s between themse lve s and the many c i t ie s in America

in which they live and work . They opp o s e non-Gypsy attem�s

t o modify the s e re lat ionship s . (2 ) Unsoc iab le Nomad b e -

havior pre s ent s non-Gyp s y s oc iety with a c omp lex urban

prob lem. Can the s e Nomad s be made more amenab le to c ivic

re s pon s ib ility ?

Mos t N omad s would not b e sur pr i s e d i f they were

forc ib ly ext r ica t e d from the c it ie s . They fear and d i s -

re s pe c t the non-Gypsy and expec t the wor s t from him . They

r emember that t he ir anc e s t ors and re lat ive s have been

, routed from the ir camp s , s hot at , b e aten and j ailed by

Americans for be ing and behaving Gyp s y . Sub sequent ly , the __ _ _ l

' Nomad doe s not fe e l l ike fight ing American \vars or paying ' I • ;Amerlcan t axe s . For this he could b e critic ized ; America

has rewarded much Nomad re s ource fulne s s with its affluence .

jAt t he moment he hope s ma inly t o b e le ft unmolested and ,

p os s ib ly , t o b e a cknowledged for exp ec t ing as - litt le o f

his non-Gyps y ne ighb ors a s his father once did .

REFERE;NCE S

Anonymous ( 18 9 1 ) . 1 1 Transportat ion o f Gyp s ie s from S c o t ­land t o Amer ic a , ' ' Journal <2-f- t he GY.J?..§.Y�-�-.§.�, 2 : 6 0- 6 1 .

Anonymous ( 1 9 6 7 ) . 1 1 Gyp sy Ident i fic at ion , 1 1 Los Ange le s Polic e D epartment L ibrary • .

Bartholemew , G . A . and J . B . B irds'e 11 ( 19 5 3 ) . " Ec ology and the Prot ohominid s , 1 1 {gner_i<::2l!.._Anth�QJ2Q._l_ogi�-t-' Second Serie s , 5 5 : LJ-84-49 1 .

· Bo l e s , Don ( 19 5 8 ) . 1 1 S ome Gyp sy Occupat ions in Amer ic a , 1 1 ;Jou_I�l_ o f t).1e GyJ?.sy_Lo.E§._.§_gc i e_ty, Third Serie s , 3 7 ( 3 - 4 ) : 1 0 3 - 1 10 .

Brown , Irving ( 19 2 8 ) . "Roms are Doms , 1 1 Journal of the_ ·

�� Lore SocJety, Third S er ie s , 7 ( 3 - 4 ) : 17 0 - 1 7 7 .

- - - ( 19 2 9 ) . 1 1The Gyp s i e s in America , 1 1 J ourna·!-__g_:f. the _....Qyp_SY.. L_ore Soc iety, Third Serie s , 8 (4) : 14 5 - 1 7 6 .

7 0

- - - ( 19 3 6 ) . 1 1The Hacvaya in Cal i fornia , u Jq_ur�o f the Gyp sy Lore S o c i�ty, Third Serie s , 1 5 ( 2 ) : 7 2 - 7 8 .

C l ebert , Jean-Paul ( 19 6 3 ) . Th� Gyp s ie s . New York : E . P . Dutt on & C o . , Inc . .

·'1;\ ,_ y�o�'L ·· --. . {! (, fol<uO · . C.o t t en , Rena ( 1. 9 50 ) . 1 1f Study o f Acculturat ion Among t he

· American Kaldera s Gyp s ie s . " Ph . D . D i s s ertat ion , Department o f Soc iology , Columb ia Univers ity , Ne1-v York .

- - - ( 19 5 1. ) . 1 1 S ex D ichotomy Among the American Kalderas Gyp s ie s , " J ourn?-1 of_!_� _ Gyp.sy Lore S<;>_c iety , Third Serie s , 30 ( 1 - 2 ) : 1.6 -2 5 .

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�------------.. ------------------

the Corning ot .. the___lp.du_..stri&__S tat§._• New York : E . P . Dutt on & Co . , Inc .

Fried , Mort on ( 19 6 6 ) . ' ' On the Concept o f Tr ibe and· Trib al Socie t y , " Transact ions o f the New York Academy of S c ienc e s , S e c ond S e rie s , 2 8 ( 1 ) : 52 7 - 54 1 .

Garofalo , Phi l ip ( 19 6 8 ) . 1 1 A Geogr�.phy o f the Longhous e • 1 1 M . A . The s is , Department o f Geography , San Fernando Val ley S tate College , Northridge , California .

Gj orgevic , T . R . ( 19 29 ) . "Rumanian Gyp s ie s in Serb ia , " . J OU]:J!.�l:___g_:l_!hE?�Y_LO_I.§..j)..2.fi.et..Y_ , Third Serie s , 8 ( 1) : 7 -2 5 .

