Ruled By Razana

A place of rice and smiles and unusual beliefs, Madagascar’s many tribes all have unique traditions – the common thread being the belief in the power and respect of the ancestors, or razana

- Keri Harvey

Today is auspicious for Patric Niaina. As a rickshaw owner in the highland town of Antsirabe, 170km south-west of Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo, he has taken the day off work, even though it’s mid-week, donned his finest clothes and cocked a hat on his head. As we make our way along winding red-dust tracks into the countryside, he sits silently, deep in thought.

Six kilometers further, Niaina points to a gathering of people milling in the distance. “That’s where it is,” he says, adding, “it is good luck for my family that you are here.” The red, white and green Madagascan flag marks the tomb and hundreds of people are thronging around the entrance, sipping rum, chatting and laughing. This is not at all what we were expecting at a famadihana or bone-turning ceremony. It seems more fitting to be quiet and somber.

The ruling Merina tribe, who live on the highlands around Antananarivo, practise bone-turning ceremonies as a way of revering their ancestors. Across the 18 tribes that inhabit Madagascar, bone-turning is unique to the Merina and Betsileo and happens in the dry months from June to September. Families save for between five and seven years to afford the costly ceremony, which requires hiring a band, slaughtering a number of prized zebu cattle, and feeding the attending crowd plenty of rum and rice.

A rum old time