Edited By Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about Mayotte which is located off the coast of Southeast Africa and is officially a region or department of France.
Videos of Mayotte are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the producers of these videos and these videos' publishers on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/information-about-five-cultural-videos_17.htmlfor the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Information About & Five Cultural Videos Of Comoros (Africa)".
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INFORMATION ABOUT MAYOTTE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayotte
Mayotte .... is an insular department and region of France officially named the Department of Mayotte (French: Département de Mayotte).[3] It consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeast Africa, between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. The department status of Mayotte is recent and the region remains, by a significant margin, the poorest in France. Mayotte is nevertheless much more prosperous than the other countries of the Mozambique Channel, making it a major destination for illegal immigration.
Mayotte's area is 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi) and, with its 256,518 people at the 2017 census, is very densely populated at 686 per km2 (1,777 per sq mi).[1] The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on Grande-Terre. However, the Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring island of Petite-Terre. The territory is geographically part of the Comoro Islands. The territory is also known as Maore, the native name of its main island, especially by advocates of its inclusion in the Union of the Comoros.
Although, as a department, Mayotte is now an integral part of France, the majority of the inhabitants do not speak French as a first language,[4] but a majority of the people 14 years and older report in the census that they can speak French (with varying levels of fluency).[5] The language of the majority is Shimaore, a Swahili language variety closely related to the varieties in the neighbouring Comoros islands. The second most widely spoken native language is Kibushi, a Malagasy language variety most closely related to the Sakalava dialect of Malagasy with influences from Shimaore. The vast majority of the population is Muslim.
The island was populated from neighbouring East Africa with later arrival of Arabs, who brought Islam. A sultanate was established in 1500. In the 19th century, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar, and later by the neighbouring islands Mohéli and then Anjouan before being purchased by France in 1841. The people of Mayotte voted to remain politically a part of France in the 1974 referendum on the independence of the Comoros. Mayotte became an overseas department on 31 March 2011 and became an outermost region of the European Union on 1 January 2014, following a 2009 referendum with an overwhelming result in favour of the department status."...
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Demographics
As of the September 2017 census, 256,518 people were living in Mayotte.[1] According to the 2007 census, 63.5% of the people living in Mayotte were born in Mayotte, 4.8% were born in the rest of the French Republic (either metropolitan France or overseas France except Mayotte), 28.3% were immigrants from the Comoros, 2.6% were immigrants from Madagascar, and the remaining 0.8% came from other countries.[20]
Most of the inhabitants of the island are Comorians. The Comorians are a blend of settlers from many areas: Iranian traders, mainland Africans, Arabs and Malagasy. Comorian communities can also be found in other parts of the Comoros chain as well as in Madagascar."...
Religions
The main religion in Mayotte is Islam,[21] with 97% of the population Muslim and 3% Christian.[22]
The main religious minority, Roman Catholicism, has no proper diocese but is served, together with the Comoros, by a missionary jurisdiction, the Apostolic Vicariate of Comoros Archipelago.
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Here's a quote from this Wikipedia page on Comoros
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comoros
"In November 1975, the Comoros became the 143rd member of the United Nations. The new nation was defined as comprising the entire archipelago, although the citizens of Mayotte chose to become French citizens and keep their island as a French territory.[42]
The Comoros has repeatedly pressed its claim to Mayotte before the United Nations General Assembly, which adopted a series of resolutions under the caption "Question of the Comorian Island of Mayotte", opining that Mayotte belongs to the Comoros under the principle that the territorial integrity of colonial territories should be preserved upon independence. As a practical matter, however, these resolutions have little effect and there is no foreseeable likelihood that Mayotte will become de facto part of the Comoros without its people's consent. More recently, the Assembly has maintained this item on its agenda but deferred it from year to year without taking action. Other bodies, including the Organization of African Unity, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, have similarly questioned French sovereignty over Mayotte.[5][43] To close the debate and to avoid being integrated by force in the Union of the Comoros, the population of Mayotte overwhelmingly chose to become an overseas department and a region of France in a 2009 referendum. The new status was effective on 31 March 2011 and Mayotte has been recognised as an outermost region by European Union on 1 January 2014. This decision integrates Mayotte in the French Republic legally « one and indivisible »."....
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Excerpt #2:
From https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://lescabanonsamayotte.eklablog.com/manzaraka-a108948690&prev=search The Cabanons in Mayotte By yannick976 in Home on August 11th, 2014 at 16:33
[This article is translated from French to English by Google translate and presented without photographs.]
"Saturday, Camille, Clara and I were invited to a manzaraka by Faouzia.
The manzaraka is a part of the Mahorais marriage.
So, to get married in Mayotte, one must first make the Mafounguizo, it is the private religious ceremony that celebrates the wedding before a cadi (= Muslim judge).
If you want to legalize the religious union, then you have to go to the town hall.
The manzaraka is the public officialization of marriage. It is a question of accompanying the groom in procession to the residence of the bride.
The men walk in front of:
The women follow:
The groom walks among eight other men from his close entourage. Women shelter them with their parasols, and fan them with small flags.
[...]
