Tribes: Vezo

The Malagasy people are generally divided into eighteen tribes. The
Vezo are people who live in the coastal villages of southwest
Madagascar. The Vezo refers to people who used to live from the sea
fishing and it is difficult to determine the population. They have
their own culture, dialect and society.

According to the history, Vezo does not often protect their property
and are often attacked by other tribes. The Vezo literally means the
people who fish or struggle with the sea. This means their life
depends of fishing. The people who inhabit the Andavandoaka are the
Vezo tribe in the north of the southwest of Madagascar. The fishermen
make use of mangrove to manufacture canoes for fishing. In their
society the family is the most important and the elders are greatly
respected in their community. Families afford to the young the
building of the boats. When they fish they use line nets.

An elder in the family called the Hazomanga who proceeds as an
intermediary between the family members and their ancestors. He takes
responsibility of overseeing the ceremonies and asks advice from the
ancestors. Sometimes they take a zebu and kill it to sacrifice
because zebu is an identifiable simple—it indicates wealth of statues
so that is why people kill the zebu to be sacrificed during some
ceremonies. This is culture of "fomba".

Tromba, or outside power, is very common to Malagasy people but each
tribe has a method for ceremonies. By Vezo tradition, the family of
the possessed person invites relatives and friends from surrounding
communities to be present in the ceremonies. It lasts for one day.
Men and women are separated during the ceremonies. Apart from the
Tromba, the Vezo also gives value to the circumcisions and exhumation
ceremonies. In that time the family member has to kill the zebu to be
sacrificed. After the child is circumcised, of the uncles holds the
child on this shoulder during the ceremony. His uncle should eat the
piece of flesh of the child with a banana. IT can last up to three
days. But exhumation takes one week.

The tribe of Vezo is very culturally interesting. They have
communication with the dead through dreams as well. They ask for help
from their ancestors and get a good response after a few days of their
request. They are easy going people and their life depends of
fishing.

Tribes: Tsimihety

Madagascar is a country which as 18 different tribes. Among these
tribes Tsimihety is one that I will discuss. According to me and my
research, Tsimihety culture is different than the other tribes. First
I will talk about exhumation and second I will talk about how people
get a fiancé in this culture. And finally, I will talk about their
music and the meaning of Valise Mena.

When a Tsimihety person dies and they are not in their hometown they
can be buried there. Most of the time, this is due to lack of money.
After three months, they do an exhumation and bring the corpse to the
place where they are from. During exhumation, they take the corpse
from a tomb and put it in a new small coffin. They burn the old
empty coffin. They bring the corpse and walk it around town.
Everybody is allowed to drink alcohol and nobody can cry.

About fiancé's. A man goes to a girls place with his elders like his
grandfather, mother and father, uncle, etc. The girl should always
accept it if the deal is OK. For them, a good day for taking a girl
to the man's place is Monday. Thursday is taboo. When the men head
back home with the girl she will bring with her all of her things.
When they get home, during the meal, she eats with her mother and
father in law for three days only and she cannot go to the man's place
unless it is night. After three days, she starts cooking at her man's
place.

Tsimihety music is called Malesa. They way of dancing is simple, man
stands behind a woman. When the music starts they move their left
feet together first and then follow with their right and put their
hands up. On top of that, Tsimihety, in one way, are called, "Valise
mena" which means red suitcase. This name is for women. They care
called valise mena when they bring all of their things from their home
with them. For example, when two lovers are apart the woman brings
everything with her such as her cows, cars, kitchen stuff and even her
mans clothes. In general, they do it when their relationship does not
last for a year.

To conclude, among other tribes, Tsimihety is one tribe which
practices exhumation. They also have their own marriage customs and
traditional music. All of these are part of their culture. Do
Malagasy tribes have anything in common?

Tribes: Sakalava of Sambirano

Sambirano is a region located in Northern Madagascar. Sambirano is a
river which flows through the town of Ambanja; it is the biggest town
in the Sambirano region. Most people in this region believe in
possession despite the Christian influences in Madagascar. Possession
is Tromba in the Malagasy language.

First of all, Tromba is a spirit of dead kings who comes to someone
and we call them possessed. That is to say, after many years of the
death of a king their spirit can incarnate. A woman is really sick
before she will be incarnated by the Tromba. And then, her family
will find someone to ask what causes her disease. If there will be a
Tromba embodying the woman, the predictor will know this. When her
family arrives at home they have to call someone who has the same
Tromba as the woman has. The Tromba tells them what he wants and what
is prohibited. Furthermore, her family will organize a big feast of
the Tromba. At that moment, the woman who is possessed by Tromba will
sit in front of the guests in between the Tromba. On her left and old
man will pray in order to call a new Tromba. Generally, Tromba
incarnate to women because they are boys.

