With a persifing and candid smile, solemn eyes and a body beaming with joy, the Malagasy child, or the child of the big island, is a source of interrogation because of the multitude of faces that make him up, but also because of the characters he inhabits.What is hidden behind this multiform character? In this article, we give you an overview of the Malagasy child, we tell you everything.A child of miscegenation, made up of the different migratory waves it has undergone, the Malagasy child is historically made up of different tribes numbering eighteen. Clans and tribes, that’s it, we tell you everything. Between differences, union and universality, in the article we reveal the secrets of the Malagasy child.

Candide, cunning, rogue, angelic, so many qualifiers that describe the Malagasy traits. When we meet him, he is wearing his candid smile, a sign of his openness to others, yet despite the apparent welcome he gives off, the Malagasy child is very attached to his horde and can even be chauvinistic. He is very attached to his tribe, and identifies with it and remains identifiable by it. This makes the famous adage “in the history of the world, the family comes before the clan, the clan before the tribe, the tribe before the people” blatantly true. In Madagascar, there is no people without a tribe. Subscriptions to its colony, its troop, its counterpart, its concordance, made important by this patronage.

18 tribes

The Malagasy people have 18 tribes: Besimsaraka, Sakalava, Antandroy, Mahafaly, Vezo, Merina, Betsileo, Antakarana, Bara, Mahafaly, Sihanaka, Antaisaka, Antaifasy, Antambahoka, Antanosy, Tsimihety, Tanala, Bezanozano

A common history.

The Malagasy child, in spite of the multitude of clans, towns, villages and villages, belongs to a people in its own right. The island of Madagascar has always been historically organized in a single government. If the dialects are among the number of tribes, if not more, only one language is spoken. As a result of history and colonization, the official language is the Malagasy of the highlands. The place of administration and economic epicentre of the island is Tananarive, the capital. It was established as the capital in 1790. It is also the place where cultural events take place.

It is a place of union where one finds all the confluences of the island. Sales, purchases, everything is done in the centre of the island. The capital is the historical territory of the imerina, installed as the dominant ethnic group during decolonization. Today, the blue lands, also called analamanga, are still home to the tribe.

A common sharing.

Beyond the shared language, the Malagasy child, at a very young age, also shares a strong base of common imagination. This is reflected in the logic and humour that is so specific to the Malagasy people. A common chest that will find its specific branches in each dialect later on. Not every Malagasy smiles at the rice bowl in the same way.

Shared festivals:

What is shared, an anthem, coat of arms, counts and canteens.

It is important to mention that the children of the red island share an identical school calendar: the lessons are contingent to each schoolchild on the island.

Moreover, the festive moments are also similar in Madagascar. People gather at the same time and celebrate the same holidays: Christmas, New Year’s Day and the bank holidays.

The Christian religion is the first religious dogma of the island and is important in the construction of the common Malagasy cultural base. In this article, we would like to mention it, as it is an element of everyday Malagasy life.

For some years now, the island has been gathering around the Island Games, the sports competition of the Indian Ocean, but also the CAN (football, rugby, basketball..). New fads of the Malagasy people.

Common symbols:

The maki, the barea zebu, but also the king of the barnyard are all symbolic animals that unite the Malagasy people during games.

Respectively symbol of rugby and basketball and football team. Its animals are symbols of cohesion and unity throughout the island.

Regarding the rooster, it is an animal that is shared by the Malagasy. It is not uncommon to see children and adults approaching each other with poultry in hand to have a cockfight. The animal is also a means of barter that is widespread throughout the island, signifying the prominence of the symbol.

One aim, one intention, one look:

In the gaze the candour, a famous formula that we take up and which is found in the Malagasy child. The character is multiform, and underneath his apparent sincerity a cunningness that characterises him.

In the face of the Malagasy child, and of the Malagasy, there is a respect for the beautiful and the good. Like a mental prayer, a guide to life choices, more than a philosophy of action. Moreover, morality is a fundamental stele of society and of the character.

An aim towards the universal, candid and innocent. Simple as an unknown and ecumenical adage.

Art, an important part of the education of the Malagasy child. During his young age, between 7 and 18, he turns to art, through singing, dancing, music, poetry, or drawing.

Unity in an ideal:

Unity, towards an ideal of life that is many and one at the same time. Unity in her will, her love, her homeland, the motto of the red island. His belief in the good, the value of the universal of the Enlightenment is proper to learned men. In his unity, the universal; in his aspirations, the universal.

Moreover, the ideas of social and societal justice are serious matters in Madagascar. It is important for the Malagasy mind to consider the social and societal aspect in the way it articulates its ideas; this comes from its choice of political orientations: the country was socialist under the first government of the Malagasy Republic. The notion of sharing and aid remains anchored in the choices and customs even today.

The child of the big island laughs and laughs, but also at times smiles. What exactly is he laughing about? It is the smile that dresses up his headdress, part of his costume. In his laughter the innocence of a child like any other. He strolls in the wind with that smile that characterises him.

A way of life:

In their way of life, on a daily basis, the Malagasy people remain open. They knead their traditions and discover, try, drop, stop. They go through their time while living in it, they live cut off from the rhythm of the world with its festivals and its history, its ecosystem. It is open to change and novelty. It is not uncommon to see a Malagasy armed with the latest high-tech technology or young people gathered together with different backgrounds.

Visit Madagascar and meet the child with the graceful smile, the child of the big island now.