Do you know how Roma families celebrate Christmas?

Culture

By and large, there are about 15 ethnic subgroups of Roma people living in Ukraine. Their customs and traditions are very much like Ukrainian ones: they get together in their family circles, they prepare 15 lenten dishes, kutia, uzvar, and other meals.

Each one of these subgroups, however (nay, even each separate family) has its own unique traditions. In this episode of the podcast «Ai Tu Jianes. Did you know that?», team members of ARCA Youth Agency for Roma Culture Advocacy and Jianes media project share their family customs and traditions in the context of their roots.

Volodymyr Yakovenko, Executive Director of ARCA Youth Agency for Roma Culture Advocacy:

My ancestors once came to Ukraine from the present-day Kursk Oblast of Russia. At present, however, we live in the milieu of Serv Roma people which constitute the largest Roma community in Ukraine.

We are not accustomed to invite people over. If someone has expressed a desire to pay you a visit, you are to greet that person and accept him or her at your best. And, as we well know, Roma people usually have large families, hence they celebrate Christmas as crowds, so to say.

And whenever we invite guests over, there must be some poultry on the table—say, a turkey. After we have sung a Christmas carol, one of the most respected guests attending shall break the turkey into pieces and distribute them among everyone present.

During the cooking process, some ladies of the house hide coins inside that poultry dish: whoever finds a coin will prosper in the upcoming year.