The Mikea are a group of Malagasy-speaking horticulturalists/foragers of southwestern Madagascar.[1] The Mikea 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.
Mikea identity is flexible and complex, linked to living in the forest and using forest resources; it does not constitute a Malagasy ethnic group per se but is often classified as an identity much like ethnic groups. Foraging and maize horticulture connect the Mikea with local, regional, and global economies. Being Mikea also entails managing connotations of primitivism with the social and economic consequences of government, researcher, missionary, and tourist interest in hunter-gatherers.
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