Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Theywereatonetimethelargestandmostpowerfultribe,thoughdisunited,andwereruled
by their own kings and queens. Certain royal relics remain - typically being kept in the
northeast corner of a house. The Sakalava are cattle raisers, and riches are reckoned by the
number of zebu owned. There is a record of human sacrifice amongst them up to the year
1850 at special occasions such as the death of a king. The
tromba
(trance state) is quite
common. It is
fady
for pregnant women to eat fish or to sit in a doorway. Women hold a
more important place amongst them than in most other tribes.
SIHANAKA (PEOPLE-OF-THE-SWAMPS)
Their home is the northeast of the old
kingdomofImerinaaroundLakeAlaotraandtheyhavemuchincommonwiththeMerina.
They are fishermen, rice growers and poultry raisers. Swamps have been drained to make
vast rice-fields cultivated with modern machinery and methods. They have a special rota-
tion of
fady
days.
STMARIANS
ThepopulationofIleSainteMarieismixed.AlthoughIndonesianinorigin
there has been influence from both Arabs and European pirates.
TANALA (PEOPLE-OF-THE-FOREST)
These are traditionally forest-dwellers, living
inland from Manakara, and are rice and coffee growers. Their houses are usually built on
stilts. The Tanala are divided into two groups: the Ikongo in the south and the Menabe in
the north. The Ikongo are an independent people who never submitted to Merina domin-
ation, in contrast to the Menabe. Burial customs include keeping the corpse for up to a
month. Coffins are made from large trees to which sacrifices are sometimes made when
they are cut down. The Ikongo usually bury their dead in the forest and may mark a tree to
show the spot.
Some recent authorities dispute that the Tanala exist as a separate ethnic group.
TSIMIHETY (THOSE-WHO-DO-NOT-CUT-THEIR-HAIR)
The refusal to cut their
hair(toshowmourningonthedeathofaSakalavaking)wastodemonstratetheirindepend-
ence.Theyareanenergeticandvigorouspeopleinthenorth-central areaandarespreading
west. The oldest maternal uncle occupies an important position.
MALAGASY WITHOUT (TOO MANY) TEARS
Janice Booth
Once you've thrown out the idea that you must speak a foreign language correctly or
not at all, and that you must use complete sentences, you can have fun with only a
fewwordsofMalagasy.BasicFrenchisunderstoodalmosteverywhere,butthepeople
warm instantly to any attempts to speak 'their own' language.
