Unfounded divisions
The colonial armies and administrations tried to establish their domination by applying to the point of absurdity the precept "divide and conquer". For decades, everything was done to dismantle the Malagasy state and to destroy by divisions as subtle as they were fearsome any vestige of national unity. Later, after the independence of 1960, Malagasy politicians in search of power also tried to base their legitimacy on this false division. They failed!
The most common distinction is that between inhabitants of the Highlands and coastal inhabitants, which is very simplistic, as the regions of Madagascar are much more diverse and fascinating. Also, one often speaks of ethnic groups about the peoples of Madagascar... This is a terminology as inadequate as speaking of ethnic groups for the Bretons, the Flemings or the Alsatians! The 18 "tribes" that everyone is talking about were established by the colonial administration at the beginning of the 20th century. They do not necessarily cover homogeneous entities.
Even before the arrival of Africans, Arabs and Europeans, the island first welcomed the Austronesians, referring to the area stretching from Taiwan to New Zealand and from Madagascar to Easter Island; then Indonesian and Bantu immigrants swelled the ranks of this first population. Thus, contrary to what Gallieni's "politics of races" would have us believe, one cannot really speak of "races" or "tribes", each isolated in its own little world (and each tribe corresponding to a race). The island offers a beautiful variety of faces, between the Betsileos (about 12% of the population) and the Merinas (about 27%) of the highlands, the Sakalavas and the Mahafalys in the west, the Antemoros, the Antaisakas, the Tanalas and the Tsimihetys in the east, and the Antandroys and the Baras in the south. Each people on the island has its own traditions and group identity, but they all consider themselves Malagasys and share a common language spoken throughout the country. The term "ethnic conflict", widely used by the French media during past political crises, serves the interests of those who, unconsciously perhaps, fantasize about a colonial ideology where the "civilized" world must fight against the "barbarians", when it is not a question of educating them.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Jean-Aimé Rakotoarisoa reminds us, in a brilliant formula: "Hasn't every Malagasy been, by definition, at some point in his history, first of all a coastal person?
The land of the Ancestors
Every Malagasy refers to Tanindrazana, "the land of the Ancestors". And so it is during every ceremony gathering people from all corners of the Big Island. You yourself, during your trip, will probably hear this or that person from the Coast (often already linked to a Western way of life, that said) mocking the people of Tana, or the people of Tana attacking this or that Coastal person. But this cleavage is by no means ethnic: it concerns, as it often does, political and socio-economic issues. A bit like in France, the provincials complain about the Parisians, the Coastal people (a misnomer, let's remember) complain about the Merinas, because the latter, politically and economically above all, govern the country, contrary perhaps to the other regions of Madagascar. So let's say that a largely exploited and oppressed class, but not "coastal" or "Merina", is opposed to a bourgeois and dominant class, living in large majority in Tananarive (the decision-making center of the Big Island), without being especially Merina or "coastal". The conflict is economic rather than geographical.
The mystery of the origin of the Malagasy population
Madagascar is a mixed island where it is almost possible to go "around the world" in one trip.
The anthropologist Denis Pierron, researcher at the CNRS, has conducted brilliant studies on this subject. He explains in an article available on the site www.inee.cnrs.fr: "historical, linguistic, ethnographic, archaeological and genetic studies show the presence of both African and Asian influences. However, there is no consensus on where, when and under what circumstances these two worlds met and merged. The lack of written history and limited archaeological evidence make it difficult to differentiate between founding myths and oral history, scientific hypothesis and pure speculation."
The international MAGE (Madagascar, Anthropology, Genetics and Ethno-Linguistics) project was created to understand the origins of the Malagasy population and ran for a decade. More than 250 villages of the Big Island were visited. The objective? To understand the cultural, linguistic and genetic diversity of Madagascar through representative samples of the entire population. 3,000 people were interviewed. The study of the data thus gathered made it possible to understand and explain that each Malagasy person generally has two origins, both African and Asian, with a small amount of European and Middle Eastern origin in addition. The mixing of these genes would be very recent (less than a thousand years). Perhaps this type of study will finally succeed in calming a particularly passionate subject in the country!
The different peoples of Madagascar
Once this context is established, here is a brief presentation of the different peoples of the Big Island, proposed in alphabetical order:
Antaifasy: "Those of the sand". They are grouped around the city of Farafangana, north of Fort Dauphin. They have a very strict tribal law. Always more or less independent from the Merina, their origins are not really known. They were separated into three classes: the Randroy, Andrianseranana and Marofela.
Antaimoro: "Those of the shore". They live south of the Betsimisaraka, around Vohipeno where the remains of the ancient kings are preserved. They are descendants of Arabs, some nobles even preserving the Arabic or Sorabe script as well as the practice of divination by seeds or sikidy. Their paper-making technique has now spread beyond the borders of the Big Island.
Antaisaka (or Antaisakalava): "Those who come from the Sakalava". They live south of the Antaifasy, near Fort Dauphin, in the Vangaindrano region. The influence of Islam is very weak. It was the Sakalava prince Andriamandresy who left his region to come and found a new kingdom here. They revolted in 1852 against their Merina occupants, who had to establish a more flexible government.