Moreover, when Tromba comes, the woman trembles. When he embodies the
woman the woman has to wear new clothes (the clothes of Tromba). And
then, the Tromba takes a seat and introduces himself. If he doesn't
know his parents he is not a real Tromba. During his introduction his
grandparents and his parents are present. After that he can play with
the other Tromba. When a Tromba comes it is the say way as a king has
died.

Besides, Tromba gives rules to the possessed person. He gives
forbidden things depending on how the king died. For example, a
possessed woman is forbidden to drink coffee because the kind died
when he drank coffee. Tromba can heal and punish human beings.

To conclude, Tromba is a belief similar to Christianity. People
celebrate Tromba festivals during the vacation period (July-September)
because at that time people do not work the farms.

Tribes: Sakalava

Madagascar has different tribes. Each tribe as its specific customs.
These customs differ from other tribes. The Sakalava tribe is one of
the most famous tribes in Madagascar and has its own specific dialect,
tradition, music and characters.

From the beginning, let's talk about Sakalava traditions and dialect.
Sakalava are the people in the north of Madagascar from Diego, Nose
by, Ambanja, Vohemar and Ambatoboeny (in Majunga)—except Sakalava of
Menabe which are from the south of Madagascar, especially Lorondava
(in Tulear). Their dialect is Sakalava Dialect which has the most
words descendant from Africa. However, in Diego, the language is
heavily mixed with foreigners languages—influenced by French and
American tourists and visitors.

The Sakalava has their own way of dressing. For the women it is
kisaly and salovana but for the men it is kitamby. This kind of
clothing is the sign or honor or sadness. As an example, for the
women, they were "salovana and Kisaly" for a party or in their daily
routines. Also for funerals—but in this case they make it dirty (it
is a tradition).

Then, sometimes they mix it with "masonjoany". This is a natural
product which makes the fact sweet—in fact, it makes them beautiful.

Second, Sakalava is famous for their traditional music which is
Salegy, Trotrobe, Kaoitry—and the Menabe have their music which is
Killalaky. In this context, their same object is to help others know
that they are descendant from Africans.
Third, their character is also really different than the other tribes.
Most of the Sakalava people are hospitable, good in relationships and
respectable. They are not hypocritical and like to communicate with
others. That is why most tourists come to Madagascar prefers to go to
Diego and Nose Be.

To sum up, Sakalava tribe is one of the most famous tribes which exist
in Madagascar. Because of the tradition and the preservation of
Sakalava customs—it brings a high opportunity to Madagascar
financially.

Also, even if Malagasy tribes are divided into eighteen—people have a
national dialect which is "Malagasy official language" and each
language can understand the other.

Tribes: Mikea

Mikea is one of the most special tribes in Madagascar. It is a wild
tribe located in the south in the province of Tulear. This tribe was
born during colonization of Madagascar. To see more about what makes
this tribe special—let's look at the name Mikea, why they choose
wilderness, what is their cultures and how do they dress and eat?

During colonization, French people forced Malagasy people to work, to
pay money and do hard work like building big houses and roads. This
group of people tried to escape colonization and ran away from town.
They decided to live in a very thick forest where the French were
afraid to enter because this group of Malagasy people learned about
the forests and knew the secret of how to live in it.

While they were escaping from the French, they created a signal to
show each other if they are lost. They said, if you are lost while
you are escaping from French people, just "call"—To call means
"Mikeha" and after time it became Mikea without the H.

In order to hide from the other people, they did not build houses or
plant anything. The Mikea tribe lived by fishing, picking fruits and
hunting. Nowadays, the forest is disappearing more and more so they
do not get enough food from the forest. People have now started to
cultivate rice and other foods to survive. In the Mikea tribe there
are no schools or hospitals.

They still have a very wild style of life even now. We can see them
wearing nothing—children and older people alike. They put mud on
their face and have long hair and do not yet use toothbrushes. They
have begun to be more civilized because some people around them are
teaching them. Most of the time, people are afraid to visit the
forest of Mikea—a dry and thorny forest.

Tribes: Merina

Madagascar is an island and it has its own population, its own
language and its own cultures. This island is formed by eighteen
tribes which are different from each other. Each tribe possesses
their own way of life, some cultural rituals which make each tribe
unique. The Merina tribe is among the Malagasy tribes. To learn more
about this tribe, it is better to locate the tribe and the history of
it. So let's talk about the way of life of the Merina tribe and then
some cultural information and rituals specific to the Merina tribe.

