Antaimoro

Antaimoro, a Malagasy people living on and near the southeastern coast of Madagascar. Numbering about 350,000 in the late 20th century, the Antaimoro (“People of the Coast”) speak one of the Malagasy languages, a group of closely related Western Austronesian languages. Traditionally the Antaimoro were ruled by five families of Arabic origin who probably came to Madagascar at different times during the 16th century. Several Antaimoro clans claim Indian origins, while others consider themselves indigenous. After the final French conquest of the island in 1895, Antaimoro political organization was brought into the colonial structure.

The Antaimoro live in dense concentration along river valleys, their villages often adjoining one another and running up and over the tops of the rolling hills characteristic of their land. Others live in a narrow band of coastal swamp and are renowned fishermen. Antaimoro are known for their large canoes rigged with square sails. Women fish in streams or from shore, while men go to open waters. Antaimoro grow rice and other crops in the rich alluvial soils and keep cattle in areas away from the coast. In the past they refined salt for use in trade, and their ombiasi (diviner-healers) were celebrated healers, legal arbitrators, and purveyors of amulets and magical medicines. The Antaimoro are among a small minority of Malagasy people who actively practice Islām, although in a form heavily influenced by traditional beliefs. For many years Antaimoro were the only indigenous literate recorders of local history and culture, although the Arabic texts left by early Antaimoro authors have yet to be examined systematically.