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Malagasy Weaving
Malagasy weaving flourished until around 1950. Due to varied ecology in Madagascar, many different materials were used to weave with and formed various styles of mainly striped cloth. Cultural impact Textiles were an essential part Malagasy social and ethnic identity. Some types of cloth were imbued with supernatural powers. The Sakalava, Mahafaly, and Merina were three Malagasy cultures for which textiles played an important role in statecraft and metaphysical belief systems. Malagasy weaving was associated with women and the female identity. The relationships between weaving, the ancestors, and reburial are issues that reflect a dynamic world of spiritual power, social importance, and symbolism. A Madagascar-wise tale stated that the original union of a man and a woman, the wife brought the cloth and a mat, while the husband provided house building and agriculture. Hence, traditionally, a women's domestic skills, intelligence and industry were judged largely on her weaving. L ...
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Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel. At Madagascar is the world's List of island countries, second-largest island country, after Indonesia. The nation is home to around 30 million inhabitants and consists of the island of Geography of Madagascar, Madagascar (the List of islands by area, fourth-largest island in the world), along with numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of wildlife of Madagascar, its wildlife is endemic. Human settlement of Madagascar occurred during or befo ...
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Tesaka
The Antesaka, also known as Tesaka, or Tesaki, are an ethnic group of Madagascar traditionally concentrated south of Farafangana along the south-eastern coast. They have since spread more widely throughout the island. The Antesaka form about 5% of the population of Madagascar. They have mixed African, Arab and Malayo-Indonesian ancestry, like the western coastal Sakalava people of Madagascar from whom the clan derives. They traditionally have strong marriage taboos and complex funeral rites. The Antesaka typically cultivate coffee, bananas and rice, and those along the coast engage in fishing. A large portion of the population has emigrated to other parts of the island for work, with an estimated 40% of emigrants between 1948 and 1958 permanently settling outside the Antesaka homeland. The group was founded by Andriamandresy, a Sakalava prince who was cast out of Menabe after engaging in violence upon being passed over in the line of succession. The Antesaka constituted one of t ...
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Silkworm
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food are white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even the osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths (other species of ''Bombyx'') are not as commercially viable in the production of silk. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Nepal, Japan, and the West. The domestic silk moth was domesticated from the wild silk moth ''Bombyx mandarina'', which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan ...
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Hemp
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants on Earth. It was also one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 50,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed. Although chemotype I cannabis and hemp (types II, III, IV, V) are both ''Cannabis sativa'' and contain the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), they represent distinct cultivar groups, typically with unique phytochemical compositions and uses. Hemp typically has lower concentrations of total THC and may have higher concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD), which potentially mitigates the psychoactive effects of THC. The legality of hemp varies widely among countrie ...
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Betsileo
The Betsileo are a highland ethnic groups of Madagascar, ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population. They chose their name, meaning "The Many Invincible Ones", after a failed invasion by King Ramitraho of the Menabe kingdom in the early 19th century. Territory The Betsileo occupy the south of the Madagascar plateau. Their traditional territory extends from the north of the Mania River in the north to the foot of the Andringitra Massif in the south; to the west by the Bongolava chain and the east by the Eastern Forest, occupied by the Tanala tribe. Most of the Betsileo region lies within the boundaries of the Malagasy province of Fianarantsoa, where their capital city of the same name can be found. Traditionally their territory and their people are divided into three major parts. The Northern Betsileo (or Fisakana) is defined by the Ivato and Manandona rivers in the north and the Sahanivotry and Mania rivers to the south. The Central Betsileo (or Manand ...
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Isalo
Isalo is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Miandrivazo, which is a part of Menabe Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 8,000 in 2001 commune census. Only Primary schooling is available. The majority 50% of the population of the commune are Farmers, while an additional 30% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crop is bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...s, while other important products are maize and rice. Services provide employment for 10% of the population. Additionally, fishing employs 10% of the population. References and notes Populated places in Menabe {{Menabe-geo-stub ...
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Tanosy
The Antanosy is a Malagasy ethnic group who primarily live in the Anosy region of southeastern Madagascar, though there are also Antanosy living near Bezaha, where some of the Antanosy moved after the Merina people conquered Anosy. An estimated 360,000 people identify as Antanosy as of 2013. Ethnic identity The Antanosy constitute approximately two percent of the total population, forming one of the smallest Malagasy ethnic groups both in size and in traditional territory. They primarily live in the Anosy region of southeastern Madagascar, though there are also Antanosy living near Bezaha, where some of the Antanosy moved after the Merina people conquered Anosy. History 9th to 12th centuries – Maliovola phase of Anosy with evidence of both cattle herding and fishing. Gardening and hunting also assumed.[] 13th century * Ambinanibe phase of Anosy shows the introduction of ironworking and some signs of connections with broader Indian Ocean exchange networks with little evid ...
