3. National and Local Factions: The Nature of Polyculturalism in Ambanja

As a booming migrant town, Ambanja is a mélange, a mixture of peoples of diverse origins, not only from within the boundaries of this large island, but from abroad. This town is a microcosm of factions that operate on a national scale. Of these factions, ethnicity is the primary category, one that overlaps with a variety of other group orientations and allegiances. These are shaped by historically based geographical, economic, and religious differences. Such groupings or identities, when taken in total, reveal the complexity of the tensions operating in Madagascar and, in turn, in Ambanja. An individual’sability to make sense of and become established as a member of one or more groups determines his or her well-being in this community.

The complexity of categories that exist in Ambanja is extreme when compared to other areas where the population is more homogeneous. As a result, in Ambanja and the surrounding Sambirano Valley, defining what it means to be an insider or an outsider is complex. For this reason, the discussion on migration is divided into two chapters. This chapter will address the nature of social and cultural divisions that exist, first on a national scale and then in Ambanja. Chapter 4 provides case studies drawn from migrants’ lives and analyzes those factors that facilitate or inhibit their integration into local Sakalava tera-tany society.

National Factions: Regionalism and Cultural Stereotypes

Ethnic Categories

The Malagasy

Today in Madagascar there are eighteen^[1] (Covell 1987: 12) officially recognized ethnic groups (FR: ethnie,tribu; HP: foko,karazana; SAK: karazan̂a) which are relevant for census purposes (figure 3.1).

The use of the term ethnic group is problematic from an anthropological point of view, since all of these groups are actually subgroups of the general category Malagasy, whose members share common cultural elements such as language and religious beliefs. In other words, the concept of ethnicity is one of perspective and scale. Outside Madagascar, Malagasy are viewed as the dominant ethnic group of the country, and Sakalava, Merina, and other peoples are considered subgroups of this larger category. From a Malagasy point of view, however, Merina, for example, are viewed as the dominant ethnic group, and other non-Malagasy peoples (Arabs, Indo-Pakistanis, Chinese, Comoreans, and Europeans) are grouped separately as “strangers” or “foreigners” (étrangers). Since this study is concerned primarily with Malagasy peoples, I will use ethnic group as the Malagasy themselves do. These ethnic divisions are significant in everyday discourse, as Malagasy use them to define themselves in relation to each other. Ethnic groups also overlap with other categories based on geographical, economic, and religious differences.

Ethnic categories have changed over time. As Covell points out, they are flexible constructs, and although they are in part a reflection of changes in the political climate of Madagascar, it would be false to conceive of them solely in these terms:

This form of identification hardly constitutes a key to Malagasy politics. The groups themselves are riddled with internal subdivisions and several are, in fact, political constructions created from small groups in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: the Merina, Sakalava, and Betsimisaraka are the most important of these. Others, such as the Betsileo and Bara were first grouped together as administrative subdivisions of the nineteenth-century Merina empire. (1987: 12)

The French also made use of these categories. They did not begin systematically to take official censuses, with Malagasy broken down into different ethnic groups, until 1949, following the 1947 revolt. This practice was continued by the government of the Malagasy Republic after Independence (1960) up until the time of the Socialist Revolution in 1972. For approximately a decade afterward, no census information was collected (publications in general came to a halt in Madagascar at this time). In the Sambirano Valley it is only in 1985 that new efforts were made to gather census data in preparation for national elections that occurred in early 1989. On these recent censuses, the ethnic categories no longer appear, although logbooks kept of Ambanja’s neighborhood residents, for example, still make note of ethnic affiliation. In everyday discourse these categories are used by Malagasy to label one another.^[2]

Today certain factors unite members of each ethnic group: a shared dialect of Malagasy; similar religious customs, most notably in regard to mortuary rituals and a strong regard for local ancestors; observation of fady or taboos; characteristic regional dress; economic activities; and affiliation with a specific geographical territory (figure 3.2). These categories and their associated characteristics are used by Sakalava as they define themselves in opposition to others. Ultimately, these differences define boundaries between insider and outsider. Among some peoples the boundaries are fluid, while among others they are very rigid.

Non-Malagasy Strangers (Etrangers)

In addition to Malagasy speakers, there are also a number of minority groups (see Vincent 1974: 377) that consist of non-Malagasy peoples who have settled on the island. The largest of these groups are Arabs, Chinese, Comoreans, Europeans (especially French and some Greek), Indo-Pakistanis, and peoples of mixed heritage from the neighboring islands of Réunion and Mauritius. No recent statistics are available for the size of these populations, and so it is very difficult to estimate their numbers. This is in part due to recent political events. The majority of Europeans fled the island following the Socialist Revolution in 1972. Comoreans and Indo-Pakistanis have also fled periodically, since they have been the targets of violence in the last decade or so. Out of a total estimated population of 9.9 million for the entire island (figure for 1984; Covell 1987: xiii), population estimates for each group of étrangers are: 10,000 each of the Indo-Pakistanis and Chinese; 15,000 to 20,000 Comoreans (Covell 1987; 84–85); and 12,000 French (Bunge 1983: 49; for more details see Covell 1987: 84–85; on the Chinese see also Slawecki 1971 and Tche-Hao 1967).

Malagasy Ethnic Groups: How Difference Is Perceived

A variety of factors delineates boundaries between ethnic groups. To illustrate how these operate, I will briefly discuss two such factors: physical differences and the fady or taboos. Sections that follow provide discussions on other distinguishing characteristics, such as territorial affiliation, economic specialization, and religion.

