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.