My first article was about a solidarity school in a village in southwest Madagascar: #1 Pupils of the school belong mainly to two ethnics groups, the Vezo (pronounced vez) and the Tanalana.

The Tanalana are farming people, difficult task if any, in this so arid region, a little cassava and the good years of maize, some goats and zebus, constitute their only resources.

The Vezo of which this article deals, belong to these kind of ethnics groups which, voluntarily or not, and for various reasons have become a little mythical in the popular imagination like the so famous Touaregs in the Sahara.

This article has no ethnological vocation or exhaustive claim, it is only a part of my life that I shared with a village, and with a young Vezo, Peter, who made me the honor to become, I pretend to believe it, a friend, and open the door of his universe. & Nbsp;

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Who are Vezo ?

According to Wikipedia (Source : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoire_de_Madagascar) the Vezo would be part of the first inhabitants of Madagascar, arrived from Indonesia on outrigger canoes, these migrants that the oral tradition known under the name of Ntaolo, would have divided according to their choice of subsistence between the Vazimba and the Vezo.

The territory of the Vezo stretches along the southwest coast of Madagascar and especially the region of Tuléar and Morombe. The Vezo followed the schools of fish, sleeping in the coastal dunes sheltered by their only square veil used as a tent. Traditionally nomadic, fish collectors have favored the sedentarization that this population is currently experiencing.

The Vezo have earned the respect of other ethnicities because the sea is scary, the sea is dangerous especially with the means they have. This unknown man, seen from the ground, participates in their legend. They know the sea, they go to sea, pushed by the thermal winds of the morning, sometimes lose sight of the coast, do not return until the afternoon with the inversion of the winds.

A main economic activity: Fishing

The Vezo get all their resources from the sea.

While men are fishing in their dugout canoe, women wait for low tide to roam the lagoon in search of octopus, sea urchins and other crustaceans that will be consumed, stored or sold. This fishing is practiced during high tides to walk in the lagoon.

The Vezo manage several fishing techniques, always from their outrigger canoe. Fishing net, hook or harpoon rifle. The children are initiated at a very young age into fishing and canoeing.

An indispensable help: The outrigger canoe and square sail

As the Tuareg has his camel the Vezo has his canoe. The dugout canoes are carved in light wood trees (Farafatse that looks like balsa). The base trunk is enhanced by planks of the same wood, tarred for the lower part and painted with bright colors for the upper part. The canoe is then equipped with its hardwood pendulum. The rig consists of two masts and a square sail. The canoes can measure between 2 and 8 meters depending on their use, the larger can load more than one ton. For a Vezo the pirogue is of paramount importance, undoubtedly more important than its dwelling itself.

The strength of traditions

This life close to nature favors the mystic, the Vezo believe in many spirits, including those of the drowned, who wander in the sea. It is not necessary to fish more than to ensure its needs under pain of offending the supernatural forces that could be revenge for example by causing a shipwreck. Do not go to sea after talking with your father, you could be pursued by a blue whale not necessarily good intentions.

An uncertain future?

Increased populations, demand for fish, pollution, overexploitation of the lagoon, industrial fishing off the coast ... are leading to a decline in fish stocks. If this phenomenon is prolonged, and it is very likely, Vezo will have to reconsider their way of life.

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Fishermen Vezo "The lords of the sea", I do not know where I read or heard this expression, sorry for the copyright, proud and haloed of their local glory, pursued without knowing it by a development that brings them nothing

Lords of the sea, necessarily demystified by three years of shared life ... but that's another story, let's preserve a part of dream.