The Phoenix Flies to Madagascar Quiz

Answer: Leaves of a palm tree

Raffia is stripped from the leaves of the raphia palm tree, which is then dried and graded. It is used to make baskets, hats and other accessories, flower arrangements and even hula skirts. It is a very strong fibre, and is easy to dye.

This question was woven into the quiz by ozzz2002 as part of the Red Crew on Team Phoenix Rising's Global Tour 2022.

Answer: Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar in either 1901 or 1903. Growing up under French colonial rule, Rabearivelo became interested in French literature and poetry but he was also passionate about producing and encouraging others to write in the Malagasy language. His works incorporated surrealist, romantic and modernist themes. Sadly, Rabearivelo committed suicide by cyanide poisoning in 1937. Historians have noted that the death of his three year old daughter and Rabearivelo possibly being ill with tuberculosis were likely factors.

This question was penned into the quiz by Triviaballer of the Red Crew on Team Phoenix Rising's Global Tour 2022.

Answer: Libertalia

Derived from a Latin root meaning 'free', Libertalia, sometimes written as Libertatia, was purportedly founded as a rebellion against slavery, monarchies, institutionalized religion and the abuse of wealth. Much of the lore regarding Libertalia is derived from the 1724 work "A General History of the Pyrates" by Captain Charles Johnson that describes Libertalia in detail. Centuries later this work has been considered by many to be mostly fictional and that Libertalia was not a real place. Even so, sites along Madagascar including Port Dauphin, Ile Ste.-Marie and Ranter Bay were all pirate settlements that may have been Libertalia. Libertalia was mentioned by William S. Burroughs in "Cities of the Night" (1981) and it featured prominently in the 2016 video game "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" in which it was founded by Henry Avery and Thomas Tew.

This question was parleyed into the quiz by Triviaballer of the Red Crew on Team Phoenix Rising's Global Tour 2022.

Answer: Indian Ocean

Madagascar is an island country and part of the African continent. It lies off the southeastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The Mozambique Channel separates Africa from Madagascar by approximately 260 miles. Its area is almost 227,000 square miles making it the fourth largest island in the world. To put the size in perspective, Greenland is the largest island in the world at just over 822,000 square miles. Madagascar is roughly double the size of the US state, Arizona.

This question was written by jaknginger of the Red Crew on Team Phoenix Rising's Global Tour 2022.

Answer: Claude Simon

Claude Simon was born in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar in 1913 when the country was a French colony. He was raised in France after his father was killed during WWI, and later attended both Cambridge and Oxford Universities in England. Simon was a POW during WWII, but escaped and joined the resistance, and it is during this time that he completed his first novel "Le Tricheur" (The Cheat). Much of his work is influenced by his experiences during the war and his extensive years of travel prior to this. Claude Simon passed away in France in 2005.

This question was pencilled into the quiz by leith90 who has never been to Oxford, but is quite partial to an Oxford comma. Leith90 is a member of the Red Crew on Phoenix Rising's Global Tour 2022.

Answer: The Americas

Vanilla plants grow throughout the world but the varieties that produce the amazingly flavourful and aromatic edible vanilla pods only grew in the Americas, with Mexico being a large producer in the 1800s. Many interested parties attempted to grow the plants outside of the Americas but they were not successful until 1841 on the island of Reunion, off the coast of Madagascar, when a 12 year old slave called Edmond Albius discovered how to get the vines to reproduce. The vines are easy to grow, but hard to get to produce the lucrative pods. The flowers are only 'open' for a short period and pollination has to happen when they bloom, and this is achieved manually by piercing the membrane between the reproductive organs of the flower and squishing them together. This process is know as 'the marriage'. The method was quickly expanded to neighbouring Madagascar to scale up production.

smpdit sweetly added vanilla to the Red Crew on Phoenix Rising Global Tour 2022 mix.

Answer: Indri

The indri may weigh up to 21 pounds (9.5 kg) and is thus the largest species. The Madame Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest primate, measuring 3.5 inches (9 cm) and weighing in at 1.1 ounces (30g). The lemurs diverged evolutionarily about 50 million years ago. Extinct species were as large as gorillas. The ring-tailed lemur is familiar to many as it is a frequent resident in zoos and animal parks. The name "lemur" arose from the Latin word for ghosts. The lemurs are referred to as strepsirrhine primates, which indicates that they have "wet noses."

This question was submitted by a distant relative, pusdoc, as a member of the PR Global Tour 2022 Red Crew

Answer: Zanahary

Zanahary is the creator deity in Malagasy traditional beliefs. Traditions primarily focus on ancestor worship. The other answers are also names for creator deities; Ranginui from the Maori, Nanabozho from the Ojibwe, and Marduk from ancient Babylon. Approximately half of all residents of Madagascar practice the indigenous religion, with the majority of remaining citizens identifying as Christian. The most common Christian denomination is Roman Catholic. There is a growing Muslim contingent, mostly Sunni. Note that the proportion of people in Madagascar belonging to each religious group is very variably reported depending upon the source.

This question was created by pusdoc for the Red Crew PR Global Tour 2022

Answer: Martial art

Moraingy is a type of weaponless martial art that dates to the Maroseranana dynasty in coastal Madagascar. Traditionally, there is music during the matches. The music incites the opposition with taunting and dancing by the participants of the match. Two people are pitted against each other for one round. The loser is determined by quitting, fainting, the inability to defend, being seriously injured or clearly weaker than his opponent. The typical participant is a young male 10-35 years of age but females have begun to engage in the sport.

This question was put into play by jaknginger for the Red Crew PR Global Tour 2022.

Answer: Blue

The flag has two horizontal bands of red and green with a white vertical band at the hoist. Prior to 1958, the French tricolour (vertical blue, white and red stripes) was used.

This question was written by ozzz2002, and dedicated to Phoenix Rising's resident Vexillologist, 1nn1.