Highland and coastal peoples (and, in turn, specific ethnic groups) are distinguished from one another by dialect and phenotype, reflecting the diverse historical and cultural origins of the Malagasy. As Bloch explains:

Madagascar has always been considered an anthropological oddity, due to the fact that although geographically it is close to Africa the language spoken throughout the island clearly belongs to the Austronesian group spoken in Southest Asia; more particularly Malagasy is linked to the languages spoken in western Indonesia. These surprising facts are also reflected in the biological and cultural affinity of the people. Although there is much controversy over the relative importance of the African and Indonesian element in the population, there is general agreement that we find the two merged together throughout the island. In some parts one side of this dual inheritance is more important; in other regions it is the other side that seems to dominate. For example, all commentators agree that among the Merina…the Southeast Asian element is particularly strongly marked. (1986: 12)

In addition, style of dress and specific customs serve as markers of difference. Clothing styles vary as one moves from one area of the island to another. In the central and southern highlands, which have a cool, temperate climate, most Merina and Betsileo wear western-style clothes. A style that is considered to be more traditional among these people is the akanjo, a knee-length shirt made of plaid flannel which is worn by peasant men throughout the highlands. Merina women (regardless of class) are also easily recognized since they often wear a white shawl (lamba) draped over their shoulders for formal occasions. The coastal areas are humid and tropical, and all around the rim of the island men and women wear body wraps made of brightly printed cloth (called a lambahoany). Among the Sakalava this consists of the kitamby for men, which is a waist wrap worn like a sarong, and for women, a salova (salovan̂a), which is wrapped around the waist or chest, and kisaly, draped over the shoulders or head. This style of dress is very similar to that worn by Swahili of the East African coast. The far south, which is occupied by such people as the Bara, Mahafaly, and Antandroy, is an arid region. Here men often dress in shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, plastic sandals, and a straw hat, while women wear western-style dresses or lambahoany. Throughout the island different hats as well as hairstyles also serve as markers for ethnicity. For example, the name Sakalava means “[People of] the long valleys,”^[3] while the Tsimihety (“Those who do not cut their hair”) were so named by the Sakalava after they refused to cut their hair in mourning as an assertion of their independence following the death of a Sakalava ruler (Société Malgache 1973: 46, 47).

Fady (taboos) are another important aspect of Malagasy identity. They are widespread yet specific to particular peoples and regions and have been carefully catalogued in books on Malagasy folklore (see Ruud 1960 and Van Gennep 1904; see also Lambek 1992). Fady work at many different levels: all ethnic groups have their own particular ones and smaller groups, such as villages or kin groups, may observe specific fady. Individuals may have personal fady that are determined at birth by the vintana or the Malagasy cosmological zodiac system (see Huntington 1981), or which they have collected over time as a result of sickness or other experiences. Fady may consist of dietary restrictions or clothing requirements, and locations or particular days of the week may have fady associated with them. Complex constellations of fady may surround particular ritual settings or events, such as burials for commoners or royalty. They are also a key aspect of tromba possession.

Among the Sakalava, the following are important examples. Pork is fady for many, requiring that they avoid contact with pigs and their products. Nosy Faly (“Taboo Island,” faly being an older form of the word fady), is Sakalava sacred space that requires respectful behavior from all visitors. One can not enter the village of the royal tombs (mahabo/zomba) on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, and so visitors who arrive on these days camp out on the beach, waiting for a more auspicious time. In the tomb village (Mahabo) one must go barefoot, and women are prohibited from wearing a kisaly on their heads. Dogs are prohibited and must be killed if they enter. Tortoises, on the other hand, are sacred, and it is fady to harm them. Because of these and other fady associated with the village, visitors must carefully monitor their actions so as not to incur the wrath of the local royal ancestors. Non-Sakalava visitors to Nosy Faly must also conform to local, Sakalava fady. Thus, on this sacred island and elsewhere, when one is among strangers, fady serve as markers of difference. They also operate to control the actions of outsiders. Visitors are expected to respect local fady or risk harming themselves or others. For this reason, Malagasy, when they travel, generally inquire about local fady, and they are usually listed in tourist guidebooks (see, for example, Société Malgache 1973).

Geographical Territory and Ethnicity

The Highlands versus the Coast

Among Malagasy, distinctions are made in reference to geographical areas and their corresponding ethnic groups, which in turn are relevant to the development of political power in Madagascar. There are, first, the peoples of the high plateaux. The most important group here is the Merina. The Betsileo, who live to the south of the Merina, occupy an ambiguous position in the minds of other Malagasy, since they are of the plateaux but are non-Merina people. I know of no general term in common usage that is applied collectively to Merina and Betsileo. Instead, more specific ethnic labels are used. Contrasted to these two highland groups are the côtiers (“peoples of the coast”), a term coined during the colonial era by the French to label all other Malagasy groups, many of whom Covell (1987: 13) points out live nowhere near the coast. The term côtiers is used most frequently by highland peoples and carries somewhat derogatory connotations.

These two general geographical categories have evolved out of politically defined divisions as a result of Merina expansion and subsequent French occupation of the island. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Merina conquered much of the island and established a powerful kingdom. By the early 1900s Merina royalty in Antananarivo established an alliance with the British against the French, but this alliance ended when the French conquered the island. Throughout the twentieth century the distinction between Merina and all other peoples has remained significant. With Independence, President Tsiranana (who himself was from the coast) and his party members “tried to mobilize support by portraying themselves as defenders against ‘Merina domination’ ” (Covell 1987: 13). Today, this tension persists. As Covell states, “The conflict cannot be reduced either to ethnic or class competition, but has elements of both” (1987: 13; she in turn cites Tronchon 1975).

Relations between members of these two major geographical groups are characterized by mistrust and racist attitudes. African versus Austronesian origins are a subject of important debate in Madagascar. Merina and Betsileo claim to be the most “Polynesian” of the Malagasy (see Bloch 1971: 1–5) and look disdainfully on coastal peoples, whom they often refer to as being “more African.” These comments are made most often in reference to skin color and hair texture. For example, the term Makoa (which often appears on censuses as an ethnic category, see figures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3) is used as a descriptive (and somewhat derogatory) term for people who have dark skin and kinky hair. Makoa were originally brought to Madagascar as slaves from an area in the interior of Africa that is now part of Mozambique (see Lombard 1988: 88 and Smith 1963 on the “Makua,” especially pp. 257 and 273). Highlanders in general view côtiers as backward and uneducated. Coastal peoples, in turn, express resentment of Merina who were once favored by the French and who form the majority of the population in the capital city. Merina continue to dominate the national political arena and maintain access to the best education, health care, and other services and facilities, and they fill many of the country’s civil service jobs. (For a discussion of these trends after Independence, especially in reference to education, see LaPierre 1966.) Ideas shared by members of each of these groups toward one another also include notions of uncleanliness; concepts of physical beauty, especially in regard to skin color (“white/black”: HP: fotsy/mainty; SAK: fotsy/joby); and a reluctance to intermarry (cf. Bloch 1971: 1–5, 198–201; J. Ramamonjisoa 1984).

