Reunion
- estimated 120,000 Tamils
(including second language speakers) live in Reunion -

Ethnologue Database: Reunion

Indentured immigration and social accommodation in La Réunion  
- Christian Ghasarian, Center for South Asia Studies, University of California-Berkeley

Tamils in the Diaspora are living in various places among which the French Island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Settled in this relatively isolated Island since the second part of the last century, Tamils have developed some patterns of behavior that are not quite those of their ancestors from Tamil Nadu nor those of the other inhabitants of La Réunion. Anthropological investigations nevertheless show that despite a strong policy of acculturation and assimilation led by the French administration on the populations transferred to the Island, people of Tamil origin have managed to maintain, in an adapted manner, most of their ancestral conceptions and practices. An examination at some of these conceptions and practices allows to catch a glance at the strengths and adaptive resources of the Tamil culture. more

Firewalking in Reunion

"..Most fire walkers in French-speaking Reunion are Tamil. Their ancestors were the first to arrive from India to work on the island, located east of Madagascar, as cane laborers. Life at that time was difficult, but their adherence to the practices of their religion and culture kept them strong and united. Still today, this spirit of respect for ancestral tradition binds them together in a land where they are—as they have always been—very much in the minority among the 750,000 people in this Overseas Department (state) of France..."