Promote Our Culture & Protect Our Heritage

We are very proud of our traditional culture. Over the centuries we developed distinct and unique culture on the Chagos Islands. Through language, music, dance, food and art we have documented our history from our time on the Chagos Islands to our struggles now in exile.

We strive to celebrate and protect our culture through practice and knowledge, safeguarding it for our future generations.

To learn more please read below:

Sega Music & Dance

Sega Tambour Chagos originated and is unique to the Chagos Islands. Like other Segas, it is a music born of slavery, and is sung in Chagossian Creole. It is a rhythmic performance of music, song and dance based on the ‘tambour’, with lyrics consisting of everyday experiences. There are numerous threats to its viability, including our elders passing away, young people moving towards other forms of music, and the experience of displacement leading to a loss of memory. But we work to promote, document and celebrate our Sega music to safeguard it and share it for future generations.

Watch more here.

Chagos Tambour Group



Chagos Tambour Group's album, 'Leritaz Kiltir Chagossian,' has been recognised by UNESCO for its celebration and continuation to Chagossian cultural heritage. The album was recorded in Pointe-aux-Sables, Mauritius.

Read & Watch more here.

Artist Clement Siatous

Clement Siatous was born on the Chagos Islands in 1957. He is an artist and radical historian. Through his own personal journey of recollection, Siatous issues a defiant rebellion and reclaims our history. 

In direct response to continued political denial and displacement, Siatous renders a counterpoint to this official record. llustrating a comprehensive chronicle of life on the islands, each painting becomes a political act confronting the governments that evicted him. 

ARTIST WEBSITE

Tambour Chagos Junior UK

Tambour Chagos Junior UK is a group of second and third generations who are learning about the Chagossian cultural Sega dance and drums with first generation natives.

Follow us on Facebook here.

Cuisine

Coconut is the key ingredient of our cuisine. Seraz is a rich coconut milk stew of octopus, fish, fowl, green sea turtle, lentils, vegetables, or fruit. Coconut milk is also used in coconut flatbread (roti dile koko). Grated coconut is used in coconut chutney (satini koko). Coconut milk is used in desserts such as coconut pudding (doulpiti), coconut banana cake (mouf), and coconut cake (matouftwa). Flaked coconut is used in coconut crunch (nouga koko).

You can learn more about Chagossian cuisine on  CHAGOS: Cultural Heritage Across Generations, chagos.online. The project aims to help share and preserve the cultural heritage of the Chagossian community.

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