When we as so-called civilized people encounter these primitive people, we destroy a delicate social balance that existed between them. We introduce diseases, we transform their ecosystems with alien animals and plants and we bring them new goods and technologies. This destabilization often leads to tribal warfare. Ferguson (1992) has written an article on the tragic consequences of the first contacts between Europeans and native Americans:

 "Contact has invariably transformed war patterns, very frequently intensified war and not uncommonly generated war among groups who previously had lived in peace. Many, perhaps most, recorded wars involving tribal peoples can be directly attributed to the circumstances of Western contact".

 

Looking at the way gatherers and hunters live I am left with a big question. What is the reason that we have always tried to convince them that they have to adjust to our way of life? Why don't we let  them live as they had done for so many years in harmony with nature? Is it our arrogance, is it our will to dominate people? I think that the main reason, is that we want them to give up their way of life and force them brutally to adapt our way of life in order that we can get power over them and are able to abuse, exploit and control them. 

 

In order to watch this process with my own eyes I am going to visit in May and June of this year the Aboriginal in Northern Australia and the Penan tribe in Sarawak.  Why I am so interested in the way that these original nomadic people are living?  I have been intrigued the last thirty years in a group of people in the Netherlands who have lived since 1870 to 1968 a nomadic way of life. In the Dutch language, they named themselves as "Reizigers". It is difficult to translate this into English. The last thirty years I have been intrigued by a group of people in the Netherlands who have lived up till 1968 a nomadic life. 

 

There are a number of resemblance's between these Dutch "Reizigers" and the nomadic people I am going to visit. The main resemblance is that they have been forced to give up their nomadic way of life and their culture.  They have been deported by brute police force or by bribery to live in for them designed settlements. Although there are quite a number of resemblances there are also some big differences.  The "Reizigers" in the Netherlands were before 1870 sedentary people. In the last part of the 19th century especially in the south of the Netherlands, people working on the land could not anymore earn enough for a living and were forced by making all sort  products like brushes for milk factories, umbrellas products to sell them all over the country. They also offering their services with the harvest or to clean roads from snow, to mend chairs, to grind knifes etc. So they have to travel with wagons first pulled by dogs and later by horses. The local authorities did not accept there way of life.

 

The "Reizigers" were stigmatised and considered as vagabonds who are living of stealing. This negative image has lead to the discrimination and persecution of these "Reizigers" until from the present day at the end of this century!  "Everything that moves is scaring people". A good example of how the authorities made rules in order to make life impossible for them: in 1887 the municipality of Beek and Donk proclaimed in article 12: "It is prohibited to owners of wagons to take the horse out on public routes and to sleep during the night in the wagons.  When they are not obeying this law they will be removed by the police". 

 

In 1918 a law was proclaimed to put a halt to the increasing population of "Reizigers" the protection of the society against the risks of the presence of the travelling group of people who are living in very bad economic and hygienic circumstances, they are a direct threat to public order or health. In 1936 the Minister of the Interior sent a circular to all provinces and municipalities:" the camps of "Reizigers" have to be fenced in such a way that they can not be seen from the public route". In 1938 there were already plans to assemble the "Reizigers" in big  camps.  In 1940 Mr L.A. van Doorn published a paper with the title "Wagons of the "Reizigers" have to disappear".  Then came the fatal year of 1968.  All "Reizigers" were assembled in 50 big camps with 50 to 80 standing places for their wagons, sometimes with brutal police force.

 

The camps were enclosed by a fence and at the entrance a barrier with a police post!  This has been a traumatic experience. In 1970 there were 3584 wagons and in the nineties more than 9000 wagons.  The reason is simple.  The "Reizigers" are now marrying with citizens.  More then 90 % of the citizens preferred the wagon to a house. In the nineties the authorities were not happy with this sharp increase of the "Reizigers-"citizens population.  In 1995 they started to break up these big camps in smaller units. The "Reizigers" were well adjusted in these thirty years in these big camps, they made a strong protest against this new deportation policy. In my hometown Baarn, I had already a good contact with the "Reizigers" since 1974, so they asked me to help them fight against the deportation of their wagons.  I succeeded to convince the authorities that forceful deportation is not a good solution.  Only on the basis of voluntariness they can choose the place they like. 

 

After this success I was asked by three other camps: Hilversum, Leiden and The Hague.  After some hard fights, legal and illegal, we got the promise from Hilversum and Leiden that the "Reizigers" would never be displaced by brutal force against their will.  In The Hague the struggle with the authorities is still going on, but there are signs that we will reach the same result as in the other camps.  Unfortunately in the last years the authorities succeeded in some areas to put so many pressure on the "Reizigers"  that they finally gave in and were displaced to smaller units.  The authorities literally promised them golden mountains and advised them to move, otherwise the police would take 'care'.  In many cases the grounds on which the big camps are situated, are far more valuable for buildings or luxury houses. This argument is however never expressed.