The Tanindrazana or Ancestral Land

The most important concept used to define personal and group identity is that of the ancestral land (HP: tanindrazana; SAK: tanindrazan̂a). This may not necessarily be the locality where one lives or even grew up; it is where one’s ancestors are located and, ultimately, where one will be entombed. For all Malagasy, identity is intrinsically linked to the ancestral land. Although it is considered rude to ask what one’s ethnicity is, asking the question “where is your ancestral land” (HP: “aiza ny tanindrazanao?”) will generally provide the same information (see Bloch 1968 and 1971, especially chapter 4).

Even when Malagasy migrate to other parts of Madagascar, the notion of the ancestral land continues to tie them to a particular locale. It is not simply the geographical space, but the ancestors themselves that serve as the locus of identity and that define an individual’s point of origin. As a result, as one moves about the island, one continues to have a strong sense of ethnic identity that is geographically defined. As Keenan states of the Vakinankaratra (a group that is culturally considered to be Merina), “The worst fear of a villager is to travel far from the tanindrazana and fall sick and, perhaps, die alone” (Keenan 1974). The same may be said for the majority of Malagasy, regardless of origin.^[4] Migrants and their children, who are born far from their ancestral land, may continue to invest money in a family tomb that is hundreds of miles away, so that they can be placed there when they are dead.

Economic Specialization

Another system of ranking and categorization is based on forms of economic specialization that, in turn, correspond to ethnic and geographical categories. In a country where, for the majority of peoples, the staple is rice (see Linton 1927), highland peoples pride themselves on their talents as paddy rice farmers. The abilities of Betsileo farmers are a source of great national pride: their paddies are located in the valleys and tiered on the steep hillsides of the temperate regions of the southern plateaux. Coastal peoples of the east, west, and north practice swidden agriculture, where rice is, once again, a major crop (see Le Bourdiec et al. 1969: map no. 51).

The peoples of the arid south (for example the Antandroy, Bara, and Mahafaly) are pastoralists who raise cattle and goats. Although some grow rice, manioc is an important staple. Among many Malagasy—coastal and highland alike—pastoralists are regarded as being “simple,” “primitive,” and “African,” and are said to speak dialects that are unintelligible by the vast majority of Malagasy. Pastoralists are feared by others who say that they are thieves (mpangalatra). This comment is made in reference to (and is a result of a misunderstanding of) the dahalo, or cattle raiders, since among these groups cattle raiding is an important social institution for young men. Antandroy and other pastoralists are taller than many Malagasy and the men often carry long staffs with large blades mounted on one end. As a result, other Malagasy are wary of them.

Conditions are severe in the south, made worse by a drought that has extended throughout the past decade. This has forced a large proportion of men to spend their lives as migrants, working in different parts of the island and sending remittances home (usually by registered mail) to their spouses and other kin, where much of the cash is invested in animals.^[5] These migrants are drawn to the major urban centers of other regions where they are hired as night watchmen and as cowherds. They are preferred by employers because they are willing to brave the elements and sleep outdoors, even during the cold, wet winters so characteristic of the highlands (for detailed discussions of southern pastoralists see Decary 1933; Faublée 1954; Frère 1958; Huntington 1973).

Religious Affiliation

Religions of foreign origin—Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism—provide another means for distinguishing Malagasy from one another. They define divisions that are both ethnic and geographical. Estimates for religious affliation for the entire island in 1982 are as follows: 57 percent adhere to traditional (or what I will refer to as “indigenous”) beliefs (fomba-gasy) and 40 percent are Christian, with equal representation of Roman Catholics and Protestants (Bunge 1983: 62). I assume that the remaining 3 percent is mostly Muslim, but also includes Indian Hindus.

Islam is strongest in the north and west. In contrast to other Malagasy, many Sakalava and Antakarana are faithful to Islam, their conversion having occurred in response to their efforts to find allies against Europeans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In addition, Arabs, the majority of Comoreans, and many Indo-Pakistanis are Muslim (see Delval 1967, 1987; Dez 1967; Gueunier and Fanony 1980; Vérin 1967).

Christianity has played an important role in shaping factions in modern Madagascar (Gow 1979; Mutibwa 1974; Southall 1979). Attempts were made by Portuguese and French Catholics to Christianize coastal peoples in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Brown 1978: 30ff; Bunge 1983: 14), but these missionaries were killed by indigenous peoples shortly after they arrived. The first successful missionaries were Protestants from the London Missionary Society (LMS), who were welcomed into the Merina kingdom in 1818 by royalty who sought to have the British join them as allies against the French. Other sects soon followed and rivalries developed as they sought to stake out territory and win converts. While Protestants won the favor of Merina royalty (andriana) and elites (hova), Catholics worked outside the capital. Among the highland Merina they were most successful with the slave population (andevo). They also worked among the Betsileo and throughout the coastal areas of the island. In 1863, Protestants were expelled from the island by the Merina Queen Ranavalona I, but they were eventually allowed to return in the 1880s following her death (Brown 1978: 152ff; Gow 1979; Mutibwa 1974).

Rivalries between different sects have been fierce up to the present. According to Covell, the number of Christians has declined since Independence (1987: 95; she in turn quotes Raison 1970). As she states, “The Christian Churches of Madagascar claim an estimated four million ‘adherents’; a term that obviously covers a wide range of commitment. Both Catholic and Protestant churches have their largest number of adherents in central Madagascar, and one of the common physical features of the plateaux villages is the presence of two spired churches, usually confronting each other from the opposite ends of the village” (1987: 95).

