<P> Malagasy mythology portrays a pygmy - like people called the Vazimba as the original inhabitants . Some Malagasy believe that these original inhabitants still live in the deepest recesses of the forest . In certain communities (and particularly in the Highlands), the practice of veneration of the dead can extend back to veneration of the Vazimba as the most ancient of ancestors . The kings of some Malagasy tribes claim a blood kinship to the Vazimba, including the Merina dynasty that eventually ruled over all of Madagascar . The Merina claim Vazimba ancestry through the royal line's founder, King Andriamanelo, whose mother, Queen Rafohy, was Vazimba . </P> <Ul> <Li> Zanahary: The creator deity . </Li> <Li> Andrianerinerina: The son of Zanahary, folk hero and ancestor of the royal line . </Li> <Li> Andriambahomanana: The first man and lunar deity . </Li> <Li> Mahaka and Kotofetsy: A pair of trickster deities . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Zanahary: The creator deity . </Li> <Li> Andrianerinerina: The son of Zanahary, folk hero and ancestor of the royal line . </Li>

Traditional malagasy beliefs honoring zanahary and family ancestors