Native Nations
The Survival of Indigenous Peoples, 4th Edition
Betsimisaraka of Madagascar
Below are resources related to Douglas W. Hume's “Betsimisaraka of Madagascar” chapter of Native Nations: The Survival of Indigenous Peoples, 4th Edition, edited by Sharlotte Neely and Douglas W. Hume.
Agencies & Organizations
- CEREL Museum of the University of Toamasina
- Institut de Civilisations Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie
Discussion Questions
- Explain the cultural changes that have occurred among the Betsimisaraka due to external forces on them.
- Describe the threats to Betsimisaraka cultural survival by outsiders in their recent history.
- How have the different political periods impact Madagascar's ecosystems?
- What are the key topics in current conservation research in Madagascar?
- What challenges do the Betsimisaraka people in Andasibe face?
Documentary Films
- Madagascar Shorts - Short films by Douglas W. Hume
- Madagascar, au coeur des terres Betsimisaraka
- Madagascar - Meet those Getting Rich off Vanilla in Madagascar
- People and Power - Madagascar's Chinese Vanilla
- Weaving In Madagascar
Further Reading
- Hume, Douglas W. 2020. “Transmission of Swidden Farming Ritual Knowledge among Households in Eastern Madagascar.” Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science 4 (1): 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-019-00041-5. Cite - Download
- —. 2012. “Malagasy Swidden Agriculture: The Influence of Conservation Organizations on Indigenous Knowledge.” Kentucky Journal of Anthropology and Sociology 2 (1): 37–54. Cite - Download
- —. 2009. “Vary Gasy: Meanings of Rice and Implications for Agricultural Development in Eastern Madagascar.” Etudes Océan Indien, Plantes et Sociétés dans L’Océan Indien Occidental, 42/43: 243–56. https://doi.org/10.4000/oceanindien.812. Cite - Download
- —. 2006a. “Swidden Agriculture and Conservation in Eastern Madagascar: Stakeholder Perspectives and Cultural Belief Systems.” Conservation and Society 4 (2): 287–303. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26396662. Cite - Download
- —. 2006b. “Tanim-Bary Rituals Among the Betsimisaraka in Andasibe.” Taloha: Revue Scientifique Internationale Des Civilisations 16–17. Cite - Download
- —. 2005. “Agriculture in Madagascar: Conservation and Cultural Meanings of Rice.” PhD diss., University of Connecticut. Cite - Download
- Nielssen, Hilde. Ritual imagination: a study of tromba possession among the Betsimisaraka in eastern Madagascar. Vol. 40. Brill, 2011.
- Sodikoff, Genese. "Land and languor: Ethical imaginations of work and forest in northeast Madagascar." History and Anthropology 15, no. 4 (2004): 367-398.
- Rajaonah, Faranirina V. "Forget Colonialism? Sacrifice and the Art of Memory in Madagascar." (2004): 943-946.
Contemporary Betsimisaraka People
Betsimisaraka Historical Range
Betsimisaraka Ethno-historical Photograph
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