Gr op per , Rena ( 19 6 7 ) . 1 1Urban N omads - The Gyp s ie s o f New York C it y , 1 1 Transact ions o f t"!:!e Nevl Y_grk Academy o f S c ience s , Second Serie s , 2 9 : 10 5 0 - 1055 .

, Le e , Rona ld ( 19 6 7 ) . " The Gyp s ie s in Canada , " Journal o f the Gy.P.§.Y_)..ore Soc i�__!y, Third Serie s , 4 6 ( 1-2 ) : 38 - 5 1 and 4 7 ( 1 -2 ) : 12 - 2 8 .

: Lo s Ange le s C ity Council File s , 1 1 0rdinance Scrapb ook , 1 1 i New S e r ie s , 2 1 : items 148 3 7 - 1 5 62 2 •

. Maj umdar , D . N . ( 194!+) . The Fortunes o f P�imit_tve Tribe s . The Mal l , Lucknmv , India : Univers ity Pub lishers , Lt d .

i I •

iHcvlilliams , C arey ( 19l� 6 ) . Souther!} Cal i f�S_)tmtrr. i N ew York : Due l l , S loan and Pearc e .

!Meeker , Marchia ( 19 64 ) . Background fo� Plan�. He lfare ·

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! , _ t !

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. . .

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Poland : Polish New Acadamy .

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i Turner , R .L . ( 19 2 6 ) . 1 1 Th� Pos it ion o f Romani in Indo-: Aryan , 1 1 J ourna l o f the �y Lore Soc iety , Third

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) Vukamovic , T . P . ( 19 69 ) . " Pa rt Taken b y Gyp s ie s in the ·

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\vinstedt , E . O . ( 19 15 ) . "The Gyp sy Copper smith ' s Inva s ion o f 19 11- 19 1 3 , 1 1 Journa l o f the G_yQ� Lore S_o_ciet,y , N ew Ser ie s , 6 (4 ) : 244- 30 3 .

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1 Yoor s , J an ( 1 9 6 7 ) . The Gips i.e.s. . N ew York : S imon and Schuster , Inc .

APPEND IX A

Sec t ion 43 . 30 Los Ange les MuniciP._a l Q.2._de ;

Fortune -Te l lin_g

N o person s ha l l advert is e by s ign , c ircular , handb ill

in any newspape r , pe riodic a l or magaz ine , or other

! pub licat i on or pub l ications , or by any other means , t o te l l

fortune s , t o find o r rest ore l o s t or s t o len property , to

locate o i l we ll s , gold or s i lver or other ore or me tal or

! natural produc t ; to res t ore lost love or friend ship or i ! a ffe ct ion , t o uni t e or procur e lovers , husbands , wive s ,

i lo s t re la t ive s or friends , for or without pay , by means o f

' oc cult o r p sychic powers , facult ie s o r forces , c la irvoyance,

, psycho logy , p sychome t ry , s pirit s , mediumship , s eership ,

prophecy , a s t ro logy , palmi s t ry , necromancy , or other cra ft , .

s c ience , c ard s , t a l ismans , charms , pot i ons , magnet ism or

magnet iz ed art ic les or substanc e s , or ien:tal mys t e ries or

magic o f any k ind or nature , or numerol ogy , or t o engage

in or carry on any bus ine s s the advert is ement o f which is

prohibited by this sect ion .

APPENp iX B

The provis i ons o f the preceding sect ion sha l l not be

: c ons true d to inc lude , prohib it or inter fere with the exer­t

. c ise o f any re l i gi ous or spi ritua l func t ion o f any prie s t ,

minister , rec t or or an accredited repre s entat ive o f any

b ona fide church or re ligion where such prie s t , mini s t er ,

rect or , or accredited repre s enta t ive ho lds a cert i ficate o f

c redit , commis s ion o r ord inat ion , under the e c c le s ia s t ic a l

; laws o f a re ligious c orpora t ion inc orporated under the law's

: o f any s t ate or t errit ory o f the United State s o f America

or any voluntary re l igious a s s oc iat ion , and \vho ful ly c on-

forms t o the rit e s and prac t ic e s pre scribed by the supreme

c on fe renc e , c onvocat ion , c onvent ion , a s semb ly , a s s oc iat ion

or synod o f the s y s tem or fa ith with which they are a f -

filiated . Provid ed , however , that any church or re l igious

organizat ion whi ch is organized for the primary purpose o f

c onferr ing cert i ficates o f c on®i s s ion , c redit o r ord inat ion

for a pric e and not primari ly for the purpo s e o f t eaching

and prac t ic ing a re ligious doct rine or be lie f , sha l l not be

deemed t o be a b ona fide church or re l igious organizat ion .

