thumb|320px|The Ursar, drawing by [[Theodor Aman]]
The Ursari (generally read as "bear leaders" or "bear handlers"; from the , meaning "bear"; singular: ursar; Bulgarian: урсари, ursari) or Richinara are the traditionally nomadic occupational group of animal trainers among the Romani people.
An endogamous category originally drawing the bulk of its income from busking performances in which they used dancing bears, usually brown bears and, in several instances, Old World monkeys. They have largely become settled after the 1850s. The Ursari form an important part of the Roma community in Romania, where they are one of the 40 tribal groups, as well as notable segments of the Bulgarian Roma population and of the one in Moldova. They also form a sizable part of the Roma present in Serbia and in Western European countries such as the Netherlands and Italy.
The word Ursari may also refer to a dialect of Balkan Romani, as spoken in Romania and Moldova, although it is estimated that most Ursari, like the Boyash, speak Romanian as their native language. There is no scholarly consensus on whether Ursari belong to the Sinti subgroup of the Roma people or to the other half of the Roma population. A Romanian poll conducted in 2004 among 347 Roma found that 150 referred to themselves as "Ursari" (or 43.2%, and the largest single group).
The Romanian-speaking Roma bear or monkey handlers in Bulgaria, called mechkari (мечкари), maymunari, or ursari, are occasionally seen as a separate community as are persons identified as Ursari in Italy. The Coşniţari (or koshnichari) group, present on both sides of the Danube (in both Romania and Bulgaria), is believed to be a segment of the Ursari. Other such Eastern European groups, although linked by profession, speak different languages and dialects, and are considered to be not a part of the Ursari; they include the Medvedara in Greece, Ričkara in Slovakia, The Muslim Arixhinj in Albania and the Muslim Ayjides in the Istanbul area of Turkey.
History
Early migrations and slavery
thumb|320px|Print showing of a dancing bear and its handlers in [[Hesse, ca. 1810]]
Groups of bear-handlers are known to have existed during the population's transit through the Byzantine Empire, as early as the 12th century, when they are mentioned in connection with the Athinganoi (Roma people) by Theodore Balsamon.
By the early decades of the 19th century, most of the state-owned Roma were lăieşi, as opposed to private-owned ones. The lăieşi were required to contribute an annual sum to the treasuries of Wallachia and Moldavia; although other sources indicate that they preferred to organize themselves on a tight and selective family-based structure. Ursari people and the Boyash-proper traditionally accompanied the Kalderash on their travels to Rumelia, contributing to the birth of the Mechkara community. Female members of the community were known for their practice of fortune-telling.
Following the creation of a Romanian Principality, Ursari nonetheless remained a presence associated with busking and fairs, especially with those held in Bucharest and provincial cities such as Bacău. As early as the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, they formed a staple of such spectacles, alongside the music-playing Lăutari, the Călușari, and freak shows. A similar move originated in Serbia, around Kragujevac, with Boyash and Ursari moving into northern and central Italy.
Before and after the Porajmos
In time, a significant number of Ursari joined circuses, while many others began manufacturing and trading bone objects and leather (as, respectively, Pieptănari and Ciurari), or associating with the Lăutari. The bears were taught to make dancing moves to a tambourine,
During the early stages of World War II, as part of the repressive measures ordered by the Iron Guard, the Minister of the Interior of the Romanian Legionary Government, Constantin Petrovicescu, passed an order preventing Ursari from performing with bears in cities, towns, or villages. The official explanation for the measure was that such patterns of movement were helping to spread typhus.
After World War II, interdictions on performing with bears were legislated throughout the Eastern Bloc. (many were reportedly resettled as early as their return from Transnistria). In Bolintin Deal, where the first such actions took place, this came in retaliation for the murder of a Romanian student, Cristian Melinte, by a young Ursar hitchhiker who was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The arsons were carried out by large groups of local inhabitants, who, according to American author Isabel Fonseca, acted methodically (they are alleged to have cut down the electrical wires leading to each Ursari house, so that the fire would be contained). In Ogrezeni, inter-communal violence was caused by the stabbing of a Romanian during a bar fight. with the perception that former nomads were among the privileged class during Communist times.
At the same time, criminal acts among the Ursari have been independently reported: among the Roma present in Bolintin Deal, the largely unemployed Ursari were not fully integrated; it was indicated that houses of non-Ursari Roma were not targeted during the 1991 events, and that, of the 27 criminal files instrumented in Bolintin between 1989 and 1991, 18 implicated Ursari people (with similar ratios in Ogrezeni).
The latter custom was very popular among Romanians, who viewed it as a folk remedy for back pain; welcoming Ursari into one's household to perform the task formed part of a string of events leading to the celebration of Easter, or part of customs ushering in Christmas and the New Year's Eve.
Among the members of the Ursari community who manufactured objects of bone, it became widespread to treat the material with bear fat, a luxury good which, they believed, helped make the products in question more durable. While noting the use of crude methods of training, Isabel Fonseca, who visited the Ursari in places such as Bolintin Deal and Stara Zagora Province, argued that, as the main bread-winners for Ursari families, bears were also the recipients of care, attention, and proper feeding.
A chant used by Ursari trainers has passed into Romanian folklore as a nursery rhyme. It includes the lyrics:
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Joacă, joacă Moș Martine,<br>
Că-ți dau pâine cu măsline!
References
- Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing. The Gypsies and Their Journey, Vintage Departures, New York, 1995.
- Ewa Kocój, Zanikająca profesja? Cygańscy niedźwiednicy w Rumunii (Ursari) – historia i metody tresury – "Studia Romologica", 2015, 8, pp. 146–164, http://studiaromologica.pl/roczniki/8-2015/
- Ewa Kocój, Ignorance versus degradation? The profession of Gypsy bear handlers and managing of inconvenient intangible cultural heritage. Case study – Romania (I)"Zarządzanie w Kulturze", 2016, z. 3, pp. 263–283, http://www.ejournals.eu/Zarzadzanie-w-Kulturze/Tom-17-2016/17-3-2016/art/7409/
- Ewa Kocój, Paweł Lechowski, Cyganie w Rumuni (z dziejów tematu w wiekach XV-XIX), [in:] We wspólnocie narodów i kultur. W kręgu relacji polsko-rumuńskich. Materiały z sympozjum, red. St. Jakimowska, E. Wieruszewska, Suczawa 2008, pp. 374–387.
- Leo Lucassen, The Power of Definition. Stigmatisation, Minoritisation, and Ethnicity Illustrated by the History of the Gypsies in the Netherlands , at the Erdélyi Magyar Adatbank , retrieved June 25, 2007