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Introducing Mayotte

Dernière mise à jour : 7 avr. 2022

In this article, let’s talk about my place of birth : Mayotte island.

It’s ok if you had ever heard about this place before. Indeed, even if the lagoon of Mayotte was promoted best lagoon in the world a few years ago, the island still very little known..


Mayotte


Mayotte (Mahore in the local language) is the last overseas department of France (only since 2011) . It is a tiny tropical island which is located between Madagascar and southeastern Africa.


The inhabitants of Mayotte are called mahorais. Geographicaly, the island belongs to the Comoros Archipelago ( which is composed of four islands). The island itself is split between 2 islands : A main island ( grande terre ) and a smaller one ( Petite terre ). To sale from Grande Terre to Petite Terre, the mahorais used to take a kind of ferry which is called « La barge » .




















Language

In Mayotte island, we have two native languages : « Shimaoré » who is spoken by the majority of the inhabitants and "kibushi", a language from Madagascar who is spoken by a minority. . The official language is French.


Daily tradition


✼ Clothes

Mayotte is a very traditional island. In the streets, you could see many women wearing different kind of salouva, the traditional outfit.

















✼ Island of flowers

Mayotte is also known as « The island of perfume » because in Mayotte flowers are very important, The emblem of the island is a flower of Ylang Ylang.






woman used to put flower of jasmine in their head during an event.











When someone arrive on the island, we welcome her with a flower necklace.









✼ "Voulé" ( the traditional barbecue )

If there is one thing that the inhabitant of Mayotte island love more than anything else in this world ( and it’s not even a hyperbole ) is the weekly barbecue which is called « voulé ». (My father used to say that « voulé » deserved to be in the flag of Mayotte island) . It is a moment of relaxation and shared conviviality where people gathered together around a barbecue, generally on Sunday .




✼ Debaa : an annual tradition

People in Mayotte island are mainly muslims. During the month of ramadan, you could hear débaa everywhere. Debaa is a traditionnal song which is relate a religious message. The main instrument is called « tari », it is a specific tambourine in Mayotte. Debaa is entirely a woman choir and it’s accompanied by a light dance but only with hands.



Writter : Djamila Hassan.
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