Mayotte

You all remember Mayotte, right? The little group of islands and islets in the Mozambique Channel? Between Madagascar and Mozambique? I thought so. As another overseas collectivity of France, it too celebrates Fête Nationale—next year its voting on becoming an overseas department or territory. And of course the French flag is the official flag, but there's also a local (unofficial) flag.

So Mayotte and Comoros share a common history—Mayotte used to be part of the nation of Comoros. So, in 1500 the Mawuti sultanate was established on the island, followed only a few years later (1503) by the first observation by Europeans. The Portuguese. In the 19th century Mayotte was conquered and passed hands a few times, before, in 1843, it was ceded to France. When the Comoros archipelago held its referendum on separation from France, Mayotte decided to keep its ties to France, while Comoros became an independent nation. Comoros claimed the island was part of their nation, but when a draft resolution was put before the UN in 1976 to recognize Comorian sovereignty over Mayotte, France vetoed it.

It’s been a complicated situation for France—apparently the numbers in favour of Mayotte staying part of France were significant. On the other hand today there’s a general tenor of international governments keen to see former colonies cut their ties with their colonizers.

What I’ve found from Mayotte is a section of a folktale—it’s from an article on Comorian folklore, since the background to the region’s myths and legends is the same. It was quoted by Masseande Chami Alaoui in his “Genres of Comoran Folklore,” from Journal of Folklore Research, Vol 34, No. 1 Jan-April 1997.


Baye Kwembe

There was a man called Mwalimu Guwu. He came from Ikoni, that is why he was called Mwalimu Guwu.

There was a man in Mbadjini, that man, he was a king, he had been told, a wise man had said to this king, “If a child is born this year, that is the end of you.” So he found a woman who was sick in a house there. She stayed there, and she had a child, and they took that child, and that child was called Bayi Kwembe, because when he was born, they wrapped him in cotton right away, put a blanket around him, put him in a box and threw him into the sea, and he came back in one place. He came back…he came back at Ikoni, and it was a fisherman of Ikoni who fished him out. They opened the box and found this little guy.

He stayed, he stayed a long time, and one day—he was born at Fumbuni—after they took him and sent him there, he stayed a long time. He had sores from the cotton they wrapped him in there. That’s why they called him Bayi Kwembe.

One day, a man said to him, “Do you know that sometimes they fight down there on the shore?” So he left, he took himself a piece of a paddle…and he broke up the battle. There was an old man. He said to him, “Don’t you know where you were born? You were born in Mbadjini. If I conquer this country for you, what will you give me?” He said, “Every time I win, I’ll give you some land.” So Mwalimu Guwu came to fetch him and they went off to war. With every victory they divided up the regions.