Tsimihety - Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs and Practitioners. As is the case throughout Madagascar, Tsimihety have a vague belief in a Supreme Being (Andriamanitra) who presides over a spirit world in which the most important inhabitants are the ancestors. Ancestors occupy the world in general but retain a specific presence and influence in the area ( tanindrazana ) that surrounds their particular tombs. So strong is the sense of the presence of ancestors that it would be accurate to suggest that the living are a part of the world of the ancestors and that life is just the pathway to death. Tsimihety tombs are undecorated natural caves in the hills. Although Christian missionaries (Protestant and Catholic, English and French) have been present among Tsimihety for more than a century, only a small percentage of Tsimihety are Christians. These are found mostly in the small towns, where the missionaries have educated children in church schools.

Arts. Tsimihety are extraordinarily nonaesthetic, and their crafts are entirely functional. Little if any decoration is applied, music is rarely played, stories are hardly ever told, cooking is plain boiling with only salt added, special costumes are absent, and dancing is occasional and no more than a shuffle. Cattle are the entire focus of aesthetic attention. Sometimes they are branded; otherwise, each clan designates its cattle with a special earmark. Cattle are admired for the shape of their horns, the size of their humps, and the combinations of colors in their coats.

Medicine. Traditional medicine, utilizing plants and prophylactic amulets, is predominant and is prescribed and administered by specialists (ombiasa). Healing by shamans (tromba) is common but less sought after. Most adults have some knowledge of medicinal plants and treatments and treat themselves and their children for minor ailments. Mandritsara has a hospital, and other district towns have medical centers and private pharmacies owned by Merina or other vazaha (outsiders, including Europeans) who sell Western medicines. These are used widely by the town dwellers, including Tsimihety.

Death and Afterlife. Life is measured as a progress toward death and ancestorship, but this concept does not prevent death from being treated with apprehension. First burial is usually beneath a large rock. The corpse is bathed and dressed, attended constantly by close kin; other mourners grieve or put on a show of grief in a special construction, fondra ratsy ("bad place"). A large feast for all kin, friends, and neighbors is held, at which most of the deceased's cattle may be slaughtered. Some years later (the government decrees a minimum of three years), there is a secondary burial ( famadihana ): the bones are exhumed, wrapped in a special winding cloth ( lamba mena ), and placed in the ancestral tomb. Famadihana is usually the occasion for a feast, but Tsimihety engage in very little ritual during such observances.