The Comorian People

The final chapter looks more closely at the islands’ people: their matrilineal kinship systems, age systems, associated rituals and powerful forces for social cohesion. It surveys their material culture, clothing, music and food, and explores the different types of social and ethnic identities that Comorians might invoke, particularly the hierarchies that continue to distinguish the noble born, those of Arab ancestry, and the descendants of slaves, the African, particularly on Ndzuani. On Mayotte, now firmly part of France, different identities are at play. The importance of the Comorian diaspora is explained, whether in Zanzibar, Madagascar or in France, and their contribution, particularly in terms of remittances, to local economic development. This chapter ends with some reflections on the future of the archipelago – both the independent state and French Mayotte.

Archaeology · Archipelago · Clothing · Cohesion (chemistry) · Diaspora · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Genealogy · Geography · Kinship · Social organisation · Social science · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History