Today, certain faiths are associated with specific ethnic groups. The Catholic Church is strongest in the southern plateaux among the Betsileo and in coastal areas. Protestantism is split between those churches that have a tradition of strong political ties with the Merina in Antananarivo and others in the south; the latter rely on regional missionary activities (for example, American and Scandinavian Lutherans have been active in southern Madagascar since 1866). In recent years, attempts have been made to forge new unions, alleviating the competition between Protestants. The FJKM church (Fiongonana Jesosy Kristiany Malagasy or the Malagasy Church of Jesus Christ) was formed in 1970 and draws adherents from such Protestant groups as the original LMS, Quaker, and French Protestant Mission churches (Covell 1987: 95). Subsequent ecumenical agreements among Protestant sects have led to their working in what was predominantly viewed as each other’s territories. (For more detailed discussions on the Catholics see Chandon-Moët 1957; Decary 1966; Hübsch 1987; Judic 1987; L’Hermite 1968. On Protestants see Belrose-Huyghues 1979; Birkeli 1957; Gontard 1971; Gow 1979; London Missionary Society 1881–1900; Vérin et al. 1970.)

The majority of Malagasy remain faithful to indigenous religion or fomba-gasy, in which ancestors are central. In a sense, fomba-gasy touches the lives of all Malagasy, regardless of faith, since all Malagasy express an interest in their origins and a concern for their respective ancestors. The contrasts and contradictions between fomba-gasy and other religions have served as a means to divide peoples throughout the recent history of the island. This is certainly true for the inhabitants of Ambanja.

Social and Cultural Divisions in Ambanja

Malagasy are, historically, migratory peoples, first in terms of the original settlements of the island and, more recently, in terms of subsequent movements within the boundaries of this island (see Deschamps 1959). The movements of peoples have increased dramatically throughout this century (figure 3.3). Individuals and entire groups have moved for a variety of reasons: to find new grazing lands in response to population pressures (the most important case being that of the Tsimihety, see Molet 1959 and Wilson 1971); accompanying the expansion of Sakalava and Merina kingdoms (see Brown 1978; see also assorted essays in Kent, ed. 1979 and Kottak et al., eds. 1986); and in order to flee from more powerful enemies, as was true with the Tanala (Linton 1933: 24ff). Throughout the latter part of this century, Malagasy have also migrated in search of wage labor, and the Sambirano is an important destination.

The Social Categories of Ambanja

As a result of the in-migration of non-Sakalava to Ambanja, the classification of its inhabitants is extremely complex. The most important distinction is between insiders and outsiders, or tera-tany and vahiny. When loosely defined, tera-tany may refer to anyone who owns land, but in the strictest sense, this term refers to the indigenous Bemazava, who form the largest single group represented in the area.^[6]Vahiny is used to refer to other migrant Malagasy. Much tension exists between members of these two social categories. In addition to Malagasy-speakers, French, Comoreans, Chinese, Indians, Arab-Yemenis, and Greeks have also been drawn to the Sambirano. As mentioned above, these peoples are “foreigners” (étrangers; Western Europeans are also called vazaha), and this label applies even if they were born in Madagascar. According to the 1986 census, foreigners collectively numbered 493, or 0.5 percent of the total population of the Sambirano Valley.

Contrary to customs of ethnic endogamy observed in other regions of Madagascar, in Ambanja intermarriage is common, not only between different groups of Malagasy-speakers, but also between Malagasy and peoples of foreign origins. Métisization—that is, intermarriage between members of diverse groups and their subsequent offspring—involving all groups is extremely high. Special labels are used when speaking of the offspring of these unions, and they reflect that an individual’s parentage is a mixture of Malagasy and foreign heritage. For example, a child of a Sakalava mother and an Arab father is called “Arab-métis(se).” Ambanja has developed into a polycultural community, marked by the sharing and overlapping of cultural and social norms of diverse peoples. As a result of this blurring of ethnic boundaries, what it means to be tera-tany or, more specifically, Sakalava, has become increasingly problematic, so the terms insider and outsider require constant redefinition.

Malagasy Ethnic Groups and Their Points of Origin

Ambanja, as a migrant town, may be viewed in certain ways as a microcosm of Madagascar as a whole, since all groups—regardless of whether they are defined by ethnic, geographical, or religious categories—are represented. According to the 1986 census, the town had a population of 26,288 (25,945 nationals and 343 foreigners)^[7] (Madagascar, Service du Planification, 1986). Over the latter half of this century the population of the town has doubled every ten years, whereas the average national growth rate in Madagascar is 3.1 percent per annum (Covell 1987: xiii), the national doubling time being approximately twenty to twenty-five years. This population increase in the Sambirano has occurred as a result of the immigration of non-Sakalava. The rate of immigration has increased dramatically since 1975, following the Socialist Revolution and the subsequent expansion of state-run agricultural enterprises (Andriamihamina et al. 1987: 25). Estimates for the population of the town of Ambanja since 1950 reveal this doubling of the population (Andriamihamina et al. 1987: 21) (figure 3.4).

Statistics on the ethnic breakdown of the population of the district of Ambanja (the entire Sambirano Valley) are scanty, since they were collected regularly only from 1950 to 1971. Further problems arise since changes were made in the size of the district over time, as well as in the procedures used to collect census information. It is also unclear whether or not these figures include temporary residents of the valley. Since 1985 the timing of the census has been designed to avoid the coffee season (June and July), when there are many temporary laborers in town. The figures are now collected by local representatives for each neighborhood, drawn from registration books where they keep a log of all residents living there during the course of that year. Despite these disadvantages, I have reproduced these figures since they provide a rough picture of the ethnic composition of the Sambirano Valley (see figure 3.5).

These figures show that, first, the Sakalava remain the largest single group, comprising 37 to 54 percent of the population. Second, all officially recognized categories are well represented in each census, reflecting the presence of large numbers of non-Sakalava. The most significant groups, in terms of number (listed in descending order) are as follows:

1. Makoa are the descendants of African slaves; Makoa was an official ethnic category as late as the 1970s. Makoa are now considered to be indigenous to Sakalava territory in western Madagascar and are sometimes subsumed under the category designated for Sakalava. From the point of view of local Bemazava, they occupy an ambiguous category vis-à-vis tera-tany status: although they are perceived as a distinct group, they have special rights and privileges in reference to this status because they served the Sakalava in the past.
2. Tsimehety are pastoralists who originally came from the south and who have since migrated northward throughout this century. Today they occupy the territory to the south of the Sambirano; many also live along the northeast coast in an area referred to as the “Vanilla Triangle.”
3. Antaimoro are from the southeast, near Farafangana.
4. Antandroy are pastoral peoples from the far south.^[8]
5. Betsileo and Merina are the two major groups that occupy the high plateaux.

