Mayotte is a department and region of France, comprising an archipelago of islands in the Indian Ocean, between the coast of Mozambique and Madagascar. A coral barrier reef surrounds the archipelago, sheltering a marine reserve and the largest coral reef lagoon in the world.
Measuring more than 1,000 square metres in size, the lagoon is a popular destination for scuba divers. However, Mayotte’s remote location has held it back to a degree from becoming a truly popular international tourist destination.
The region’s main industries include livestock farming, cultivating agricultural crops, such as vanilla, ylang-ylang, coffee, cinnamon and coconuts and the shrimping and lobster industry.
The population of 287,342 people inhabit an area of 374 sq km across two main islands of the Comoros, Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre. The region’s population is mainly concentrated in the urban area of the capital city, Mamoudzou.
In the 19th century, the population grew rapidly from 3,000 inhabitants in 1841 to 12,000 by 1861. They were a mixture of Mahorans from Mayotte, Malagasy from Madagascar, African slaves and their descendants, Comorians from other local islands, Indian merchants, Creoles, European immigrants and inhabitants of Arab descent.
The diverse mixed culture of Mayotte today is a reflection of its unique history. While there are many different cultures within the population, there is a common desire to remain French in order to receive financial aid and preserve social equality.
Origins of Mayotte’s Creole culture
Mayotte was inhabited in around 800 AD, when it was organised into chieftainships, with the early inhabitants speaking Bantu and Malay. The population grew with immigrants from East Africa, while Arabs arrived later, bringing the Islam faith with them.
The island was often targeted by pirates and Comorian and Malagasy raids. Its neighbouring island, Anjouan, became the preferred destination of international traders, as it was better suited to large boats. As a result, Mayotte was poorly developed for a long time in comparison.
In 1500, a sultanate was established and the majority of the population today are Sunni Muslim. Portuguese explorers discovered Mayotte in 1503, but it wasn’t colonised. During the 16th century, both Portuguese and French explorers visited Mayotte, but it remained independent.
Various attempts were made by different powers to conquer Mayotte over the years, causing decades of local wars. A culture of slave-owning elites developed, with enslaved African people being shipped to the island to work on the increasing number of plantations.
In 1832, Andriantsoly, former ruler of the Kingdom of Boina on Madagascar, became the Sultan of Mayotte, but the power struggles continued throughout the early 19th century. Andriantsoly found himself in a weak position against threats from Comoros, Ndzuwani, Madagascar and also pirates.
Needing a powerful ally to fend off continual attacks, he began negotiating with the French on the island of Nosy Be, off the northwest coast of Madagascar, in 1840, France took over Mayotte in 1841 and integrated it to the French Crown. It became an official French colony in June 1843.
Slavery was abolished in the immediate aftermath, leading to several elite plantation owners leaving Mayotte because their authority had been undermined. The French administration imported labourers to work in the fields and on the plantations.
The intermingling of immigrants from different cultures, including the island’s existing population, the enslaved people brought from Africa and the French settlers, led to a Creole culture forming. It established a common identity and means of communication among the inhabitants of different ancestry.
Hardships of life on Mayotte
Despite slavery having been abolished in the mid-19th century, the agricultural and plantation labourers still suffered a life filled with hardships. The freed slaves, taken forcibly from their own communities, found themselves on foreign shores, without money or a home of their own.
Consequently, many were forced to work in even harsher conditions for the French colonists and government than they had experienced as slaves of the previous regime of elite islanders. Already victims of the slave trade, their life didn’t improve and they faced many new challenges.
In addition, many of the new labourers imported by the French from other islands and territories were also former slaves. Although Mayotte became a French island, it had a relatively sparse and impoverished population.
Decades of wars and the exodus of the former elites after the abolition of slavery had decimated the population. Some of the cities were eventually abandoned. Old plantations that no longer had either bosses or workers fell into disrepair and nature took over the now redundant land.
Refugees from Mayotte left the impoverished island and travelled to Madagascar and Comoros to try and start a new life. The French administration decided to repopulate its newest island colony. First, it recalled the Mayotte refugees and exiles, mainly from Comoros and Madagascar.
The French asked the exiled former slave masters to return in exchange for compensation. Then the administration invited wealthy Anjouan islanders to come and set up trade on Mayotte.
France also launched some major construction works, such as building the Boulevard des Crabes in 1848 to connect the rock of Dzaoudzi to the rest of Petite-Terre. The French government planned to turn Mayotte into a profitable sugar island, as it had done in the West Indies and Réunion.
