Madagascar's youth revive ancestral rites in search of identity

The skull of the zebu, sacrificed to the ancestors during the Alakoasibe ceremony, is later placed at the entrance of the house in honour of ancestral spirits. Its cutting follows specific techniques passed down by elders to younger people. © RFI/Sarah Tetaud

Facing unemployment and social tensions, young people in Madagascar are returning to ancestral possession rituals and traditions tied to identity and belonging.

In a small town near Mahajanga, chants of the Sakalava, one of Madagascar’s ethnic groups, drift through the open windows of a house where around 60 guests, mostly young people, are gathered in a living room filled with incense and music.