Vezo People - History

History

There are two parts to this history which are relevant to the Vezo view of the environment – how and why the original clans of Andavadoaka left their former village and how they came to choose the site that is now Andavadoaka. The three clans that established Andavadoaka relocated to avoid the regular invasion by bandits. Marauders from inland tribes regularly attacked the old village a few kilometres north. As pacifists, the Vezo rarely defend their property and are often attacked by others. The villagers wanted an end to these attacks so used their knowledge of local fish to catch poisonous lionfish and gobies, which they cooked and scattered around the village just before the expected attack. After preparing the poison trap, the villagers sailed in their pirogues to the outlying islands to hide from the bandits. Expecting an empty village, knowing the Vezo always flee from attacks, the unsuspecting bandits arrived and ate the food that had been left behind. Many of the bandits died. On returning the villagers saw the corpses of the poisoned bandits and referred to them as those who had died from eating lionfish (moroy), and from then on referred to the village as the ‘dead of moroy’ or ‘Tratna amy moroy.’ The name of the village to this day is Antsatsamoroy. Attacks by bandits continue today. In December 2003 to January 2004, March and October 2005 and March to May 2006, cattle rustlers, dahalo or malaso, threatened villagers and stole cattle at pastures in the spiny forest, inland from the village. There have been incidents involving local villagers – one was fatally wounded by shooting after pursuing the armed malaso in the aftermath of a village raid. On each occasion, many of the Vezo villagers put their valuables in their pirogues and send women and children to the outlying islands for safety (in particular, Nosy Hao and Nosy Ve) – sometimes almost completely depopulating the village. The second part of Andavadoaka’s history – how the clans came to choose Andavadoaka – relates to the local landscape. Tired with attacks, the villagers sought a location hidden from both land and sea, where it would be harder for marauders to encounter the village by chance. Their chosen site was a depression in-between surrounding limestone outcrops, on the flattened sand dunes of a sheltered bay. The description given to the location of the village was the depression (lavaka) between the hills. To the east of the village there is a hill riddled with tunnels. The question, ‘lavaka aiza?’ (where is the hole?), and the answer, ‘lavaka loaka’ (the hole is in the rock), provided the name for the village – ‘Andavadoaka’.