Despite the land consisting of steep slopes, the French government developed more large plantations and built 17 sugar factories. Hundreds of mainly African foreign workers were hired from 1851 onwards. However, the production was described as “mediocre” and the venture was largely unsuccessful.
The sugar crisis of 1883 to 1885 finished off the trade in Mayotte, leaving empty factories in ruins. For the already impoverished population, this was disastrous. In the early 20th century, Mayotte became part of a single French overseas territory.
The final sugar plant on Mayotte was Dzoumogné, which closed in 1955. When France’s initial plans to turn Mayotte into a sugar colony failed, the administration decided it would be the archipelago’s administrative centre. However, Mayotte lost that distinction too, when it was moved to Ngazidja in 1958.
When the Comoros gained independence from France in the 1970s, Mayotte chose to remain French in order to receive development funding. Residents feared the consequences of losing the extra money, should the island gain its independence.
Mayotte was the only island in the archipelago that voted to retain its links with France in the referendums of 1974 and 1976. Islanders voting to remain under French control won 63.8% and 99.4% of the votes, respectively.
Language of Mayotte
French remains the only official language of Mayotte, but most of the population speak Comorian, a dialect closely allied to Swahili. There are some coastal villages where a Malagasy dialect is spoken, while more than one-third of the population speaks Shibushi or Mahoran Malagasy.
French is the language of education, public services and foreign exchange. It is also the language used by TV and radio stations. However, 60% of the population doesn’t speak French and many children attend a faith school to learn Koranic text.
Mayotte is one of France’s overseas territories where the knowledge of the French language is the least developed. The island’s extremely diverse heritage in years gone by has led to multiple different languages and sub-cultures.
Some families speak only French to their children in the hope this will help them to advance socially. Many young people have been turning to French because it’s the language of TV and radio.
This has led to many French words infiltrating into the native Shimaore and Kibushi languages. Linguists say these languages are now evolving into a type of French-based Creole.
Native people fear the French immigrants’ higher economic level and different lifestyle have led to a lack of understanding of the local language, reinforcing their separation from the culture of the Mahorans. With Mayotte being 8,039 km from Paris, French immigrants might find it very challenging to integrate into the local culture.
Architecture of Mayotte
Most of the traditional older dwellings of Mayotte are typical two-room houses built of earth combined with rice straw, raffia or coconut fronds. A social housing programme lauched by the French in the 1970s encouraged the construction of new homes made of bricks and cement.
Today, 75% of the population live in houses constructed from solid materials. Echoing the Creole style, they are often painted in bright colours, while some are decorated with bright painted murals. Around three-quarters of homes on the island have electricity.
Some reminders of colonial times still exist, such as the Governor’s House built with a design borrowed from Creole architecture with a veranda. Located in the heights of Mamoudzou, 400 metres up on the mount Mtsapéré, it has become a visitor attraction in recent years.
In bygone times, settlers would rest there, while smaller outbuildings included stables and a kitchen. At one time, it was a holiday destination for the colonists and the island’s wealthy, until the 1953 cyclone ravaged the site. In 1999, a renovation project was launched to restore the old Governor’s House back to life.
Music and dance
Local people are keen to keep their old traditions and heritage alive. Theatre performances take place in native languages around the villages, while contemporary music blends Creole and European genres with Comorian and Malagasy styles.
The Great Wedding ceremony Arusi is a traditional festival which Mahorans wish to preserve. It is specific to the local culture, providing an opportunity for traditional music, dance and social interaction.
Cuisine of Mayotte
The cuisine of Mayotte in day-to-day life for ordinary people is similar to the dishes eaten throughout the Comorian Islands. Rice is the staple of the daily diet, combined with accompaniments of root vegetables such as manioc.
Fresh and dried fish also make up a large part of the diet, with plantains and milk from grated coconuts. Mayotte has several supermarkets selling food products imported from France and South Africa. These have infiltrated into the local diet.
Ceremonial occasions often focus on food, as Mayotte follows traditional practices where meat, rice and milk are consumed at celebratory meals.
Mayotte has perhaps the most diverse society of the islands of the Indian Ocean, due to the many different civilisations and immigrants of years gone by.
Creole culture still has its place on the island, but the modern trend for the young people of Mayotte to learn French has meant the Creole dialect isn’t as widely used on the island as it is elsewhere in the region.
Even scholars and academics are facing challenges in determining what the exact culture of Mayotte is. Many of them consider its goal is uniting people of many different origins and believe it is currently undergoing a long process of unification.