The Merina tribe is among the two highland tribes in Madagascar. It
is located in the region of Tananarive. It is limited in the North by
the district of Ankazobe, in the south by the district of Antsirabe,
in the west by the district of Itasy, and in the east by
Manjakandriana. The Merina tribe is the largest tribe in Madagascar
and the people in it s area more closely resemble Indonesians people
with more fair skin and smooth long hair. Concerning the history,
"Vazimba" people were the first population living in the area. And
then came some migration and the Merina tribe was divided in different
sections or kingdoms lead by a king or queen. Some kinds and queens
are famous such as Andrianampoinimerina, Radama, Ranavalona, etc. And
some of them have tried to conquer some territories outside of Merina
territory.
To know a little more about the Merina way of life we can explore food
and clothing.

As all Malagasy people, rice is the main dish of the Merina people.
But many types of vegetables and fruits are found in abundance.
Merina people have specific ways of cooking rice which is "Vary
amin'anana" the rice is cooked with green leaves. It is very
delicious if it is eaten with "kitoza". Some ancient recipes make
their tribe famous, for example the "varanga" which is beef meat
cooked in a pot made by earthenware and conserved for a year. For
their clothes, the "lamba" is emblematic clothes for Malagasy
people—it is a piece of clothe which is used to cover most of the
body. For Merina people, women wear the Lamba made of silk and they
put it around their shoulders. For men, "malabary" is the most common
way of dressing.
Culture of the Merina tribe is based on respect of ancestors. Before
all acts, they first give honor to their ancestors and elders. Many
rituals differentiate Merina people from others.

For example, the way they celebrate marriage. They follow these steps:

1. "tampi-maso" which shows respect for the brides brothers
2. "Fisehoana" to make known the relationship between a girl and a boy
3. "Vodiondry" to honor the bride's parents

And the ancestor worship has an important place for Merina people; it
is expressed in a corpse turnaround. This ritual is done by offspring
several years after the death. The offspring will cover their
ancestor's corpse with new shrouds. A big festivity is done with
"toaka gasy" a home brewed alcohol. After doing it, the descendants
will hope to be blessed by their ancestor's spirits. Merina people
have their fady (taboo) and as an illustration, people should not work
on Tuesday.

As a conclusion, Malagasy people are divided into many tribal groups.
Each tribe has their cultures and their beliefs. We can see it
through the information concerning each tribe. In spite of all of
these differences, Malagasy people are still one. As our motto says,
"Unity Inside Diversity>"

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.

Tribes: Betsimisaraka

Madagascar is divided into 22 big areas named Faritra where 18 tribes
are located. Its tribes are distinguished by their languages, clothes
and traditional rites. In the eastern part of Madagascar is
Betsimisaraka—the second greatest tribe in Madagascar which is located
from Vohemar to Mananjary. According to the story one of the first
settlements in Madagascar was in the North-East part of the island,
but, they were not Betsimisaraka. Betsimisaraka has its special apart
of the story more specific than the others.

The first settlers in the northern part of Madagascar who explored the
island and established their settlement were called "Anteva" in the
North and "Varimo" in the middle and Tsikoa or Betanimena in the
south. The story of Betsimisaraka started around 1720 when
Ratsimilaho the son of Thomas White, an English pirate, also called
"Malato Tom". Ratsimilaho conquered almost the eastern part of
Antavaratra the north tribe he took power of Fenoarivo (Arivo, which
means, one thousand) with 1,000 soldiers. He changed his name into
Ramaromanompo where he took position of the southern part where he
decided to stay and formed and inseparable community (tsy misoraka,
means never separated) and did blood brother with the chiefs of the
tribes. Then Betsimisaraka tribes occupied all of the eastern parts
of the island. Betsimisaraka means, "Never be separated" but nowadays
they are spreading into all the country where they are generally
called "Betanimena" when they are from the east. But this term is
sometimes used in a pejorative way. So, how do they live?

In terms of way of life, Betsimisaraka tribes are very united and you
can see this according to the story. For example, during the harvest
each Klan is trying to work hard and united for having a good product
and they eat together. One piece of bamboo is shared as a sign of
unification and the "ro" kind of soup is passed around all people who
are present and they all taste it. Betsimisaraka also eats rice but
their economy is based on exportation and importation (like vanilla,
peppers and coffee). Their houses are built with Ravenala, the "tree
of the visitor". Some houses are also built by bamboo. Betsimisaraka
are very close to nature.

