Tribes: Mahafaly

Madagascar has many tribes. There are eighteen and each tribe has its
own culture. I will talk about the culture of the Mahafaly tribe.

First of all, in the South of Madagascar, the Mahafaly tribe has a
specific culture for visiting the tombs. It is important for them to
build the house for death because they believe the close ties between
the living and the dead. The tombs have no windows and are surrounded
by a tall wall for protection.

In addition, for the construction these tombs cost more than the
houses for the living—because they need decorations to show the status
of the person who died. The Mahafaly people believe in god as the
creator and the Christian Lord and in the ancestors.

Therefore, when we visit the tombs of the Mahafaly tribe we should
learn or be educated by the locals before going there because there
are a lot of taboos. It is not possible for people to approach the
tombs without permission from families.

To sum up, in the Mahafaly tribe tombs are very important. Even in
the poor families people respect the beauty of their tombs. Tombs are
a culturally specific trait of this tribe.