Dating the arrival of these different migrant groups to the Sambirano is difficult. By consulting the records of land titles held by one of the first plantation owners, de la Motte St. Pierre, it is clear that by 1907 he had worker villages situated on his lands (Title 140, Le Gabés) and by 1908 the Sakalava were living on indigenous reserves (Title 130 B. P.) (Service Topographique). Planters on Nosy Be used slave labor until slavery was abolished by the French parliament in 1896. After that they relied on land tenants and corvée labor. Attempts were made throughout Madagascar to recruit foreign laborers from China, Yemen, and the Comoro Islands, but these efforts were relatively unsuccessful (see Brown 1978: 249–250; Stratton 1964: 95–96; and Thompson and Adloff 1965: 442ff). The first Antandroy laborers were brought to Nosy Be in 1922 by Djamanjary Sugar (established 1918). These workers were recruited from the prison in Tulear and brought to Nosy Be by boat. Many of these Antandroy settled permanently in the north. It is possible that a few planters in the Sambirano continued this recruitment practice until migrants began to arrive on their own.

Betsileo are also among the early migrants to the Sambirano; evidence of their work can be seen on the road to Diégo, just north of Ambanja, where there are large rice paddies. As one Betsileo informant explained:

My parents decided to come north in the 1920s to search for work, and they came directly to the Sambirano, having heard that there were colonists here who needed laborers. My father came to work in the sugar cane and manioc fields, and he became a land tenant of one of the plantation owners. Under a system called miasa-talata [lit. “to work on Tuesday”; the French called these workers talatiers, cf. Feeley-Harnik 1984: 11] he was given land to farm where he grew rice; in exchange he worked every Tuesday for the landowner. When French and other large landowners left Madagascar in the 1970s, my father bought the land, so that now he owns approximately 110 hectares.

Today my informant’s father farms his land successfully with the assistance of a tractor and the labor of his wife and fifteen descendants, including children and grandchildren. Clearly, by the second decade of this century, the Sambirano was well-known throughout Madagascar as a place where one could find work, and it attracted people from all areas of the island.

In the 1959 census, Jonoro Houlder, the Chef du District, devoted special attention to a discussion of immigration and emigration of peoples to and from the Sambirano. He noted that a number of non-Sakalava were well established in the area, contracted by European planters to work as manual laborers. These included the Tsimehety (from Analalava, Antsohihy, and Bealanana), and peoples from the south and southeast (Antandroy, Antanosy, Bara, Antaimoro, Antaisaka). Others from the east coast (Betsimisaraka) and high plateaux (Betsileo and Merina) had also arrived in the area and had put down roots:

Le district d’Ambanja est un district plutôt d’immigration et d’emmigration. Il forme une plaque tournante où transitent obligatoirement tous ceux qui, venant d’Analalava, d’Antsohihy ou de Bealanana par voie de terre, se dirigent vers Ambilobe et Diégo-Suarez.…Dans cette région particulièrementfavorisée par une terre riche, la colonisation européene a introduit des travailleurs salairiés ordinaires du Sud, engagés par contrat, et qui forment l’essentiel de sa main-d’oeuvre: Antaimoro, Antaisaka, Antandroy, Antanosy, Bara.…Profitant de la décadence et de l’apathie des Sakalava qui peuple-rent initialement ce pays, d’outres éléments allongènes plus laborieux, se sont infiltrés et y ont fait solidement souche: Betsileo, Tsimehety, Hova [Merina], Betsimisaraka, etc. (Madagascar 1950–1971, report from 1959: 2)

Houlder then went on to discuss the presence of non-Malagasy, including Comoreans and Indians, and their activities as local merchants.

Similar comments are made about the immigration of Malagasy in the report from 1965, where the author spoke again of the importance of contract workers, especially Antandroy and Antaimoro; he also commented on Tsimehety migration, which had continued to grow. He stressed that most Tsimehety came from Bealalana (which is about 350 kilometers south of Ambanja) and that Tsimehety villages had been established in the Sambirano (Madagascar 1950–1971, report from 1965: 2).

A recurring theme in subsequent reports is the reluctance of Sakalava to emigrate to other areas of Madagascar. Such a statement is made by Houlder, above, and is reiterated by the author of the 1968 report: “les elements aborigènes sont ordinairement sedentaires et quittent difficilement le village natal” (Madagascar 1950–1971, report from 1968: 1). The authors of these reports comment on Sakalava resistance to work as wage laborers (cf. Feeley-Harnik 1984: 6, 1991b, especially p. 191ff and chapter 5).^[9] As discussed in the previous chapter, today these are themes which are voiced by Sakalava about themselves as well as by frustrated employers. The complexities that have arisen as a result of this constant immigration of non-Sakalava will be discussed below in this chapter, as well as in the chapter that follows.

Local Territory and the Ancestral Land

As described above, the tanindrazana or ancestral land is central to Malagasy notions of identity, both personal and collective. In the strictest sense, the region of the Sambirano is the exclusive ancestral land of the Bemazava-Sakalava. Since Malagasy identity is tied to the ancestors and, thus, to the land, all other peoples, regardless of how long they have lived here, are outsiders by virtue of this rule.

Sakalava maintain tombs that are located throughout the valley, often in small remote villages that may be a long drive or walk from where they reside.^[10] In some cases these tombs are fairly new. When the French relocated Sakalava, they obliterated all traces of old cemeteries, so that the Sakalava had to create new tombs for their dead (cf. Colson 1971 for similarities with British colonial policy).

Some migrants have established their own tombs or cemeteries on land they or older kin have bought. This is especially true for the Antandroy, who bury their dead locally, since for them the costs for transporting a body as far as one thousand kilometers to their ancestral land in the south is prohibitively high. In the town of Ambanja there is also a cemetery where Christians and Muslims are buried, and it is used by both Sakalava and non-Sakalava. Migrants who choose to be buried locally may not be accepted as full-fledged tera-tany by Sakalava. Nevertheless, by Malagasy rules of affiliation, such a choice is an indicator that one’s sentimental ties to the region are strong, since where one is buried carries the sense that one is from—or belongs—there.