The Betsimisaraka woman wears a long dress with a long shirt and they
wear salovana especially during special traditions and men wear the
kitamby—a kind of skirt fixed on their hip. There is also a special
dance that makes this tribe unique which is Basessa with the rhythm of
volo or bamboo in English. Betsimisaraka have specific dances which
are not different from Polynesian dances—girls are moving their hips
through the songs of valia. Until now Basessa makes Betsimisaraka
tribe now.

For Betsimisaraka, ancestors are very important. They are considered
as present in their everyday life. So many uses are seen in
Betsimisaraka tribes which are common to other dialects. But only the
name and the process are different. For example, there is tsaboraha
(exhumation) but like the center part of Madagascar they have another
word for this (famadiana). Also the process is different;
Betsimisaraka is to change the dead person's clothes and to rebuild
the coffin. During that time the women should wear salovana. Also,
there is "joro" another group where people call for the ancestors and
communicate with them. In that time they sacrifice zebu (cows) and
the blood is pooled into one monument where everyone can ask for what
they want. There are many taboos as well like they cannot eat boar in
the north and it is forbidden to speak about crocodiles.

To sum up, the Betsimisaraka is the second greatest tribe in
Madagascar and the diversity of culture is very interesting. This
tribe is now very scattered. We can see many Betsimisaraka people in
the north and south of Madagascar. They are facing a problem with
becomg a melting pot with other tribes because of the speed of
development and globalization.

Tribes: Antandroy

Dear Reader,

It is a great pleasure for me to share with you my knowledge and my
research about the Malagasy tribe of "Antandroy." As I am Malagasy,
it is important for me to know about the other tribes. Madagascar has
18 tribes but I will only discuss one. This tribe is very different
if we compare it to the others because of its culture and history—but
my research is focused especially on culture: tradition, music and
the basic meal.

We call "Antandroy" the tribe which is located in the south of
Madagascar near Tulear, Ampany and Ambovobe. This tribe has its own
tradition which makes it different from others. For example, if a man
wants to impress a woman or to get her to be his wife he should steal
a cattle. For the Antandroy tradition, if you never steal cattle or
cannot steal cattle you are not really considered a real man because
there is much value in this. Even in the family, father does not
consider his son as a man if he is not able to steal cattle. As the
saying goes, "Stealing cattle makes you a man." This tribe does not
give value to material things. For them, a rich person is a person
who has many cattle and it is not like the European model of wealth
with a beautiful car or a big house—for them cattle is enough to make
a person rich.

When there is a death, this tribe practices a kind of tradition which
is specific to them. IF the person who is dead is a person aged about
100 years people should not show sadness but instead they sho9uld show
happiness because the person has reached the age that everyone would
want to get to. If the person who is dead has a lot of cattle, all of
these cattle must be killed before his funeral so they keep the corpse
for a long time until all of the cattle are killed and they share the
meat of the cattle to all the people who assist in the funeral. They
might keep the corpse for three months before it is buried. There is
also a musician who celebrates the funeral and accompanies the corpse
which is called Razana until they get to the graveyard. They put the
casket inside the ditch and cover it with many rocks.
The basic meal of Antandroy is cassava. They are different from other
tribes which have the basic meal of rice. Antandroy prefer to eat
mean of cattle rather than fish. Their life depends on this and the
majority of the men work as butchers.

The Antandroy music is different. They still keep traditional music
that their ancestors left to them as a legacy and that music is
called, by their ancestors, tsapiky. This music is now popular in all
of Madagascar.

To conclude, Antandroy tribe is a tribe which is unique culturally.
If one day you visit Madagascar I advise you to visit Tulear where you
will find the Antandroy people and I hope you will see some cultural
events.

Sincerely yours,
Andris

Tribes: Antakarana

There are a lot of tribes in Madagascar and each person has their own
tribe. One of them is the Antakarana tribe. The people who live in
the North of Madagascar are Antakarana. They have their own forbidden
foods and their own clothes.

First, Antakarana is of Malagasy races. Most of them are from North
Madagascar. They live in Diana regions such as Antsiranana, Ambilobe
and Ambanja. Most of them live in Ambilobe because it is in the
middle of Antsiranana country and Ambanja and near their king
(Tsimiaro III). In this country, the Antakarana people still respect
their traditional cultural values. Every five years, they celebrate a
traditional party for the great king. In this party they pray to god
and their ancestors (Razana).

Second, there are many kinds of foods in Madagascar and some of these
foods are forbidden by some traditions. Most of the Antakarana don't
eat some foods. For several generations, it is forbidden by their
ancestors to eat pork and goat. It may change their way of living if
they do through a curse. In general, every Malagasy people eat rice
but the Antakarana people mix it with coconut. When they welcome a
visitor they cook special foods for them of chicken or other meats.

