Vezo

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Vezo
Total population
^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Madagascar
Languages
Malagasy language, Vezo dialect
Religions
ancestral religion
Related ethnic groups
Masikoro^[2]

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. They do not identify with an ethnic group but instead with their way of life.^[3] Because of their semi-nomadic marine migrations their population is difficult to determine and has been estimated by counting the dugout canoes called pirogues (lakanas in Malagasy language) around Madagascar.

1 Ethnic identity
2 History
3 Society
4 Culture
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Ethnic identity

Anthropologists generally describe the Vezo as "having evident genetic similarities to ethic groups from mainland Africa," while at the same time the Vezo consider their identity depending on their actions.^[4]

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[edit] History

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[edit] Society

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[edit] Culture

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[edit] See also

Africa Portal

Demographics of Madagascar

[edit] Notes

^ unofficial estimates include: 3000 in Anakao, 1500 in Andavadoaka, 1000 in Betania; 22000 lakanas documented in 1995 census, see Reef Doctor
^ Vezo term people who live inland as Masikoro and people who live by the sea as Vezo, see Rita Astuti
^ Rita Astuti
^ Langley, Astuti

[edit] References

Langley, Josephine (2006). "The 2004-2005 census of Andavadoaka" (PDF). . blueventures.org. Langley, J., Harris, A. & Nihalani, N. (2006) The 2004-2005 census of Andavadoaka, southwest Madagascar. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.
Vezo people: the stakeholders. Reef Doctor. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. “In 1995 a census was taken on lakana numbers and 22,000 documented, with 75% of them on the west coast of Madagascar with 50% of these in the Toliara region alone”
Rita Astuti (1985). "The Vezo Are Not a Kind of People": Identity, Difference, and "Ethnicity" among a Fishing People of Western Madagascar". American Ethnologist 22 (3): 464–482. doi:10.1525/ae.1995.22.3.02a00010. ISSN 0094-0496.
Rita Astuti. Culture and the Mind / Fieldsite in Western Madagascar. Sheffield University. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. “Betania ... Population About 1,000 in August, 2004 ... Language Malagasy, Vezo dialect ... ancestral religion is predominant in the village ...”
Elizabeth Kiendl de Haes (2007-04-11). Volunteering with the Vezo. World Wide Fund for Nature. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. “village of Anakao, with approximately 3000 inhabitants ... no running water, no electricity, no internet and no mobile reception ... consuming primarily what they can obtain from the sea, plus some pulses, rice and mangoes”

[edit] External links

The Southern Region - very short section on Vezo canoes and burial practices
Photo journal: Shark fishing in Madagascar Jonny Hogg, BBC, ten annotated photographs about the Vezo, "the sea is the most important thing in the world for the Vezo. For most of us, it's our only source of income."