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Tandroy
The Tandroy are a traditionally nomadic ethnic group of Madagascar inhabiting the arid southern part of the island called Androy, tracing their origins back to the East Africa mainland. In the 17th century however, the Tandroy emerged as a confederation of two groups ruled by the Zafimanara dynasty until flooding caused the kingdom to disband around 1790. The difficult terrain and climate of Tandroy protected and isolated the population, sparing them from subjugation by the Kingdom of Imerina in the 19th century; later, the French colonial authority also struggled to exert its influence over this population. Since independence the Tandroy have suffered prejudice and economic marginalization, prompting widespread migration and intermarriage with other ethnic groups, and leading them to play a key role in protests that sparked the end of President Philibert Tsiranana's administration in 1972. The Tandroy may also be called the Antandroy, but it is technically redundant: ''roy'' ...
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Masikoro
The Masikoro are a group of farmers and herders who inhabit areas surrounding the Mikea Forest, a patch of mixed spiny forest and dry deciduous forest along the coast of southwestern Madagascar in Toliara Province. Along with Vezo and Mikea, the Masikoro are Sakalava people, the difference being that Masikoro are of the land, Vezo are of the sea, and Mikea are of the forest. Ethnicity Some 90,000 of the Masikoro people, mainly concentrated in the districts of Toliara and Morombe, speak the Masikoro-Malagasy language, a dialect of the Malagasy language. At one time there was a Masikoro kingdom with a king ruling the territory. Masikoro according to some means "Those dressed in clothing made from rushes". The Masikoro belong ethnically to the Sakalava people along with the Mikea and the Vezo fishermen, which trade products caught, foraged or cultivated in the forest among themselves. Some of the clan names are shared between the Masikoro and Mikea peoples. Economy As agropastoralists ...
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Vezo People
The Vezo is the term the semi-nomadic coastal people of southern Madagascar use to refer to people that have become accustomed to live from sea fishing. The Vezo speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. They currently populate most of the littoral zone along Madagascar's west coast between Toliara and Mahajanga. "Vezo" literally means 'the people who fish', but also has been known to mean 'to struggle with the sea'.Kaufmann Ethnic identity Vezo do not identify with a particular Malagasy ethnic group but instead with their way of life.Rita Astuti They currently populate most of the littoral zone along Madagascar's west coast between Toliara and Mahajanga. Like most other Malagasy ethnic groups, their origins can directly be traced to that original mix of Austronesian settlers from Asia and the Bantu migrants from mainland East Africa. They have been known to ...
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Sakalava People
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar. They are found on the western and northwest region of the island, in a band along the coast. The Sakalava are one of the smaller ethnic groups, constituting about 6.2 percent of the total population, that is over 1,210,000 in 2014. Their name means "people of the long valleys." They occupy the western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to the Sambirano River in the north. Ethnic identity The Sakalava denominate a number of smaller ethnic groups that once comprised an empire, rather than an ethnic group in its own right. The origin of the word ''Sakalava'' itself is still subject to controversy, as well as its actual meaning. The most common explanation is the modern Malagasy translation of Sakalava meaning long ravines, denoting the relatively flat nature of the land in western Madagascar. Another theory is that the word is possibly from the Arabic ''saqaliba'', which is in turn derived from Late Latin ''sclavus'', meani ...
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Zafimaniry
The Zafimaniry are a sub-group of the Betsileo people, Betsileo ethnic groups of Madagascar, ethnic group of Madagascar. They live in the forested mountains of the southern central highlands southeast of Ambositra, between the neighboring Betsileo and Tanala peoples. There are approximately 100 Zafimaniry villages, which support a population of approximately 25,000. The Zafimaniry speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, Malayo-Polynesian language group which comes from the Barito languages, that are spoken in southern Borneo. They are known for their Architecture of Madagascar#Zafimaniry traditions, woodcarving knowledge and art, which was added in 2003 to UNESCO's list of the world's UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, Intangible Cultural Heritage. This style of woodworking was once common throughout Madagascar but has decreased because of deforestation. Their art is considered by historians to provide insight into th ...
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