Nawken Chaetrie

Nawken Chaetrie [the material culture of Scottish Gypsy/Travellers, or Gypsy Traveller objects]

Nawken is a term used by Scottish Gypsy/Travellers to refer to themselves.  There is no fixed or settled spelling of Nawken, which reflects its origin in an oral tradition, the Cant, one of the languages of Nawken.  Other forms of this word include: Naken, Nacken, Naggen, Naggin, Nagin, Nakkin, Nargen, Noggen and Norken.  Translations of these terms from the Cant have been given as ‘myself’ and ‘no home’.

This exhibit shows images of various artefacts from museum collections in Scotland, which have connections to Nawken.  Nawken lives are rarely made visible in museums, although Nawken chaetrie is often present.  If you have stories, recollections or feel a connection to these bits of chaetrie that you would like to share, please complete the form below.  These will be passed to museums and hopefully support them to better represent these objects within the Gypsy/Traveller context.

As far as possible copyright permissions have been agreed by the museums where these objects are held.  If you feel, however, that we have breached your copyright, please contact us explaining what image(s) do so and they will be removed.