Famadihana
The Merina
The Merina are a Malagasy ethnic group who live in the heart of the former Imerina Kingdom, which was founded by Andriamanelo in 1540 and overthrown by French colonial powers in 1897 (Kellum-Ottino 1972:85; Mutibwa 1979:110). The Merina are agriculturalists who live in small villages throughout the central highlands of Madagascar (Graeber 1995:262; Larson 2001:124).
Ancestor Veneration
Ancestor veneration is a quintessential aspect of many cultures throughout the world, and the Merina are no exception. It is a common belief that ancestors are capable of providing assistance and blessings to the livings when pleased with the behavior of their living descendants (Hogan 2019:3). For the Merina, such blessings include the health and fertility of crops and humans (McGeorge 1974:35-36). By performing famadihana, the Merina are able to ensure that they receive these blessings from their ancestors (Razafindrakoto 2006:458).
Types of Famadihana
Famadihana is a Malagasy burial practice that has taken many different forms throughout history. Each type of famadihana is practiced under different sets of circumstances, but the underlying purpose remains the same throughout (Larson 2001:123). The practice of famadihana allows living individuals to show respect for their departed ancestors and have leverage to ask for their blessings (Hogan 2019:3; Razafindrakoto 2006:458).
Famadihana of Repatriation
Famadihana of repatriation is the most historic form of famadihana. Necessitated by the frequent war-waging of Radama I, who ruled Imerina from 1809 to 1828, it involves the movement of a body over long distances so that they may be interred in the family tomb of the decedent (Larson 2001:132). Friends going to war together often pledged to take each others bones home to their families if one or the other died (Larson 2001:132). Rather than carrying the body in its entirety, time was allowed for the flesh to decompose in order to lighten the load for those tasked with carrying bodies back home from battle (Larson 2001:132; Poleykett 2018:2).
Transfer Famadihana
Transfer famadihana is carried out when a family tomb is filled with bodies and a new tomb must be established (Razafindrakoto 2006:457). In order to establish a new tomb, one ancestor is selected from the old tomb to serve as the razambe, or "great ancestor," of the new tomb. A ceremony is then held during which the razambe is moved to a place of honor in the new tomb (Graeber 1995:263). Following this transfer, descendants of the razambe are entitled to be buried within its tomb in the future (Graeber 1995:262).
Razambe Ikambanana
Razambe ikambanana, or "combined razambe," are the combined remains of multiple ancestors. They are produced so that very old bodies or the bodies of individuals with no descendants to tend to them are cared for well into the afterlife (Graeber 1995:264; Larson 2001:125). The famadihana process causes bodies to be crushed into fine powder that can easily be combined within a single burial shroud to form razambe ikambanana (Graeber 1995:263). Following transfer famadihana, razambe ikambanana are often left in old tombs, preventing most tombs from ever being emptied completely (Graeber 1995:264).
Famadihana of Rewrapping
Also called prestige famadihana by some anthropologists, famadihana of rewrapping is the form of famadihana that is most frequently practiced in Madagascar today (Larson 2001:123, 147; Razafindrakoto 2006:457). Famadihana of rewrapping is performed once every three to nine years so that ancestors continue to be remembered by their descendants, allowing them to continue to live on in the afterlife (Graeber 1995:258-259; Larson 2001:124; Razafindrakoto 2006:456). During the rewrapping ceremony, bodies are removed from a tomb in order from most ancient to least ancient before being wrapped in fresh polyester or silk and placed back in the tomb (Graeber 1995:260-261).
References
Bearak, Barry. 2010. "Dead Join the Living in a Family Celebration." NYTimes.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020 (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/world/africa/06madagascar.html).
Graeber, David. 1995. “Dancing with Corpses Reconsidered: An Interpretation of ‘famadihana’ (In Arivonimam, Madagascar).” American Ethnologist 22 (2): 258-278. (Retrieved from JSTOR on August 9, 2020.)
Hogan, Jackie. 2019. Roots Quest: Inside America’s Genealogy Boom. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield.
Kellum-Ottino, Marimari. 1972. "Discovery of a Neolithic Adze in Madagascar." Asian Perspectives 15 (1): 83-86. (Retrieved from JSTOR on December 13, 2020).
Larson, Pier Martin. 2001. “Austronesian Mortuary Ritual in History: Transformations of Secondary Burial (Famadihana) in Highland Madigascar.” Ethnohistory 48 (1-2): 123-155. (Retrieved from Project MUSE on August 9, 2020.)
McGeorge, Susan. 1974. “Imerina Famadihana as a Secondary Burial.” Archipel 7: 21-39. Retrieved August 9, 2020 (https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_1974_num_7_1_1155).
Munnik, Jo, and Katy Scott. 2017. "In Famadihana, Madagascar, a Sacred Ritual Unearths the Dead." CNN.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020 (https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/18/travel/madagascar-turning-bones/index.html).
Poleykett, Branwyn. 2018. “Ethnohistory and the Dead: Cultures of Colonial Epidemiology.” Medical Anthropology 37 (6): 472-485. (Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online on October 4, 2020.)
Ragg, Margherita. 2014. "Madagascar Death Legends and Traditions from the River Tsiribihina." TheFairytaleTraveler.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020 (https://thefairytaletraveler.com/2014/10/20/madagascar-death-legends/).
Razafindrakoto, Georges. 2006. “The Old Testament and the Malagasy famadihana Ritual.” Old Testament Essays 19 (2): 455-472. Retrieved August 9, 2020 (https://journals.co.za/content/oldtest/19/2/EJC85801).
