Mystification of the Mikea: Constructions of Foraging Identity in Southwest Madagascar

Abstract

Cultural identity is shaped by local understandings of sameness and difference, understandings that are affected by local, regional, and global socioeconomic patterns. The cultural identity of foragers in particular is also significantly shaped by the meanings attached to a foraging lifestyle by local, regional, and international entities. This article examines the situation of the Mikea, horticulturalists/foragers of southwestern Madagascar. Mikea identity is flexible and complex, linked to living in the forest and using forest resources; foraging and maize horticulture connect Mikea with local, regional, and global economies. Being Mikea also entails managing connotations of "primitivism" and the social and economic consequences of government, researcher, missionary, and tourist interest in hunter-gatherers.

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