DR LYNNE Tammi-Connelly, who has campaigned tirelessly for recognition of the brutal treatment of Gypsy and Traveller families in Scotland, has met with the Scottish Equalities Minster, Emma Roddick, after a gruelling 17-day walk from Montrose to Holyrood.
Dr Tammi-Connelly—an academic specialising in International Community Development—was one of the speakers at the Menace of the Irish Race to the Scottish Nation 1923-2023 Conference, held at Glasgow University last year, and spoke that day of the traumatic treatment her family was subjected to, with three young girls trafficked away from their families to new lives in Canada.
While there, the girls joined many who were stripped of their Irish surnames and left without their identities, subjected to the common practice of such traffickers of telling victims they had been re-homed due to the death of their parents, or because their parents no longer wanted them.
“Our girls, Margaret, Mary and Gracie, were trafficked by Quarriers Homes to their ‘holding site’ Fairknowe, Brockville, Ontario where after a period of time they were selected by Canadian families as indentured servants,” Dr Tammi-Connelly explained ahead of a trip to Canada to visit sites related to her family. “The level of servitude for them, and other children, ranged from housekeeping (for example, our Gracie, aged nine at the time, was found working as a housekeeper to a family in Ottawa) to farm labourers.
“Abuse, physical, sexual and emotional, was commonplace and the majority of those trafficked were told their parents were dead or that they did not want them. As such, many of those trafficked did not search for there birth parents when they were old enough to do so.
“Indeed, if not for the tenacity of my grandfather we too would never have re-connected with the two surviving girls. The whereabouts of many of those trafficked children remains unknown, but given that 72 unmarked graves have recently been found in the vicinity we can surmise that some may be buried there.”
Some 10,000 such children were removed from their parents in a programme lasting from the later 1800s until the 1970s, with Quarriers Homes and other institutions at the heart of the barbaric process. Of the 10,000 children trafficked, more than one third were Gypsy or Traveller.
Government response
Having struggled to meet with the Scottish Government to raise the issue, Dr Tammi-Connelly took the step of walking from her home in Montrose to Holyrood. Her gruelling effort bore fruit, and having forced the hand of the government she was able to meet with Emma Roddick MSP.
However, given that a report is currently being made on the so-called ‘Tinker Experiment’—when the children of Gypsy and Traveller families were removed from their environment and placed in assimilation camps, lasting up to the 1980s—the minister was reluctant to prejudice the report ahead of its publication.
“We recognise that historical policies have had an impact on Gypsy/Traveller communities, and we want to understand events as fully as possible and identify who was responsible,” she said. “Independent research is underway to establish a timeline of key events, decisions and roles. I do not want to pre-empt the findings of that work, but all options will be on the table once it reaches its conclusions.
“Progress is being made on the research, and we will engage fully with people affected once the archival research is complete, including giving community members the opportunity to share their own experiences, if they wish to do so.
“We anticipate receiving a report in late summer 2024 and we will consider our next steps after then.
“We are committed to improving the lives of Gypsy/Travellers and I am in regular and ongoing contact with community members and stakeholders to hear their concerns.”
Dissatisfaction
However, Dr Tammi-Connelly was dissatisfied with this approach in the aftermath of her epic walk to the doors of the Scottish Government, and pointed out that the issue of the Tinker Experiment—though a grave attack on the Gypsy and Traveller people of Scotland—is a distinct issue from the trauma her relatives suffered in being trafficked to Canada.
She also spoke of how prepared she was not to receive an apology, and turned her attention towards an effort to create a memorial to the victims of a nearly century-long programme of trafficking Gypsy and Traveller children from the country.
“I did not think that the minister would be willing to speak to me about an apology. She has been consistent with that,” Dr Tammi-Connelly said. “I met with her out of courtesy, as if someone offers to meet with you acceptance is often the right thing to do.
“I do not think my walk was a waste of energy or time because it has demonstrated that the minister is inflexible and one dimensional in her thinking. I don't think that is a good way to govern.
“My next step is to convene a meeting with those who have already expressed an interest, any anyone else who would like to take part, in realising my wish for a memorial to be erected so all the children trafficked to the colonies are not forgotten.
“I hope that those living/re-living the trauma of the Tinker Experiments receive the apology and reparation that they rightly deserve. For me, it’s time to hang up my activist boots. Thanks to everyone who has supported my campaign for an apology for Canada’s Little Slaves.”
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