Third, clothes are very important for Antakarana people. They are
very strict about it and who that they have their own clothes. The
young girls and women wear Salovana and Kisaly and for men they wear
Kitamby. When there is a party, each person wears this. It is
forbidden for a girl to wear pants or shorts if there is an old person
in the house. It is forbidden too in front of parents, brothers and
other families.

To conclude, Madagascar has many tribes. The Antakarana is very
famous and in the north of Madagascar. They have very strict
traditions about food and clothes. It is important for them to behave
respectfully. They have kept their traditions alive.

Tribes: Antaifasy

Today, Madagascar has 18 official tribes and Antaifasy is the first.
They are the people from Farafangana. It is located in southeast
Madagascar. They are called the people of the sand because they are
living in sandy places. Most of them are fisherman. They live in
small groups and sometimes they build their houses near the beach.
Antaifasy is of e Malagasy tribes who still practice and respect the
traditional culture because first, it is not among the tourist sites
and second they respect their elders.

Farafangana is a beautiful city and has a clean beach. Despite the
fact that it is not a tourist site it still attracts many foreigners.
It is not yet a tourist site because of its simplicity. Antaifasy
still practice and respect traditional cultures because they do not
see in their everyday life what tourists do. In Madagascar, tourism
is the main reason of losing culture. The fact of imitating tourists
creates the risk of minimizing culture until it is forgotten and lost
forever.

Antaifasy still practice traditional culture because they respect
their elders. In the Farafangana the elder is the king. He dictates
what his people should do and they follow him. He is like a president
who leads the city. His people must respect him. An example of
tradition culture which is very famous there is the circumcision or
"sambatra" and it happens every seven years. All people meet in one
place with their son's and do a ritual.

To sum up, we can see that Antaifasy is a simple people who have
strong values. They honor their ancestors. They do not have strong
tourism but this does not mean they are not developed. For them,
ancestors and culture are the most important. They respect and are
afraid about "Fihavanana" which is the center of Malagasy people's
lives.

Tribes: Betsileo (Perspective Two)

Betsileo are the third largest among the Madagascar ethnic groups and
they inhabit the high plateau area around Finanarantsoa and Ambalavao.
The word Betsileo means "the invincible one" and the population is
about one million. They practice exhumation, traditional marriage and
religious practices. This is their custom of life.

Betsileo have some traditions and they respect very much their
customs. As well as the famadiana (reburial ceremony) which was
adopted from the Merina after the unification of Madagascar another
important Betsileo belief is "Hasina" a force that is believed to flow
from the land. The ancestors in the society is they have traditional
skills are thought to be able to manipulate the "Hasina" to achieve
cures and other positives effects. Famadiana, the funeral is a
tradition that we find among the Betsileo and some other tribes of
Madagascar. It is a custom based on the belief that the spirits of
the dead finally join the world of the ancestors after complete
corrosion of the body. In the country, reburial or famadiana occurs
periodically, every seven years in a grand ceremony involving all
members of a family group. The shrouds of silk or "lambamena"
covering the remains of the bodies are renewed.

Betsileo have a traditional marriage—so when they marry, a steer
(vodiondry) is traditionally given by the family of the bride and the
couple may reside in the wife's village if land is more abundant or
men are scarce. They have specific customs which differ by ethnic
group and the Betsileo will arrange a marriage only after scrutinizing
at least three generations of the family of the potential partner. If
they are satisfied with their findings, the family will consult and
astrologer to set a date. The young Betsileo do a sport which is
traditional and called "savika". It is like bullfighting and they
will measure their strength with a zebu (cow) and this sport is
violent and dangerous. The young participate especially to attract
the girl's attention.

They have some religious practices including communicating with the
divine, healing or astrology. Illness, misfortune and financial
hardships are frequently considered the discontent of ancestral
spirits. They have rituals and ancestral tombs which are considered
sacred places—particularly the royal tombs and most villages have a
sacred tree or some other place. The dead are considered
intermediaries between the living and the supreme god. It is viewed
as having the power and it is important for each member of a family
which is why they do the "famadiana". They have a traditional
herbalist, local remedies for the treatment of specific illnesses. A
divine may evoke the power of the ancestors to affect cures, sorcerers
use amulets, stones or other objects to cure. Astrologers understand
destiny (vintana) so they are consulted to establish auspicious dates
for important activities.

To sum up, the tribe Betsileo respects their customs until now—but
some of them who were born in another region or sometimes forget their
traditions and adopt another culture.