Antambahoaka: "Descendants of Rabeva-hoaka", "those of the community". They live south of the Betsimisaraka, as far as Fort Dauphin. Their capital was Mananjary. Their Arab origin is indisputable: a "stone elephant" that can still be admired near the village of Ambohitsara would have been brought from Mecca by Raminia, founder of the clan. His son Rabevahoaka gave his name to all the people.
Antandroy: "Those of the land of thorns". So named because of the abundance of cacti in this region of the Southeast, near Taolagnaro, used as a means of protection against invaders and as food for the herds. Legend has it that their ancestor, Raminia, came from Arabia between the5th and 7th centuries A.D., and there are Arabian features in this people who were fond of astrological knowledge and divination. The isolation conferred by this region a priori inhospitable has preserved a deep cultural identity. Hunters, breeders, the Antandroy rarely part with the assegai (emblem of the warrior) and they obey very strict traditional and spiritual rules.
Antankarana: "Those of the Ankarana, the rocky country". They live in the extreme north of the island, from Cape Amber to the Sambirano River. It is a mixture of Sakalava and Betsimisaraka. Very strong influence of Islam. They believe in natural divinities (tree, plant, mountain, water...).
Antanosy: "Those of the island". They occupy the region around Fort Dauphin. Their name comes from an island in the Fanjahira River, where the primitive chiefs came from. This powerful tribe was subdued by the Merina, which provoked a massive exodus to the western lands between 1830 and 1845. This new grouping took the name of "Antanosy émigrés". They are good rice growers and breeders, but also blacksmiths and carpenters.
Bara: The origin of this name is not known (Bantu perhaps?). They live south of the Betsileo, are divided into clans, and are not really under the authority of the Merina. Their tradition is that young men must steal zebus in order to affirm their bravery, before their marriage.
Betsileo: "The many invincibles". Their capital was Fianarantsoa and they may have originated from Indonesia. Once divided into castes, they chose to peacefully submit to the Merina. Excellent farmers, one can still admire their patient work in the rice fields or their long irrigation canals.
Betsimisaraka: "Many who do not separate". It is the largest population of the East of the island, spread out on the whole littoral, between the rivers Bemarivo and Mananjary. Good sailors (they have long launched expeditions against the Comoros), their physical appearance evokes Africa. They were early allies and subjects of France.
Bezanozano: "Many small braids". Their hairstyle explains this name. They live in the Mongoro valley, between the great eastern forest and the slopes of the central plateau, around Moramanga. Conquered by Radama I, they were for a long time the herdsmen of the Merina.
Mahafaly: "Those of the fady country, taboo". The origin of their name is evoked by the scientist Raymond Decary: "The great fetish of the king and the people, named Andriamaro, which was kept on a wooded mountain, did not allow any foreigner, whether white or from another tribe, to enter the country, which became fady (faly in coastal dialect), that is to say inviolable, taboo. But when one of the last kings, Refotaka, had abandoned the country, following the transgression of prohibitions of which he himself had been guilty, the fetish Andriamaro lost its power, and from that moment, say the natives, the country became accessible to outsiders." Three kingdoms divided at the end of the 19th century: that of Refotaka, that of Tsiverengy, and that of Tsiampondy. They are excellent sculptors.
Merina: "Those of the country where the view is extended". They are also called the Ambaniandro ("those who are under the sun"), because of the aridity of their country. They live in the central highlands, the Imerina, around Antananarivo. Previously, they were divided into four clans: the Andriana or nobles, descendants of Javanese immigrants; the Hova, bourgeois or free men, probably of indigenous origin (Vazimba); the Mainty, or blacks, not yet fully enslaved; and the Ondovo, slaves. The history of the Merina is well known: it is the main source of our knowledge of the island before colonization.
Makoa. They live on the northwest coast near Cape Saint Andrew. Of Bantu origin (their ancestors were taken into slavery in Africa by Arab slave traders), their African type is quite marked. They are sometimes grouped under the generic name "Sakalava".
Sakalava: "Those of the long valleys". They live along the western coast (nearly a thousand kilometers from north to south). This immense country covers about a quarter of the Big Island. However, in the south, they are divided into Vezo (on the coasts, excellent sailors nicknamed "nomads of the sea", let us note that contrary to the major part of Malagasy, they do not practice circumcision) and Masikoro (in the interior). Of African type, they are separated into several clans according to the place where they are located: Antimena in Menabe, Antimilanja in Milanja, etc. Legend has it that the founder of this people was a white foreigner, probably an Arab, who came from Isaka in the 14th century. They were only partially subjected to the Merina. Their chiefs, or Mpanjaka, still play a major role in the community.
Sihanaka: "Those of the marshes". Their territory extends in the northeast, around Lake Alaotra, to the Mangoro River. Probably descendants of the Antaisaka and quickly subjected to the Merina, they have also been influenced by them, both spiritually and physiologically. They are good rice farmers and fishermen.
Tanala: "Those of the forest". As their name indicates, they live in the heart of the great eastern forest, near Ranomafana. They practice slash and burn rice cultivation. Their former rulers were probably of Arab origin. Their resistance against the army of Radama I is famous in the country (in particular the siege that they supported in the Ikongo massif).
Tsimihety: "Those who do not cut their hair". So named because, contrary to common practice, they did not shave their heads as a sign of mourning. They live in the northern part of the highlands.
