Official Name: | Betafo, Arivonimamo |
Settlement Type: | village (fokontany) |
Pushpin Map: | Madagascar |
Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Madagascar |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 180 |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Type1: | Region |
Subdivision Name1: | Itasy |
Subdivision Type2: | District |
Subdivision Name2: | Arivonimamo |
Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
Subdivision Name3: | Arivonimamo II |
Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
Population Blank1: | Merina |
Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
Timezone: | EAT |
Utc Offset: | 3 |
Coordinates: | -18.9833°N 53°W |
Elevation Footnotes: | [1] |
Elevation M: | 1320 |
Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
Postal Code: | 112 |
Betafo ("many roofs) is a village and fokontany in the municipality Arivonimamo II,[2] in the district of Arivonimamo, in the region of Itasy, Madagascar.
The village's inhabitants are said to be divided between descendants of nobles (andriana) and descendants of former slaves (olona mainty, literally "black people"). This aspect was the subject of a study by anthropologist David Graeber.[3] His book, , contains a detailed recounting of the village's oral traditions, full of stories of scandalous murders, magical battles, forbidden romances, and spiteful ancestors sending fires and hailstorms from their tombs.