Not many of us state-side were aware of the difference between Traveling People and gypsies. I was in a performance in the Boston area a few years ago that focused on the travelers- before that I had never heard of them. I learned then that some of the traveling people claim to be descended from those displaces by the Scottish clearances, others say they are descended from Irish or Scottish lords or lairds displaced by the English even further back in time. I don't think there are any in the US; tho there certainly are gypsies, as Barry has said. A family spent a winter in a town where I taught in Massachusetts some years ago.