; · . PEOPLE v . HARY tv!ERINO S eptember 10 , 1942

Affirme d .

APPENDIX C

CR A · 19 2 1

C ITY ATTORNEY ' S SU��UffiY OF MATERIAL FACT S BEFORE THE COURT IN THE STATE�ffiNT ON APPEAL .

For tune Te l l ing

De fendan t s we re charged v1ith violat ion of Sect ion 43 . 30 o f the Los Ange le s Hunic :Lpa l C ode . Hary Ner ino was found guilty and Deana Nerino , not gui lt y .

..L. V .._.I

The evidence s howed that on June 2 6 , 1942 , O fficer C?rve r no ticed a s ign in a window in San . Pedro which read , 1 1 Sp iritua l Sc ience Read ing s . " There he wa s a sked by De fendant Mary Ner ino to c ome in . He a sked what kind o f r ead ings she gave and she t o l d him d i ffe rent kind s for d i f fe rent price s and that for THo ( $ 2 . 00 ) Do llars , she

. would te l l him everything he wanted t o know . He t o ld her : that she might as we l l make it Two ( $ 2 . 00 ) Dol lars and then !went int o the room . The o fficer s t epped into the room and ! la id his hand on a b lack b ook . He told De fendant Mary Merino that h i s wife disappeared a few days ago , t o which ! s he responded , "We l l , you don ' t need t o worry about he r , i s he wi l l b e back s oon - within three day s . 1 1 She then t.old \ him that he wa s going t o get two le tters and that one of : them \.vould have money in it and the othe r would cause him i t o t ake a t r ip and that he won ' t l eave the Stat e . She a l s o : a sked him i f he ever l oaned peop le money that they hadn ' t ( pa id back . He s aid , "Ye s" . She said , "We l l , when you get ! one of tho s e lett ers it wil l have s ome of that money in ! it . " He then t o ld her he had been a s eaman and a sked her ! i f s he thought he would ever go back t o s e a , t o which she rep l ie d , " Ye s , you wi l l go back , you have got it in your mind . " She a l s o t ol d h im that he wa s suf fering menta lly and s aid , " That othe r woman i s in love \.vith you , 1 1 and that he was go ing t o get a letter b e cause s ome one near him wa s

, s ick . That two peop le had d ied for him in the last year 1 and that two more were going to die in the next year . In res ponse t o h i s que s t ion o f how s he knew a l l those things ,

: she s a id that she j ust saw tho s e things .

Officer Carver paid De fendant Hary Jvlerion Two ( $ 2 . 0 0 ) Dol lars and s igne d a re ce ipt for Two ( $ 2 . 00 ) Do l lars , us ing

• the name "Timothy Sales . 1 1 He wa s not t old that it was a ·

: donat ion t o the Church , nor d id she state that she wa s a . minis te r or repre s ent a t ive o f the American Church .

The De fendan t s de fende d on the ground that they were duly ordained ministers and had re ce ived the ir cert i ficat e s o f ordination on Hay 14 , 1942 , frorn the American Church , a re ligious c orporat ion inc orporate d under the laws o f

' Ca lifornia on Sept ember 11 , 19 2 8 , o f which VJi l l iam F . R ice : wa s Pre s idne t .

Mr . Rice t e s t i fied tha t he i s Pre s ident o f the American Church wh ich ha s b e en func t i oning s inc e 19 2 8 . That he is sue d c ert i ficates o f ordination on Hay 14 , 19 42 , t o the se De fendant s , and tha t the Ame rican Church had branche s operat ing in severa l c itie s . He also t e s t i fied

· that Hary Herino wa s in charge o f the Church at San Pedro ; tha t he paid he r a s a lary and rec e ived from he r the col­lections taken in by her for the Churc h . He stat ed that

; two Sunday mee t ings h ad been he ld at the San Pedro Church · be fore the a rre s t , and that the p lace at San Pedro hadn ' t '

: as ye t been e s tab l i she d a s a branch church .

}lary Merino t e s t ified that she a t t ended school up to i the 4th or 5th grade ; tha t Mr . Rice taught her t o go int o ' a trance and ge t me s sage s ; that she ge t s me s s age s from dead pe op le - he r grand father - through vib rat ions .

For more de t a i led fac t s , see Transcript .

MEMO . --zFr epared by C ourt )

The evidenc e t ogether with the in fe rence s that may _

prope r ly be drawn there from amp ly suppor t the imp lied find - · ing o f the trial c ourt that appe l lant violated sect ion

·

43 . 30 o f Ord inanc e 7 7 , 000 , Los Ange le s Municipal C ode , and that she wa s not exempt under sect ion 43 . 31 o f said ord inance .

BY THE COURT .

FOX Act ing Pre s iding Judge .

K INCAID -----------:rucrr e •

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