Demographics
With just 98,000 inhabitants, Seychelles is one of the least populated countries on the planet. But the rate of population growth suggests that the Seychellois population will exceed 100,000 by 2024. It's also a very young country, with the average Seselwa being 36.8 years old. Finally, most of the population lives on Mahé. The island accounts for almost 88% of the total population, compared with around 7% for Praslin and 3% for La Digue.
Mixed race and sweet patronymic
The term "Grands Blancs" was used to describe the few descendants of settlers of French origin, and "Mozambiques" to describe descendants of African or Madagascan origin. Blancs coco" refers to the poor, illiterate whites who harvested coconuts on the plantations, while "Blancs rouillés" or "Rougeons" refers to people of slightly mixed race. But this wonderful melting pot also includes mulatto Creoles, Chinese Creoles and Malabar Creoles, i.e. people of mixed European, Chinese and Indian origin. However, Seychellois of Indian origin rarely marry outside their ethnic group, where marriages are still arranged by families. But the people of Seychelles are united by their Creole language, their religion (mainly Catholic) and a strong sense of nationhood, as only small countries, let alone island nations, know how to inspire. All ethnic combinations were therefore possible and, in the space of two hundred years, a people like no other was formed: the Seychellois people. In Victoria, all you have to do is take a seat on one of the terraces to witness the incredible melting pot. As you sip one cocktail, you can savour another, this one visual, from the young Seychellois who meet in one of the capital's few places where you can have a drink. It's hard to guess the precise origins of these young Creoles! The girls may be called Janet Vénus or Joséphine Cupidon, Marie Jolicœur or Julianne Labiche, Hortense Ladouceur or Elizabeth Labonté, Lisette Lajoie or Émeline Larue, or Francine L'Espérance or Zita Lespoir, Céline Cadeau or Agnès Louange, Sheila Confiance or Dania Constance, Simone Bibi, Florence Dodo or Jessie Capricieuse. Inherited from the first wave of settlers, most Seychellois have French surnames.
Just open the phone book and browse through it like a book, and you'll discover a whole host of French names, with the occasional Ak-Koon (Chinese), McQueen (British), Tamatave (Madagascan) or Thamarajah (Indian) interspersed between Daphné Folette, Philibert Radegonde, Bernardin Rosalie, Julienne Gédéon, Brenda Vieille, Charlie Zéphirin or Jimmy Rosette. Not forgetting the Dubois, Dufour, Dubuisson, Dumoulin, Duprès, Duval and others who rub shoulders with the de Charmoy Lablache, de Commarmond, de Saint-Jorre, d'Offay, d'Unienville, Charmoy de Lestang and Michaud de Lestang who recall the aristocratic origins of many of the pioneers.
It's not every day you come across people named Létourdie or Léveillé, Reine or Soleil, Nourrice or Baron, Télémaque or Jupiter, Rideau or Octobre, Souffre or Accouche!
Tourists can also get ideas for names for their future offspring from the local registry office, where the choice is also very cosmopolitan: in this area, Seychellois are more open than ever to the world. Old French names such as Ariette, Désiré, Gertrude, Herminie, Joséphine, Melchior, Philomène, Marguerite, Théophile, Adrienne, Hypolite, Rénald, Justin and Rogatien are joined by others from all over the world: Edwina, Giovanni, Greta, Maxwell, Shiva, Joyce, Olga, Gulam, Rajaran, Rosalita, Tasiana, Ibrahim, Phiroz, Shafik and Yvana. Seychellois also know how to be original with Agnella, Astre, Castor, Édouarine, Florina, Frankline, Jeanne d'Arc, Maxwell, Mélitine, Person, Sultanne, Théoline, Violet... In La Digue, we even refused (a rare thing!) a Penis Radegonde! In any case, the list remains open to chance and the whim of Mr. Aimable and Miss Capricieuse, Mr. Saint-Ange and Miss Binette when they have "pti baba".
At school, Creole, English and French are on the agenda!
At school, children learn to read and write in their mother tongue, Creole, and start learning English in the second year of primary school. But French is the archipelago's third official language! Until recently, the language of Molière was necessarily the third language taught, once English had been assimilated. But young people are speaking less and less French on the archipelago. Although, in theory, Creole, English and French are the three official languages, it has to be said that French still plays an important role in the religious sphere, while it is dethroned by English in administration and Creole in everyday life. An old Seychellois will be better able to answer your questions than a young one, who will speak English more spontaneously. Apparently, a whole generation (now 30) is losing interest in French. Anglo-Saxon globalization has obviously contributed to the decline of the Seychelles' first colonial language. On the other hand, the next generation should have a better command of French, which is now taught from kindergarten onwards. English has gained ground, but in the written press as well as on radio and television, a semblance of balance between the three languages has been maintained. But the ties of linguistic fraternity or those of economic necessity (cooperation in the fields of fishing and education, in particular) are not the only ones.
The Alliance française in Victoria has some thousands of members, and its headquarters, on Bois de Rose Avenue, is housed in a beautiful neo-colonial building. Here you can not only buy the most important French magazines, received on Mondays, and leaf through others, but also choose one of the five thousand books in the library.
Numerous videos are also available, inevitably to the glory of the language of Molière and of Viscount Jean Moreau de Séchelles (Louis XV's Controller General of Finances, who gave his name to this new possession... where he never came). French is taught to several hundred Seychellois, the Alliance Française still offers one film a month, and the Ministry of Culture organizes the Journée de la Francophonie in March, with events illustrating the Seychellois attachment to the French language, culture and art of living.
An affirmed creolity... and celebrated as it should be
The first country, after Haiti, to have made "lalang kreol" its official language, Seychelles proudly asserts its Creole identity. Today, there are over fifteen million people in the world, including two million French, separated by oceans and continents, who share a common language. But that doesn't rule out local specificities! These peoples, erasing borders, find themselves united, despite geographical dispersion, by the same culture and identical roots, those of new peoples born of migration and miscegenation that have shaped their territories. In 1985, the idea of an international Creole day was accepted by most Creole-speaking countries. In the Seychelles, Danielle de Saint-Jorre, then executive secretary of the Bann Zil Kreol (Creole Islands) association, launched the idea of a series of activities spread over several days. Creole Day became Creole Week, then the Kreol Festival. Since then, for nine days every autumn at the end of October, Seychelles has become a crossroads for Creole dialogue and friendship. Mauritius, Rodrigues, Reunion, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Guyana and Louisiana come together at the "zil Sesel". Writers, linguists, researchers, painters, musicians, singers, dancers and other artists from these different communities become, for the duration of a festival, the cultural ambassadors of the Creole-speaking world. From then on, this forum has been a major event in Creole culture, financed by the State, the private sector and institutional aid (European Union, Indian Ocean Commission, etc.). Patrick Pillay, who at the end of the 1990s was a charming and humanist minis Lazenes ek Kiltir (Minister of Youth and Culture), has contributed to giving a real popular impetus to this festival, which has become the main cultural and festive event on the island of Mahé. Every year, it attracts huge crowds from the opening night onwards. Dozens of other events follow. In short, it's an attractive line-up, both cultural and festive, geared as much towards ban vieyar (the old) as towards lazenes (the young). In the name of tradisyon... on the move! It has to be said that, without ceasing to nurture its very rich memory, the Creole world is trying to invent a future for itself and better anchor its solidarity in the global cultural landscape, especially at a time when the younger generation is tending to become Americanized. This festival is designed to remind us of our true identity!
