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.