Ethnicity and Economic Specialization

In Ambanja, different economic activities are associated with different ethnic groups. In reference to the four largest migrant groups represented in the Sambirano (see above), the following generalizations can be made.

Tsimihety have an established history as labor migrants throughout this century (Deschamps 1959). Many come to the Sambirano as temporary migrants during coffee harvest season in June and July. Others have settled permanently in the Sambirano.

Others from the south and southeast, such as the Antaimoro and Antandroy, were among the earliest migrants to the region. Today they form the bulk of manual laborers at the enterprises and at businesses in town. Antandroy men also work as night watchmen (see Frère 1958: 117–140 for information about the Antandroy).

It is the Betsileo and Merina who hold university degrees and who fill the majority of civil service and other government sponsored positions. As state employees, they are schoolteachers, the managers and engineers of the enterprises, the president of the local bank, the doctors at the town’s hospital and worker’s clinic, and the directional staff of government agricultural and communication agencies. There are also a number of rural peoples from the high plateaux who have set up small businesses or who work as “traveling merchants” (mpivarotra mandeha). The best known of these are the Vakinankaratra, a group occupying a southern region of Merina territory around the town of Ambatolampy (which lies to the south of Antananarivo). Many of these traveling merchants have established Ambanja as their home base, and they travel periodically to the national capital where they buy goods, return to Ambanja, and sell them in the local market at a significant markup.

Religion

Ambanja is the religious center for the Sambirano and adjoining regions. Reflecting national trends, Muslims, Catholics, and Protestants are divided along ethnic lines. Estimates of religious affiliation in the Sambirano are 4–6 percent Muslim, 6 percent Catholic, up to 6 percent Protestant, and approximately 80 percent fomba-gasy (Jaovelo-Dzao 1983, 1987, and personal communication). The faiths of foreign origin which boast Sakalava membership are Islam and Catholicism. Protestants, on the other hand, usually are non-Sakalava from the high plateaux and the south.

Islam

As mentioned in chapter 2, in the nineteenth century, the Bemihisatra-Sakalava royalty of Nosy Be converted to Islam. Pierre Dalmond, a Catholic priest who arrived in Nosy Be in 1840, reported in his journal that when he was first received by Tsimiaro I, the king of the Antakarana, the ruler was dressed as a Muslim, wearing a white robe and a hat of red velour (Dalmond 1840). A photo taken perhaps half a century later of “Tisaraso [Tsiaraso I] (1871–1919), souverain des Sakalava Bemazava” (see Raison-Jourde, ed. 1983, between pages 128 and 129) shows the ruler clothed in similar fashion. It is this same style of dress that mediums wear today when they are possessed by the greatest of the Bemazava, Bemihisatra, and Antakarana tromba spirits.

Today, among the Bemazava, the majority of Muslims are royalty. Most are “sympathetic Muslims” (SAK: muselmans/silamo sympatiques) who do not go to mosque regularly and only observe the fast of Ramadan (SAK: Ramzan). A Sakalava expression that reflects their lax attitude is tsopa tsy haramo, which literally means “[drinking] tsopa [a small bottle of very strong alcohol] does not violate the Koran” (Jaovelo-Dzao, personal communication; compare the kiSwahili expression chupa tsi haramu, J. Bergman and M. Porter, personal communication).

There are five mosques in Ambanja, each identified according to the ethnic makeup of the majority of its members. These are the Comorean (the majority of members are originally from Anjouan); Comorean and métis (Comoreans and Malagasy of mixed origins); Arab-métis (offspring of mixed marriages between Arabs and Sakalava); the Indian mosque; and a splinter group that I will refer to as “Modern Islam” (see chapter 10), whose members are primarily Sakalava, Antakarana, and some Comorean. These labels aside, membership in all mosques (except that of the Indians) is fairly heterogeneous, reflecting the town’s high rate of intermarriage between peoples of diverse backgrounds. The number of regular members (that is, those who attend Friday prayer) of each mosque varies between fifty to one hundred, with perhaps half as many attending daily prayer. The largest is the Comorean mosque.

The Catholic Church

When the northern Sakalava failed to acquire firearms from the Sultan of Muscat, they turned to the French for assistance against the Merina. Captain Passot led the French military into Nosy Be in 1840, and he brought with him Catholic missionaries. Among these was the Jesuit priest Dalmond, who had already been active on the small islands off the east coast of Madagascar (see Dalmond, n.d.). Nosy Be became an important northern post for Catholic activities, while additional evangelical work was conducted on Nosy Faly, Nosy Mitsiosioko, and in the Sambirano Valley. In the early part of this century, however, Ambanja replaced Nosy Be as an important colonial and commercial center. By 1921 the Catholics were active in Ambanja, having followed the military there, and in 1936 they built a cathedral, which continues to be one of the largest buildings in town. The Catholic church has by far the largest congregation in Ambanja, the cathedral seating approximately two thousand (it is packed during Easter). Catholic adherents include Sakalava as well as well as Tsimihety, Antandroy, Antaimoro, and some Betsileo and Merina.

Catholicism is far more popular than Protestantism among the Sakalava, and the style of Catholic evangelizing has much to do with this. Although Sakalava royalty have remained Muslim, Sakalava commoners were encouraged to attend the mission school, and those who did so often converted to Catholicism. The present king, Ampanjakabe Tsiaraso III, is an anomaly: tera-tany insist he is Muslim, but he himself professes to be Catholic, since he converted to the latter faith when, as a child he attended the mission school. The Catholic church has been successful in winning Sakalava converts because it is especially sensitive to Sakalava culture. In recent years this approach has been formalized under a policy known as enculturation which evolved following Vatican II. Enculturation encourages the tolerance of local beliefs and customs and emphasizes syncretism over orthodoxy. This policy plays an important role in shaping Catholic practice in Madagascar, as in many other parts of Africa (cf. Aubert 1987).

