Amber Mountain Sacred Forest: Antakarana

Madagascar is known as the land of the ancestors. This is because all Malagasy ethnic groups place paramount importance on reverence of ancestors, and even land access is mediated through adherence to ritual regarding ancestors. Traditionally, ancestors have been considered as active participants in the daily lives of the living, and attendance to their tombs and their memory is considered a primary responsibility of the living.

Contemporary American descendants of Malagasy immigrants exhibit this cultural trait by remembering their Malagasy descent for themselves and their children, in spite of a host culture which, until recently, did not share the same cultural priorities. Concern for respect of ancestors is still manifested through concious efforts in families to remember ancestors of Malagasy identity and continued searches for direct kinship links with Madagascar, or favoring this memory of descent over others which are less well known.

The Malagasy Diaspora email discussion list is named [email protected] after the name of my great-great-grandfather, who arrived from Madagascar around 1825 (+/-5 years). To subscribe, send a message to the address above and write subscribe in the body of the text.

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