History & Culture

For all its exceptional features, it’s surprising that it took so long for the islands now known as the Seychelles Republic to be noticed. Or, because of its remoteness in space, time and distance, no one could ever log its ins and outs. For whatever reason, it served a great boon to the island, as it still remains largely unpopulated and unblemished, with traditions, language and culture it can call its own.

Early Arab, African, Phoenician and Indonesian traders may have figured in Seychelles’ fuzzy ancient history, but official records of circa early 16th century show Portuguese navigator Admiral Vasco da Gama coming over, naming it Amirantes after himself. Then came visits from the British East India in 1609 and a reputation as a preferred pirate jaunt. France planted its flag in 1756, claimed Mahé and seven other islands and re-named it in honor of the French king’s accountant, Vicomte Moreau de Séchelles. Britain then wrested control from France in the 1814 Treaty of Paris and Anglicized its name to Seychelles. By 1903 it became a Crown Colony all the way till 1975 when they were allowed to run their own government and finally independence in 1976.

After some turbulent upheavals, the Seychelles has arrived. Capitalizing on its primary asset of beauty, the republic has placed tourism as the thrust of its robust economy.

The cosmopolitan Seychellois are a technicolor people, a merry fusion of the different races, cultures and religions that have subjugated and departed from the islands, leaving behind pieces of their traditions and customs. All these pieces have painted the Seychelles culture with vibrant colors, as their flag depicts, shades of which are intoned throughout their art, cuisine, music, dance and architecture.

French and British colonial heritage speak out in the architecture of some of the grand steep-roofed old houses.

Creole music and dance, inseparable from all local festivities, pay allegiance to African, Malagasy and European cultures. Its rhythms, traditionally a simple blend of the tambour and tam-tam drums and string instruments, have evolved to today’s recent inclusions of guitar and violin.

Dance is a serious Seychellois affair. They often have stories to tell: the mysterious Moutya features erotic choreography telling tales of emotional discontent in the dark days of slavery; Sega is an elegant hip-swaying, feet-shuffling spectacle; Kamntole, a dance arrived from other shores, is a lively medley of banjos, accordion, violin and triangle, in remembrance of a Scottish reel; the French-flavored Contredance highlights elaborate movements synchronized to banjo and triangle at the command of the ‘Komandan’ or Commander.

At local functions indigenous performers exquisitely fuse modern and traditional in dance and song. Modern jazz, reggae, country & western, hip-hop, ballads and classic rock harmonize with choral repertoires of traditional hymns, music with sacred, secular, gospel themes and folk pieces.

Art in Seychelles is larger than life. Its boundless beauty breathes inspiration that fuels the many painters, sculptors, writers and poets, artisans, musicians and dancers. This inspiration is the prime ingredient in the treasure of works churned from mediums and methods running the gamut from watercolors to gouache, collages to embossing, metals to fabrics, wood to cartons, stained glass to coconut shells, gold to stone, pottery to recycled stuff.

Likewise, local and even foreign writers and poets have gorged on this inspiration to bring to life fascinating tales of the islands’ history, of its people, in fact and fiction, awakening the passions of island living.

Before the advent of the idiot box, folklore was entertainment, education, information all rolled into one, traveling from mouth to ear via radio broadcasts mostly and through the written word sometimes. To date, the popular fables are still very much a part of Seychellois life, integral to its mystic aura.