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Was just randomly searching and found this post. All 100% spot on.
Sao paolo or joburg or WYCOMBE hahaha had a lil giggle at that one lad
(some photos of a Mahafaly funeral celebration in southwest Madagascar...I've reposted this from personal website that I share with my friends)
Madagascar has lots of ethnic divisions. Where I work in the southwest, the Mahafaly people have particularly elaborate funerals. I've been to a few of them and I'll try to describe the basic process.
When someone dies, the deceased is wrapped up in cloths and the family moves out of the house where the person died. The family lives with nearby relatives/friends. The house with the deceased is then sealed and surrounded by thorns (to prevent dogs from going into the house and scavenging the body). Here is a picture of a sealed house right in the middle of the village with thorns around it:
The body starts to decompose and smell, but it's polite to not notice. Meanwhile, the family is in mourning and they also start saving lots of money. They mourn (and save) for about 6 months to a year. At some point 6 to 12 months after the family member has died, a funeral celebration is planned. Word is sent out to friends and extended family and other important people around the area.
The funeral celebrations usually happen in the Malagasy winter time, June-Sept, as it is cool and dry (we are talking 50F at night and 80F during the day), it is also much easier for people to travel to the funeral on dry roads as they are all very muddy during the wet/hot season.
The funerals can last about 2 days. They are big deal. It is all about exchanging gifts, cutting loose, and paying tribute to the deceased. Different groups of attendees arrive in processions. They are carrying various gifts and provisions. A cow being among the greatest of gifts. Goats, chickens, and money are also typical gifts. This group of attendees brings a cow.
When you arrive, you proceed to the large tree where the men of the family and (male) close friends of the deceased sit. Here is the receiving party of family members under the tree. The women of the family member sit under a different tree.
There is a big spectacle about what gifts you have brought them. For example, the family hires a man with a shot gun and if you have brought a cow, they shoot off a shotgun into the air. They don't do this for lesser gifts, such as goats or chickens. But if you brought money, they will count it out loud, in public.
After you have arrived in the village and made your gift presentation to the family men under the tree, a child will then approach your party and say please follow me. And they assign you some place to sit in the village and wait. This is because the family members must deliberate what gifts they will give back to you in exchange for the gifts you brought them.
For example, our party attended a funeral and we brought a bunch of money (equivalent to what a cow would cost). We were then told to wait in some part of the village. And here we are waiting:
And eventually, in exchange for our gift of a cow, a few children arrived sent by the deceased's family and they gave us the following: some rice, a goat, two chickens, some bottles of beer and bottles of the local rum.
Here is some of the beer, rum, and rice we received:
Here is the goat:
The idea is as follows. This is the food and drink, along with other food/drink you have brought or can buy/trade, to sustain you for the next day or so. It is a big party.
For example, different bands arrive to play, playing in shifts as the music will go on continuously for 2 days straight.
And the whole celebration can get really elaborate as people dress up to the nines.
And it can also be quite a show of conspicuous consumption. Certain groups of attendees will arrive in full regalia of brightly colored dresses and matching hats, often with money (the equivalent of dollar bills) dangling from the hats. Some groups even carry umbrellas with money dangling from the umbrellas. It's a real-attention getter.
And during this time people dance and get drunk and have a good time. At some point you also visit the house of the deceased. The thorns have been removed and the house is opened and the deceased has been re-wrapped. Here is the outside of the house with the mourners inside:
And so you slaughter the goat and chickens, cook the rice, and over the next day or so, eat, drink, dance, mingle, flirt, nap, then get up and do more of the same. As my Malagasy friend Jacky said, it's sort of like "do what you feel day" (if you recall that Simpson's episode).
When the funeral is over. The body is removed and the deceased is carried by hand to near the location of their birth and buried. Eventually the body is buried in a tomb, and depending on the wealth of the family, the tombs can be quite elaborate.