The procession then separates: men on one side, women on the other (that's why my lover he did not want to come: he did not want to be away from me all day). As I know how to stand, so I followed the women until under the stretched canvases where the meal awaited us:
There are a few people, Faouzia estimated at the ladle 500 or 600 women ... Small precision by the way, the months of July and August are the months of weddings in Mayotte, and that morning, when we left Kani-Be with Clara, we met women who were going to manzarakas in Bandrele and Chiroungui. There were cars parked everywhere, it is the parents of the married who charter these cars to transport their guests ...
How come so many people? Good question. In fact, this is partly due to the fact that each guest has the right to invite whoever he wants. For example, Faouzia was invited by the families of the newlyweds; she invited Camille, Clara and me; if we had wanted we could invite other people, who themselves could have invited other people, who themselves could have invited other people, who themselves could have invited other people, who they themselves could have invited other people, who themselves could have invited other people ...
The meal is punctuated by the songs and the percussions of the mbiwis:
After the meal (which has been prepared by members of the extended family of the bride, and I can tell you that it is complicated, since we do not know how many guests are going to be there), the bride is brought on the place of the women's meal, and installed on a throne:
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In fact, the bride remains hidden under a veil. It is her stepmother who will get the right to discover her by dancing for her and making an offering (tickets)."...
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Here's information about "mbiwis" musical instrument (translated from French to English)
From http://mavieamayotte.blogspot.com/2006/01/les-instruments-traditionnels.html The Traditional Instruments
"MBIWI: sticks used as percussion by women and girls. The instrument gave the name to a dance practiced exclusively by married women"
Some videos of performances with mbiwis are found below.
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: MAYOTTE, The Island In The Lagoon
Best Documentary, Published on May 5, 2016
Encircled by one of the world’s largest enclosed lagoons, the 101st French department is a real cultural crossroads between Africa, the Indian Ocean and Europe. This film by Pierre Brouwers is the true-to-life portrait of an island where little villages live in pace with age-old customs, where nature reveals a surprise package of flora and fauna. A guaranteed change of scenery…
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Example #2: Mbiwi de Manzaraka Miss Mayotte 2017
Kavou Kaivo, Published on Aug 20, 2017
Les candidates à l'éléction Miss Mayotte 2017 à un Mandzaraka avec Fleur d'Ylang
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Example #3: Chorégraphie d groupe Tsara Mandrosso au Manzaraka de Mme Fatima Ahmed et Mr Anrichidine
usv prod, Published on Jan 8, 2018
Chorégraphie d groupe Tsara Mandrosso au Manzaraka de Mme Fatima Ahmed et Mr Anrichidine
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Google translate from French to English: "Choreography by Tsara Mandrosso group in Manzaraka by Mrs Fatima Ahmed and Mr Anrichidine"
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Example #3: Traditional Wedding in Mayotte
Global Island Girl TV, Published on Jan 24, 2018
In this video you get to see my adventure attending a traditional wedding in Mayotte!!! This was such a fun and unique experience for me because weddings are done very differently there!
Enjoy watching the pre wedding preparation, exclusive chat with the bride, the procession through the streets and me being super confused at the reception!
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch this!!! Also, don't forget to leave a comment below to let me know what you think and if you have any questions!
With Love and Light,
Flo
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Example #5: Manzaraka Show .. Mayotte
Kavou Kaivo, Published on May 6, 2018
Vive nos mariés à Mayotte, et Manzaraka Show avec les jolies femmes de Mayotte
Fleur d'Ylang de Tsingoni : Manzaraka de Rouzouna 14/07/2018 .
usv prod, Published on Jul 14, 2018
Manzaraka fleur d'Ylang de Tsingoni . 14/07/2018
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Here's an excerpt from a June 30, 2018 article about earthquake activity near Mayotte:
ReplyDeleteEarthquake swarm (and the stress) continue in Mayotte
By AT editor - 30 June 2018 at 11:28 pm https://africatimes.com/2018/06/30/earthquake-swarm-and-the-stress-continue-in-mayotte/
"It was June 14 when officials in Mayotte opened up a psychological support services unit, designed to help residents deal with the stress of hundreds of earthquakes they’ve experienced as part of the ongoing seismic activity the Indian Ocean island nation has endured for weeks.
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Almost all of the seismic activity is in the same spot about 50 kilometers to the east of the island, with the largest 5.8-magnitude quake occurring on May 15. It also was the largest ever recorded in the archipelago, surpassing a 5.2-magnitude event in 1993 that had previously been considered the most powerful.
While there have been no reports of serious injury or fatality, the constant shaking has created anxiety and uncertainty for some of the 250,000 people living in Mayotte as well as visitors to the tourism hotspot. Some minor damage has occurred to buildings, including a school in Dembeni. At least 10 families have been evacuated from damaged homes and relocated, at least until the threat passes.
The problem is that it never does.
Coping with the quakes
The phenomenon has led to a flurry of emergency activity on the island, which remains a territory of France amid the long-standing dispute with Comoros, the group of islands to which it geographically and culturally belongs. Both lie in the Comoros Basin, at the northern edge of the Mozambique Channel between the southern African mainland and Madagascar. The quakes likely are the result of a seismic hotspot as well as the island’s position along the East African rift, the BRGM said, but there’s uncertainty about why this swarm is happening now."...