Although Ambanja’s Catholic clergy includes nuns and priests from France, Italy, and Germany, the majority are Malagasy, who are primarily Sakalava. The leaders of the church in Ambanja and nearby towns are all locally born Sakalava, while Europeans occupy the backstage in terms of policy matters. In addition, whereas the Protestant Bible is written in official Malagasy (and thus is based on the Merina dialect), the Catholic Bible used in Ambanja has been translated into Sakalava. Catholic services are also performed in the local dialect. They are lively and innovative and incorporate elements that characterize local town life. For example, the church hosts discos as fundraisers and has an electric guitarist who accompanies the singing of hymns at Sunday services. Rumor also has it that a number of priests have taken mistresses and have had children by them, and that several of the nuns delight in dancing with their students at the church discos.

The Catholic church has made attempts to incorporate local customs into the services. It is also tolerant of fomba-gasy, including tromba possession. In contrast, the Protestant groups regard fomba-gasy as sinful and the work of Satan (the full ramifications of this stance will be discussed in chapter 10). Furthermore, while Protestants complain about the Sakalava’s lack of respect toward such social institutions as marriage, the Catholics perform several marriage ceremonies each year (this rarely occurs at the Protestant churches).

Protestantism

Thus, Sakalava, if they “pray” (mivavaka), are Muslim or Catholic; they are rarely Protestant. Sakalava and their Antakarana neighbors have resisted Protestantism since they associate it with their enemies of the past century, the Merina, among whom Protestants have been active since the nineteenth century. Today it is rare to find Protestant Sakalava in the Sambirano. The only northern people who historically have been associated with Protestantism are the Tsimihety.

Ambanja is, nevertheless, home to a wide variety of Protestant churches. The oldest of these is the FJKM, which has been active in the area since the 1930s. Other groups include Lutherans, Adventists, Anglicans and a handful of Pentecostal groups that split from the FJKM more than a decade ago. The FJKM is the largest Protestant church in town, with approximately 250 to 300 people who regularly attend Sunday services. The Anglicans, Adventists, and Lutherans all have small churches that can hold up to about two hundred people, but on a regular basis there are only, perhaps, ten to thirty in attendance. Each of these churches is relatively new, having been established within the last ten to twenty years, following an ecumenical agreement among different sects to allow one another to expand into each other’s territories. In contrast to the Sakalava, the majority of migrants are Protestants. The Lutherans, for example, who are associated with southern Madagascar, established a church in Ambanja in 1975. This congregation is composed primarily of peoples from the south and high plateaux, although they hope to gain converts among the Sakalava. More generally, the parishoners of all Protestant churches are Betsileo, Merina, Tsimehety, and Antandroy and Antaimoro. In Ambanja, Protestantism is an institution that embodies that which is not Sakalava.

Fomba-gasy, or Malagasy Religion

As the figures for religious affiliation show, fomba-gasy remains the dominant religion in Madagascar; in Ambanja, the percentage (80 percent) is much higher than the national average (59 percent), because Sakalava of Ambanja have been reluctant to convert to faiths of foreign origin. Jaovelo-Dzao attributes their resistance to Christianity to the power and influence of the Bemazava royalty.^[11] Since royalty had already converted to Islam prior to the arrival of Catholic priests, they dissuaded commoners from converting to this new religion. Following the dictum of royalty, Sakalava often state that it is fady for them to embrace other faiths (fady mivavaka, lit. “praying is taboo”). It is also easier for a Muslim to marry a Sakalava than it is for a Christian to do so, since Sakalava marriage and other institutions have incorporated elements derived from Islam (Jaovelo-Dzao 1983; personal communication).

Sakalava hostility toward non-Sakalava has played a role in their resistance to conversion. For the Sakalava, the fomba-gasy define what it means to be Sakalava, and so to give up tromba and other local practices would, from a Sakalava point of view, require denouncing one’s ethnic identity. Sakalava express their reluctance to attend Protestant services by saying that many of the pastors, and other officíants, are from the highlands. Several Lutheran evangelists spoke to me of the Sakalava with bitterness; since they themselves are Merina, it is impossible to gain converts. During the course of my fieldwork two young Sakalava men joined the church, and the pastor and evangelists hoped that at least one would choose to be trained as a pastor and return to Ambanja to evangelize among his own people. Catholicism and Islam reveal a tolerance for fomba-gasy, but Protestants are strongly opposed to these traditions. Tromba possession, which is central to Sakalava religion, provides an appropriate example. Protestants say they are fady tromba (“[have a] tromba taboo”) and so only those mediums who choose to opt out of possession by having their spirits exorcized by the Protestants convert (this will be discussed in chapter 10).

Studies of Zionist churches in Africa provide examples of how faiths of foreign origin may answer questions that arise as a consequence of massive social change (Comaroff 1985; Jules-Rosette 1975; see also Colson 1970). Yet in Ambanja, a town so rife with conflicts, the general population shows little or no inclination to convert to Christianity or Islam. Instead, what has occurred is a virtual explosion in the incidence of tromba possession, involving Sakalava and vahiny.

The Effects of Polyculturalism

Although there are no statistics available for the valley’s present ethnic composition, it seems clear that Sakalava remain the single largest group represented. Sakalava own the majority of small, privately owned plots of land which are scattered throughout the Sambirano. Many are peasants who raise both subsistence (especially rice) and cash crops (especially coffee and cocoa). Those who live in town usually own the land they live on, supporting themselves by running small family-owned groceries on the premises. Others sell produce, charcoal, and other essential items in front of their homes. Townspeople may also own land in the countryside. It is the Sakalava who, more generally, dominate formal power structures. Since they comprise the largest voting block, Sakalava dominate elected positions in the city and county governments. The only other group that has managed to have a few members elected are the Tsimihety. Sakalava royalty—both living and dead—also wield power in the Sambirano. Because Sakalava exercise the greatest influence of any ethnic group in the Sambirano, it is important to understand how they perceive the social world of Ambanja.

Sakalava Perspectives

Sakalava characterize other Malagasy groups as being closer to or farther from themselves. These conceptualizations in turn reflect notions of similarity and compatibility on the one hand and dissimilarity and distrust on the other (figure 3.6).

These categories have profound implications for patterns of informal association. They may affect more formal decisions as well, as in choosing an appropriate spouse or electing an official to the local government. On one end are groups thought to be the most similar to the Sakalava: these are their neighbors the Antakarana and Tsimihety. Makoa occupy a slightly more ambiguous position since they are the descendants of slaves who served local Sakalava in the past. The other extreme includes pastoralists from the south, like the Antandroy and the Merina of the high plateaux. Sakalava, like many other non-southern peoples, rank themselves above pastoralists, regarding themselves as more sophisticated. Like other coastal peoples, they express resentment and distrust of the Merina (whom Sakalava refer to derogatorily as borzany). There is a body of fady which places Merina in an extreme position outside the realm of association for Sakalava. Some Sakalava tromba are said to be fady Merina (“[having a] Merina taboo”), so that Merina may not attend tromba ceremonies, nor may they approach Sakalava tombs or other sacred locations. Many Sakalava extend this fady to everyday interactions as well and deny Merina access to their homes. More generally, there are fady and other customs that set various groups outside the Sakalava realm. Among the most common is the ingestion of pork, for the majority of Sakalava have a pork taboo (SAK: fady komankory).

What I wish to stress here is that it is difficult to pass as Sakalava: dialect, name, dress, and physical appearance give away a person’s ethnic background.^[12] Overlapping and confusion generally only occur among peoples from the same general regions of Madagascar. For example, Antandroy is a label often applied to Mahafaly and Bara. Also, a number of my informants were Merina but in public they claimed to be Betsileo to facilitate interactions with Sakalava. In general, peoples such as the Merina, Sakalava, and Antandroy have distinct physical characteristics that make it easy for the trained observer to distinguish one from the other. Malagasy are accustomed to thinking in this way about each other. Maps of Madagascar, for example, often include photos of people who are considered to be archetypal of their given ethnic group (see for example Société Malgache 1973; map opposite p. 40).

The logic of the Sakalava framework of similar and dissimilar peoples is based on several general principles. The first involves a sense of shared cultural features and historical origins. For example, in the past, Sakalava and Antakarana were members of one group. As a result of a dispute over royal succession, the Antakarana split off and moved north, so that now Sakalava and Antakarana are members of related yet separate descent groups. These descent groups of the northern Sakalava and Antakarana are called the Zafin’i’mena and Zafin’i’fotsy, or “Grandchildren of Gold” and “Silver,” respectively. Relations today between the two are cordial. The mother of the present king of the Antakarana, for example, is of the Bemazava-Sakalava royal lineage. Sakalava and Antakarana share many fady and honor many of the same ancestors. Ceremonies are similar and at times indistinguishable: tromba ceremonies may include the same spirits, and at royal occasions for either one may see a dance called the rebiky performed (see Feeley-Harnik 1988).

The second principle is one of proximity. The Sakalava’s closest neighbors are the Tsimihety (to the east and south) and Antakarana (to the north). This places all other peoples geographically at a distance from them. As one moves farther away to the east (towards the Betsimisaraka) and to the south (into the high plateaux and farther south and southeast), social distance increases. With the Merina, however, historical factors take precedence, for they are still seen as enemies while the Betsileo, who live farther to the south, are tolerated to a greater extent.

Defining Tera-Tany and Vahiny

The increased immigration of non-Sakalava to the Sambirano Valley creates a dilemma for the Sakalava. Since they would rather not work for the enterprises, they are faced with the constant influx of unwanted strangers who are willing to do so. Sakalava express anxiety about migrants, and this anxiety has increased since the recent improvement of the north-south highway, which connects Ambanja with Mahajanga and, ultimately, Antananarivo. In 1987, it was being turned into an all-weather road, and the Sakalava feared it would bring still more people, leading to an increase in crime rates and other problems characteristic of other urban centers in Madagascar.

The lack of social cohesiveness among members of different groups is graphically illustrated in the haphazard layout of the town. Malagasy exhibit a preference for socializing with individuals who share similar regional or ethnic origins. Nevertheless, in Ambanja, like peoples are rarely clustered together in neighborhoods. Instead, each area of town presents a wild array of people of diverse origins and class backgrounds. The effects that accompany the ever-increasing influx of migrants have become a major concern in the town. A recent study conducted by the Urban and Housing Service of the Ministry of Public Works (Andriamihamina et al. 1987: 7–9) echoed these concerns, particularly the potential dangers associated with water shortages and insufficient sewer facilities. They stressed the need for more careful city planning if these problems were to be avoided. An area of special concern was the neighborhood of Ambaibo, near the bazarbe, where houses are now crammed against the banks of the Sambirano River (see figure 2.2).

Since Sakalava are the dominant group of the Sambirano, it is they who determine who is tera-tany or vahiny (insider versus outsider). The factors that define these social categories should be clear by now. Yet the dynamic between Malagasy kinship and ethnic identity often blurs these categories. In Madagascar, offspring are said to share the ethnic identity of their biological father. In Ambanja, individuals born into families that have lived in the region for generations, who own land, and who identify culturally with Sakalava generally consider themselves to be tera-tany. Nevertheless, others may insist that they are, and always will be, vahiny because they ultimately share the identity and thus origin of their father (or father’s father, and so on).

The concept of ancestral land and the way in which it is interpreted in Ambanja is central to these definitions. Tera-tany and vahiny have conflicting views on how burial choices define one’s identity and proper place in the Sambirano. As described above, the place where one will be buried is of central concern for Malagasy, as it is tied to concepts of kinship identity and home. The kin of Malagasy who die far from home will go to extreme lengths to make sure that the body will make its way back to the family tomb. In Ambanja there are families that, even after living in the town for a number of generations, are still tied to tombs elsewhere. They are, however, a minority. Migrants who settle permanently in Ambanja generally choose to be buried in this region. Nevertheless, although migrants may think of Ambanja as home, psychological alienation may persist because of Sakalava notions that define what it means to be tera-tany or vahiny. In other words, even for those who choose to buried in the Sambirano and who consider it their (new) ancestral land, Sakalava may still consider them to be vahiny.^[13] As will be illustrated in the following chapter, it is very difficult to shake the migrant or outsider status, regardless of how long an individual or cluster of kin has been in the area and regardless of their burial choices.

Notes